August 8-13, 2012

Aug 13: Vince and family left Saturday. It was definitely a boo hoo event. I know you all think the same, but we have the most amazing, super grandchildren and belle-fille (isn't "pretty daughter" a wonderful phrase for a daughter-in-law?) and fils (son). All are strong and graceful and accomplished in the water. Vince and Noelle did several SCUBA dives and Boden, 9, and Colby, 7, and gramma & grampa did drift snorkels where the dive guides drop you off outside the pass on an incoming tide and you are swept along into the atoll over dolphins, sharks and a turtle, seeing canyons and mounts along the way. Colby spent half the time free diving below the rest of us just for the sheer joy of it. Next summer the whole world of SCUBA diving will open up to them. We snorkeled more by the islet just inside the pass - the best snorkeling we've ever seen in all our travels. From Ford Thompson: Snorkeling is like birdwatching only wetter. 
We got the same taxi driver that we had at the beginning - the one we thought was grumpy.  We've decided that actually he just has a strange sense of humor.  I asked him to take me to the bank and he said it was closed.  I said that's OK I am going to La Machine (ATM) and he said it was kaput.  I said no it was a bonne machine - it gives beaucoup d'money.  He said OK,  he would go for 1 minute but not 2 minutes.  Then we said we wanted to go to the Magazin Simone for 10 minutes and he got angry so we said OK 5 minutes but actually he was only kidding about being angry. He also took us to look for the laverie (laundry) but, alas, the owners were just leaving for Papeete in Tahiti so no laundry.  Fermee -closed.  C'est la vie.

We are anchored in the Baie in front of the Hotel Kia Ora which is $800/night.  There are no Americans there - too expensive - but it is full of Italians and a few Japanese who have a better exchange rate for the French Polynesian Franc.  How did all these young Italians on their honeymoon get so rich?  The Italians have all been very friendly to us I must say.  The receptionist at the Kia Ora told me that the French in France are rude (she is from there) and I said that, aside from Paris, the French people were extremely kind to us.  She said that is because we have a good vibe.  Maybe.  Anyway, the conglomeration of nationalities and cultures is interesting, educational and fun.  Today we saw another Wauquiez and stopped by to converse about what great boats Henri Wauquiez made.  The Wauquiez Centurian's owner is from France but he bought his boat in San Francisco.

We are anchored near a barge that houses a colony of Spectacled (Gray-backed) Terns.  Nice neighbors who fly around beautifully all day and chit chat all night in Ternese.  We like them.

Barry wants to stay here in Rangiroa until Thursday in order to work on boat projects and I want to go to Tikehau tomorrow morning so that we can work on boat projects somewhere new and more pristine.  We'll let you know how it goes, but we've been working it out for 46 years now.