May 29 Huahine

Another volcanic island that long ago exploded to leave a nice harbor for us to pull into.  Not big enough for a dock, so we anchor in the middle and use our lifeboat/tender to transfer people back and forth.  

I can't tell you how to pronounce the name of the place we're in.  We took two different tours, and the guides pronounced it differently.  Wah - hee - nee or Who - ah - ee - nay or make one up on your own.  It's a fun game the whole family can play.

The blues and the greens are vivid and saturated everywhere you look.  It's amazing.

 The tender right below our room was launched by Joao, an officer I talk to everytime we have a lifeboat drill.  He answers all of my stupid questions about ship handling,.

 Our first tour of the day was by bus around the northern island.

 This is the Maeva, an archeological site similar to the one we visited on Raiatea.

 Century old fish traps still maintained and used.

 The famous blue eyed eels of Huahine, grinning (or sneering) at you.

 The view from Belvedere

 In the afternoon we took a boat from the tender dock to one of the barrier islands for a picnic and snorkeling.  This is the view back towards the harbor inlet.

 Lunch.  You sat with your butt in the water.

 Walk across the island to the ocean side.  The reef is about 50 yards out and keeps the shallow area near the beach very calm for snorkeling and wading.

 Returning from the picnic island.  A beautiful day.

The route that we took on the island, if this interests you.  The flag marks the spot where we anchored and tendered to the dock to the southeast.  We looped around the northern island, then boated to the eastern island for the picnic.