Category Archives: Gambiers Islands

Including: Mangareva, Temoe, Maria, Marutea, Muru Roa, Fangataufa,

Super Olympians

Inter Sport Olympics in Mangareva

What are the Mangarevan Inter-Sport Olympics?  A holiday for the island and a day of full of a variety of sporting events.  We created a team of 6 people to compete.  Our team consisted of Matt, Josh, Rachel, Becca, Andrew, and Wilky.  John was the official photographer. Simone, Torsten, Lisa and I were the official cheerleaders.

The day’s activities included:

  • Ping Pong
  • Bacchi Ball
  • Volleyball
  • Cross Fit
  • Tug of war using 6-man outrigger

PING PONG MATCH

Ping pong was the first game.  Each player played to 7-points and the team with the most points won.  Our team made it to the semi-finals and lost to the team that won this segment.

Ping Pong Match

Ping Pong Match

BACCHI BALL

Shortly after, the team made their way over to the bacchi ball court.  The goal was to toss a heavy ball as close to the marked ball without touching it.  We did well considering each player only got to practice once.

VOLLEYBALL GAME

Volleyball was next.  The team was told that they were not allowed to spike which was unfortunate as we had a couple of tall players.  The other unfortunate thing was that our team was facing into the wind which was blowing at least 20 knots.  It was a bit of a comedy, but then again our team had never played together before.

Volleyball Tournament

Volleyball Tournament

And some more fun with the volleyball tournament

Volleyball Tournament

Volleyball Tournament

CROSS FIT FUN

Cross Fit had several components.  First Rachel and Becca had to wheelbarrow across to the other side.

Ladies Wheel Barrow Race

Ladies Wheel Barrow Race

Next, Andrew had to do 10 burpees, then tag Wilky.

Andrew Doing 10 Burpees

Andrew Doing 10 Burpees

Wilky then took off running around the sports complex three times

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Once Wilky finished his race, he tagged Matt and Josh who had to wheelbarrow across to the other side.

Men's wheel barrow race

Men’s wheel barrow race

We think we came in third in the overall cross fit, but not sure as they didn’t announce it.

OUTRIGGER TUG OF WAR

The last competition of the inter-sport olympics was probably the most humorous.  They put each team into a 6-man outrigger and they played tug of war.  This is a French Polynesia national sport!

Let’s just say, it took the other team 10 seconds to win.  The good news is that our team did not flip the outrigger!

Outrigger Tug-Of-War Competition

Outrigger Tug-Of-War Competition

Even though we didn’t win, the team and cheerleaders had a fantastic day participating in the island olympics.

Gringo Olympic Participants

Gringo Olympic Participants

Here is a great collage of some locals, bacchi ball, ping pong, and the boys team.

Inter-Sport Olympics Photos

Inter-Sport Olympics Photos

THE WINNERS:

The prizes were 25lb bag of sugar for 3rd place in each category and overall.  A giant bag of rice for 2nd place and a box of frozen chicken for first place.  Team “L” won the overall prize which also included a frozen pig.

Olympic Winners

Olympic Winners

Top of Mount Duff

Hiking Mount Duff

Mount Duff is the highest peak on the island of Mangareva in the Gambier Islands, French Polynesia. It has an elevation of 441 meters.  It also called Auorotini in the Mangarevan language.  But most everyone calls it Mt. Duff, much easier to pronounce.

We had wanted to hike Mt. Duff for several weeks, but were unable to due to weather.  Either there was a dark cloud cover over the top of the mountain or we had rain.  We were told to 2 days after it rains as the trails become very slippery, muddy, and impassable.  In the image below you cannot even see the top of Mount Duff.

Mount Duff on a Cloudy Day

Mount Duff on a Cloudy Day

Below you can see the top of the two mountains on a bright and clear day.

Two tallest mountains in Mangareva

Two tallest mountains in Mangareva

Hikers:  Sugar Shack (Matt & Christine); Agape (Josh, Rachel, Wilky), Halcyon (Andrew), Argo (Simone and Torsten) and a random little, fluffy dog.

Welcome Sign to Start Hike at Mount Duff

Welcome Sign to Start Hike at Mount Duff

It was a pretty stiff hike, straight up, through mud, pine needles and over fallen trees and rocks.  Our group of 2 teens and barely 30-year olds seemed to skip up the hill while I struggled a bit.  Lucky for me, one or two of them would hang back and wait with me as I caught my breath.

HALF WAY STOP

At the half way pint, Simone and Torsten picked some fresh pomplemouse for everyone.

Pit stop at half way point for a snack

Pit stop at half way point for a snack

Along the way we had gorgeous views.

View Mid-Way from Mount Duff

View Mid-Way from Mount Duff

View 3/4 of the way to the top Mount Duff

View 3/4 of the way to the top Mount Duff

Being at the top of the highest peak on the island was breathtaking!  It was well worth the effort to hike up the 441 meters.

Of course, the last 100 meters of the path narrowed down to 1 meter in width with dramatic drops on both sides – little nerve racking.

Top of Mount Duff

Top of Mount Duff

Must admit that I had a difficult time up and down, but I made it.  It was a huge accomplishment for all of us, but I was particularly proud of myself.

3 of our friends decided to stay at the top for a bit longer to enjoy the view.  Since I knew it would take me a lot longer to get down the mountain, Matt and I left first, then Josh, Tortsten and Simone followed 5 minutes behind us.  The three that stayed were privy to a gorgeous rainbow

Rachel and her beautiful rainbow

Rachel and her beautiful rainbow

Almost 6 miles, 14,570 steps and 116 floors climbed.

Kirimiro Tunnel

KIRIMIRO: A Gentle 6.7-mile walk

It was time to move our legs, so we gathered the troops and picked a trail.  For the first hike, we decided to hike the Tunnel trail called Kirimiro which is in the center of the island and takes you across to the other side of Mangareva.  With us today: Agape: Josh, Rachel and Wilky and Halcyon: John and Becca.

Start of Kirimiro Hike

Start of Kirimiro Hike

As you can see, we had some outstanding views along the way.

View from Kirimiro Hike

View from Kirimiro Hike

Our anchorage was pretty crowded with almost 30 boats squeezing in between the reefs.  It is pretty amazing to see so many boats in this tiny anchorage.  The bottom photo is a pearl farm just off a large reef.

View from Kirimiro Hike

View from Kirimiro Hike

We found the little tunnel (or bridge) which was a bit anti-climactic.

Kirimiro Tunnel

Kirimiro Tunnel

The coolest part of this hike was searching for fresh fruit.  Pomplemouse is abundant here and can be found on the side of the road.  It is a cross between a grapefruit and an orange.  We procured several coconuts, and avocados as well.

Coconut Hunting

Coconut Hunting

Matt found a huge stalk of bananas that we will share amongst 3 boats.  The top photo has Matt carrying it over his shoulder but that grew tiresome quickly so we took turns having two people carry it at a time.  The lower left corner photo has Wilky on Josh’s shoulders with a machete attached to a long stick.  They were attempting to get one avocado.  We didn’t get it.

Banana Hunting

Banana Hunting

The boys sharing the load of our bounty.

Sharing the load

Sharing the load

Overall it was a great day.  We walked 6.7 miles, 17,117 steps and 83 floors.  A super day to be outside.