Tag Archives: gambiers

Cinco de Mateo: Matt’s Birthday

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Valerie played several Polynesian birthday songs over the VHF radio first thing in the morning on Cinco de Mateo (5 May).  Waking up to the beautiful melodies of the islands was a perfect way to start Matt’s birthday.  Sugar Shack remained anchored in Taravai longer than anticipated just so we could celebrate with Valerie, Herve and their family again (we were here last year for Matt’s birthday too).

We invited our friends at anchor, planned a mid-day BBQ and enjoyed a great Tuesday.  We landed onshore first and were eagerly greeted by Valerie.  She had made a typical Polynesian crown and leigh for Matt.  It was not only beautiful but incredibly fragrant.  He looked a little silly but he wore it all day (bless his heart).

It was great fun celebrating with all of our friends!

Chris and Fred onboard Sea Jay (American) and Ivar and Floris onboard LuciPara 2 (Dutch)

And the rest of the party crew…

And of course, Matt and I

Taravai Sunday Funday for Matt’s Birthday

Herve BBQ’d some pork ribs, made a tasty pork stew, and poison cru (raw fish dish).  We had tons of side dishes and I made cheesecake bites (with my last cream cheese) and a butter pecan cake.  Super fun.

Matt did the social distancing thing perfectly by NOT blowing out his candles.  He merely lifted the board that was blocking the wind.  We had happy birthday sung to us in multiple languages: English, Spanish, Tahitian, Mangarevian, French, and Dutch.

One of the local families brought pearls for everyone to consider. Gabriel has a pearl farm and a pension (hotel) in Rikitea.  He was so kind!  He gave three of us a few loose pearls.

All in all a great celebration on Matt’s birthday!

Celebrating in Taravai

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We spent many afternoons celebrating our freedom after the quarantine.  All of the cruisers anchored at the Taravai village would go to shore to play volleyball and patonque.  It was a great way to get some exercise, get your heart rate up, and enjoy some community with others.  Thank goodness the locals who live here, Valerie, Herve and their kids Alan and Arique love hosting and playing games!

And lots of patonque

Many Happy Hours and Dinners

Everyone was celebrating happy hours and dinners.  Here is one of many nights  aboard fellow cruiser’s boats.  This one in particular was hosted by our friends Fred and Chris onboard Sea Jay.  They invited Valerie, Herve, Alan and Ariki to join us for a tasty pot luck.

ILOT MOTU-O-ARI

Located less than one nautical mile from Taravai is a little, uninhabited island called Moto O-Ari.  Last year we snorkeled on the southern side.  However, we never explored the little island.  With nothing but time on our hands, we had to remedy that situation.

We tied Sweetie up to a rock and tossed a stern anchor to hold her in place.  We scrambled up the rocky cliff and enjoyed a hike around the little island.  Sometimes there are paths cleared by other cruisers or locals.  Sometimes there is nothing but goat trails and sometimes there is nothing by wild.  This island was all wild.

We climbed over rocks, walked over dead coral, hiked up and down hills and hung off of trees as we walked all the way around the motu. 

Next, we wanted to conquer the two hills or large mounds.  They did not seem “that” tall but there were no paths.  So, it was hanging from cliffs by rock ledges or tree roots. Certainly, made it interesting.  We did have some pretty views of the bay.

Views from Motu - O Ari

Views from Motu – O Ari

Flour Celebrations

I know you are thinking, why would you celebrate getting flour?  Well, let me tell you.  Lots of baking went on at Sugar Shack.  We are not in the main island (where the village and markets are located) and have to bake our own bread.  What are we baking: English muffins, pizza dough, cookies, cake, brownies, banana muffins, and lots of bread.  All of these items require flour.

We had stock piled flour before we arrived in the Gambiers, thank goodness.  There has only been one delivery of flour over the last 3 months!  Yep, one delivery and it was small.  I was only able to procure 4 bags (1 kilo each) as no hording was allowed.  I was dangerously low and was sharing my woes with a fellow cruiser friend who helped me out.

My friend, Daniela who is fluent in French, worked with the local baker Phillipe.  He placed an order with his supplier in Tahiti.  However, his supplier was out of flour as well so they had to order it from outside the country.  Once the flour arrived to the supplier in Tahiti, it was placed on the supply ship and delivered to me in Gambiers in a 25 kilo bag (50lbs).   It took three parties, 3 delivery methods, and lots of help.  But, it was delivered for a grand total $15!  Both Matt and I were celebrating our huge score!  I spent the morning bagging and storing the flour in seal-able containers with bay leaves (to prevent weebles).

Ile Mekiro – The Shallows

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We had visited Akamaru a few months ago, prior to the quarantine.  We really enjoyed this little island and had wanted to come back to see if we could get in closer to the shallows on the opposite side of Ile Mekiro. The small Ile Mekiro sits just in front of Akamaru and has no livable space, a teeny tiny beach, and a beautiful white cross at the top of the hill.  Visit this post to learn about our first visit.

The water is incredibly shallow in this area so we had to time our entrance perfectly.  We needed it to be high tide during peak sunshine.  For weeks high tide fell early morning and late night which was not conducive for seeing coral heads threatening to introduce themselves to the bottom of our boat.  On this return trip we had our friends on HooDoo following us – no pressure!

Anchoring in the Shallows

After entering the small channel , we found our way to our previous anchor spot which was 1.4 meters deep.  We eye balled our path and forged ahead in a very slow forward motion.  We passed by three coral heads and made a hard right in a space that barely fit our wide boat.  From there we had to make a best guess at where we could go without touching the sea floor or a coral head.  We successfully made it to the abandoned raft, circled in front of it (avoiding the long line floating off its bow) and on into the inner lagoon near Remy’s house boat. Nothing like a little stress to get your blood pumping. 

The red line marks our approximate track.  The blue “X” is where we anchored last time.  The arrow points to the other side of Ile Mekiro where we anchored.

We ended up dropping the hook in 1.3 meters of sand (we draw about 1.2 meters).  Somewhere in the middle of low tide Matt saw .9 meters under the boat.  Not sure how that happened we did not feel the seabed dance with Sugar Shack

Hiking Ile Mekiro

Ile Mekiro is a small island with a fun hike to the top (following goat trails).  We forged our own path and took some great photos of the bay.  The top photo shows the cross we hiked too and the bottom two are drone shots Matt took of Missy and I resting at the cross.

This drone shot shows all the amazing coral on the northern side of Ile Mekiro making inaccessible.

Missy and I hanging out by the cross as Matt flew the drone

Snorkel on the Westside of Ile Mekiro

While we were at the top of Ile Mekiro we saw a beautiful spot to snorkel.  It looks like a ton of coral which was bound to be beautiful.  We took the dinghy around the island and jumped in.  A black tip and white tip shark hung out with us while we snorkeled.

The coral was incredibly healthy.  I wish I could explain all of the varieties of coral but all I can clearly say is that there were a lot of staghorn and table corals.  The thing that was fascinating was seeing the staghorn grow in between the tables giving a nice depth to the floor.

Hike Along the Ridge

We took HooDoo to the Eastern tip of Akamaru to hike along the ridge.  We had heard that we could collect lemons and pomplemouse by the beach as a bonus.  The arrow in the lower left is the beach where we left the dinghy.  The arrow in the upper right is the rock ledge we hiked to.

We landed the dinghy at a beautiful beach with a small shack.  It had soft sand and lots of trees.  Behind the shack were several fruit trees ripe for the picking. 

It was a moderate hike straight up over rocks on a goat path.

Absolutely beautiful views from the top.  The water is just stunning.

Of course, Matt had to do his jumping stunt near the edge.

And we end the post with a sunset on fire!