Onemea Bay, Taravai, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia – Adventures you can get up to

BOAT JOBS

I would like to say that we have been on a diet of non-stop discovery and adventure, but then I would be lying. Somehow ‘on Spirit of Argo’ there is always something to fix or general maintenance to do. We have had a mixed bag of weather, so it does make sense to complete some boat chores on rainy days. Also some tasks take longer to complete aboard a boat because we do not have the modern conveniences you guys have at home. Doing the laundry by hand is just one example. Luckily my humans are good at ‘pacing’ themselves and have left plenty of time between ‘boat jobs’ to have some fun and go exploring.

SNORKELING

The lagoons of the Gambier Islands are NOT renowned for their water clarity. Run off from the island peaks and ocean currents can stir up the sandy bottom between the reefs. The west coast of Taravai is an exception to the rule and there are some excellent snorkeling areas both along the shore line and the outer reefs that parallel the bays. With the island protecting you from the prevailing winds, you can snorkel these areas very comfortably is most conditions.

The prevalence of ciguatera in the area means fish is off the dinner menu, but does mean that the reefs are full of healthy schools of a diversity of fish species. There is also a good abundance of healthy hard coral. All of these things making snorkeling a pleasure in these waters, and with so many reefs to explore, you will always find something new.

WE FOUND AN OLD CANNON WASHED ASHORE

Taravai’s rugged rocky coastline is also fun to explore. At low tide rock pools and little caves are revealed. It’s undulations create coves, little beaches and palm lined terraces. The humans even found an old metal cannon washed ashore indicating an armed ship must have foundered on the reefs close by. Ships of that era were made of wood, so there would be little left of the ship wreck, but this did not stop the humans from looking for sunken treasure on the surrounding reefs any way. No luck yet.

SUNSETS AND SUNDOWNERS

Anchoring on the west coast of Taravai means we have an unobstructed view of sun sets…that is if the evening cloud cover participates. It is also a popular anchorage with other cruisers, so we have been able to meet boats as they pass through. The cruising lot that come down to this group of islands for the rainy season are an ‘experienced’ lot from a variety of countries. Many have been cruising for a long time and spent multiple years in French Polynesia. A great fountain of information and stories for us.

My humans have been trying out their new coconut recipes on their guests. In their effort to be more self sufficient they have been scrounging the small palm groves here in this uninhabited bay for items to diversify the menu. But they are not ‘that’ good at it…yet. Give them time. Coconut cake seems to be the most popular, but that might be because of the ‘healthy splash’ of vanilla rum that goes into it. What is it about cruisers and rum?

NOT THE BEST PLACE FOR A HIKE

There are no walking trails on this side of the island. It is uninhabited, so it goes to reason that no one has made or maintained any trails. But there are goats on the island, so you can see ‘some areas’ where the animals have found a route of ‘least resistance’ to get to good grazing. With all this ‘meadow grass’ between the groves of pine trees and some evidence of a goats trails, my silly humans decided to try to hike to the top of the ridge that separates the bays. Not their best idea!

The humans are not completely to blame for the next few hours of hell. To be honest, from an anchored boat, the grass up these hills does look similar to the gentle seasonal growth in colder climates. But this is the tropics, so they should have been prepared for what we encountered instead. When we kayaked ashore to start of ‘what looked’ like a goats trail we encountered a wall of ‘over’ 2m tall thick stemmed reed.

The stocks of this grass species was so thick the only way through was to stomp on the base of the stems and try to force the roots to lift out of the thin soil enough to be ‘bent’ out of the way. This made progress up the ridge very slow, hot and tiring. But it gets worse. The growing season is all year round here, so each plant was a mixture of new growth and old dead dried stems. On the steep slope these pointed down and out ready to impale any exposed flesh. Many were the perfect height to take out an eye. You can just guess what the humans were wearing and imagine what their arms and legs looked like afterwards. But that is not the worst of it. Guess why the goats were not eating the grass? The green leaves of the plant are like ‘razors’. That is right. So when they were not being impaled the humans were being ‘sliced and diced’. You would think they would have given up, but no, they were determined. Determined that the vegetation would get thinner the higher they climbed. Determined that it would be worth the view.

You have probably already guessed that the grass did not thin out. But the view was worth it. I would not recommend anyone following our example though. Especially when we heard later that anyone who has tried to ‘bash’ their way through this kind of grass has inevitably encountered a hornets nest. Perhaps we are lucky we only came away with scratches and cuts.

LIVING WITH CRAZY HUMANS

The things I have to put up with. No way I am going to follow them on any more hiking adventures. I will stick to my perfectly safe beaches. But the humans are never content to sit still and are already planning the next place to visit here in the Gambier Islands.