Tahiti Day 12 - Hello, Rangiroa (again)
Some interesting facts about Rangiroa - the population of the entire archipelago is a mere 700 people. The first language here is Tahitian, followed by French and English as a distant third. The lagoon was formed when the volcano that was originally Rangi subsided into the ocean. What we now know a Rangi is merely a collection of 240 islands and motus (Tahitian for broken land) in a ring. It is the second largest archipelago in the world and Tahiti and Tahiti-iti would both fit inside the lagoon with space leftover. However, if you took her islands/motus, you could fit all of Rangi on Tahiti three times over.
There are two ‘major’ towns on Rangi - Avatoru and Tiputa - 90% of the population lives in one of those two towns. Of the pair, Tiputa is the larger and has a post office, several small grocery stories, three churches, schools, etc. Avatoru is on the other side of the airport and has a school, church, post office/store/police station.
There is one major hotel (Kia Ora) and a few smaller restaurants and one pizzeria (Tiputa)
In short, unless you are into water sports, there’s isn’t much for a tourist to do. Local offer some hand crafts and there is a pearl farm to visit, but there is no historic sites or mountains and valleys to explore. The tallest structure in the entire archipelago is two stories high. Considering that, there are not many options that do not include the sea. This is good because the seas around Rangiroa are abundant with life.
Despite the warning that it would be cloudy with a chance of rain, the day was picture perfect - sunny and showing off Rangi’s colors to the hilt. We had an excursion for the afternoon, so we went ashore and caught a water taxi to Tiputa. Once there, we walked around the village, about a mile and a half, visited a small church, watched a local sporting event for kids, and spoke with some of the locals. Everyone had a smile and welcomed us (and our money). We headed back to the ship, exhausted and hot, just in time for a cool down and a bit of lunch. After that, it was time to suit up for another tender ride back to shore and we caught Ugo’s tour to the Aquarium.
This is a region just off shore resplendent with sea life. I could not believe the number of fish and the close proximity in which they would come. They are, of course, fed by the guides and that makes them a bit less wary of swimmers. High points were swimming with a school of parrot fish, seeing a seven foot long green moray eel and spotting a dolphin, named, what else, Flipper. The sun really illuminated the coral and all the sea life. I wasn’t expecting as much and was totally blown away.
A side note - this was an excursion that called for good swimmer and experienced snorkelers as there were currents to be wary of. Our very happy couple (not) from the first night - we will call them The Glums - were on our excursions. The wife was not happy to see TBG. We think they are Dutch, but they both spoke French well. Apparently, though, they didn’t read the literature about the dive, because they both grabbed hold of a life preserver and never let go, not even to look beneath the water. I’m not sure why they pick this and not the glass bottom boat version of the same thing. They certainly didn’t appear to be enjoying themselves before or afterwards. Go figure. Sadly, our tablemates were on the same tour, but in another boat. We did hook up with them on the tender, though.
We were the last tender back to this ship and weren’t even out of the shower before the Captain pulled anchor - the tide was going out and he wanted to catch it.
Dinner was lovely and everyone seemed sunburned and windblown. It was fun to talk about our discoveries - Ken’s and Cindy’s excursion saw barracuda and sharks - and to hear what they did. Cindy was pretty pink and hopefully she was able to sleep last night.
As usual, dinner was great and Princess proved that there wasn’t a word for ‘no’ in their repertoire. TBG asked for a capris (tomato/mozzarella cheese/basil) salad. It arrived before we even ordered dinner and was a great starter. He split it into four portions and we shared it. What a great treat that was.
Foodwise: I started with vegetarian sushi which was no great shakes, although the kimchee was great. That was followed by a Caesar salad and spaghetti carbonara. Very yum! For dessert, I broke down and had a Drambuie soufflé (it was so good that Cindy ordered one after her Loveboat (chocolate mousse) platter and then a mocha tart. Three desserts, I don’t know how she does it or where she put it.
TBG started out with potato/leek soup, followed by some of my Caesar and then braised short ribs. He also had the mocha tart and ice cream (cookies and cream and) and apple cider sorbet, which he shared with everyone. I did like the sorbet.
After dinner, we retired back to the cabin to read and relax. It had been a busy day and we were both pretty tired from all the swimming (two hours) and the sun. Tomorrow is our last sea day and we plan to spend it quietly.
There are two ‘major’ towns on Rangi - Avatoru and Tiputa - 90% of the population lives in one of those two towns. Of the pair, Tiputa is the larger and has a post office, several small grocery stories, three churches, schools, etc. Avatoru is on the other side of the airport and has a school, church, post office/store/police station.
There is one major hotel (Kia Ora) and a few smaller restaurants and one pizzeria (Tiputa)
In short, unless you are into water sports, there’s isn’t much for a tourist to do. Local offer some hand crafts and there is a pearl farm to visit, but there is no historic sites or mountains and valleys to explore. The tallest structure in the entire archipelago is two stories high. Considering that, there are not many options that do not include the sea. This is good because the seas around Rangiroa are abundant with life.
Despite the warning that it would be cloudy with a chance of rain, the day was picture perfect - sunny and showing off Rangi’s colors to the hilt. We had an excursion for the afternoon, so we went ashore and caught a water taxi to Tiputa. Once there, we walked around the village, about a mile and a half, visited a small church, watched a local sporting event for kids, and spoke with some of the locals. Everyone had a smile and welcomed us (and our money). We headed back to the ship, exhausted and hot, just in time for a cool down and a bit of lunch. After that, it was time to suit up for another tender ride back to shore and we caught Ugo’s tour to the Aquarium.
This is a region just off shore resplendent with sea life. I could not believe the number of fish and the close proximity in which they would come. They are, of course, fed by the guides and that makes them a bit less wary of swimmers. High points were swimming with a school of parrot fish, seeing a seven foot long green moray eel and spotting a dolphin, named, what else, Flipper. The sun really illuminated the coral and all the sea life. I wasn’t expecting as much and was totally blown away.
A side note - this was an excursion that called for good swimmer and experienced snorkelers as there were currents to be wary of. Our very happy couple (not) from the first night - we will call them The Glums - were on our excursions. The wife was not happy to see TBG. We think they are Dutch, but they both spoke French well. Apparently, though, they didn’t read the literature about the dive, because they both grabbed hold of a life preserver and never let go, not even to look beneath the water. I’m not sure why they pick this and not the glass bottom boat version of the same thing. They certainly didn’t appear to be enjoying themselves before or afterwards. Go figure. Sadly, our tablemates were on the same tour, but in another boat. We did hook up with them on the tender, though.
We were the last tender back to this ship and weren’t even out of the shower before the Captain pulled anchor - the tide was going out and he wanted to catch it.
Dinner was lovely and everyone seemed sunburned and windblown. It was fun to talk about our discoveries - Ken’s and Cindy’s excursion saw barracuda and sharks - and to hear what they did. Cindy was pretty pink and hopefully she was able to sleep last night.
As usual, dinner was great and Princess proved that there wasn’t a word for ‘no’ in their repertoire. TBG asked for a capris (tomato/mozzarella cheese/basil) salad. It arrived before we even ordered dinner and was a great starter. He split it into four portions and we shared it. What a great treat that was.
Foodwise: I started with vegetarian sushi which was no great shakes, although the kimchee was great. That was followed by a Caesar salad and spaghetti carbonara. Very yum! For dessert, I broke down and had a Drambuie soufflé (it was so good that Cindy ordered one after her Loveboat (chocolate mousse) platter and then a mocha tart. Three desserts, I don’t know how she does it or where she put it.
TBG started out with potato/leek soup, followed by some of my Caesar and then braised short ribs. He also had the mocha tart and ice cream (cookies and cream and) and apple cider sorbet, which he shared with everyone. I did like the sorbet.
After dinner, we retired back to the cabin to read and relax. It had been a busy day and we were both pretty tired from all the swimming (two hours) and the sun. Tomorrow is our last sea day and we plan to spend it quietly.