Lyn's Log, 31st July 2009
Huahine, French Polynesia

Fare, Huahine
S16º42', W151º02'
25,155 miles.

We set off from Moorea on 27th July for the next of the Society Islands, Huahine. It was breezy as we left and we made good progress. We managed to keep sailing until sunrise next morning but by then the wind had dropped and headed us. So we motored the last 25 miles to the anchorage off Fare on Huahine. We anchored in six metres of clear pale turquoise water over shallow sand over coral. Here and there were clumps of live coral above the sand and plenty of pretty fish. There was a wooden jetty available for getting into town and a short walk to an enormous supermarket with reasonable prices, for the islands.

We motored the yacht inside the reef to the southern end of the island, poking into a couple of bays on the way and marvelling at the beautiful island with its green covered rugged peaks and valleys. Port Bourayne was rather wide and deep and did not offer much protection from the winds we were experiencing but in Haapu Bay we anchored off a small village for lunch. Some women and children were playing in the shallow water by a concrete jetty where we landed the dinghy and explored ashore. The one shop was shut for lunch, so there were no ice creams for us to enjoy. Avae Bay, at the southern end of Huahine had plenty of room for anchoring between the shore and the wide coral keeping the Pacific at bay. It was only possible to go round the next point of land, to the village of Parea, by dinghy, over the coral, but the winds were too strong for us to do that and we walked there instead. There was nothing of note in the village but on route we came across a marae by the beach. It was made of large slabs of lava rock placed on end making a rectangle into which the more usual rounded boulder stones had been placed. This was the first time we had seen the edges made this way. It was very overgrown. We splashed out on a really good meal in the hotel restaurant in the evening, a late birthday treat for Andrew.

We came back to Fare and were disappointed to find the visitor information office and the place for hiring bikes both closed, so decided to give up the idea of cycling round the island and exploring more marae. It poured with rain all day on 31st July.