Pacific Odyssey - Leg 3

Another idyllic day . . . Skipper and I were asking each other if anyone gets bored after awhile, touring through the islands for months at a time . . . I guess we´ll find out.  Up to now, it´s been quite beautiful, each day dawns and we ask ourselves what we should do?...  snorkel, swing off the outhaul rope into the ocean, explore the town or the island, possibly meet some locals and play volleyball, walk or hike, find a waterfall, find a shop that sells cold drinks, take it easy on the ship, read, write etc. . . yes, life is good.  There are always lots of things that need doing, and things that we continue to put up with, but when we see where we are and the contacts we can make with so many different cultures, we feel very fortunate indeed.  We woke up to a very sunny and hot day.  We are thankful for the tarps.  After breakfast a group went to the island of Huahine and explored for the day.  They found the local people very friendly, were given rides to various places of interest, ate at a restaurant serving traditional Polynesian food, i.e. ´poison cru´ (raw fish soaked in lime juice, garlic, onion, pepper, salt, parsley, and served with coconut milk), and saw some Polynesian dancing.  One of the members of the drumming troupe gave them a ride back to the beach for the 2200hr dory ride. Trainees were very excited about their day.  Another group took the dories to a motu, basically a sand, coral and coconut tree covered island that forms part of the reef around the bigger island in the middle, in this case, Huahine.  It was beautifully desolate sounding, only the sound of the waves breaking on the reef could be heard.  We wandered along the edges, tried some snorkeling, found a coconut, husked it, cracked it, and broke out pieces to eat.  The kids got a drinking coconut down from a tree and we tried that as well.  We still had 2 pamplemousse left from the agricultural school and those made up the rest of our snack. Some of us swam/snorkeled back to the boat, passing a reef around an entrance buoy to check out the fish.  There was quite a group hanging out together on the ship; there was a good feeling, people just happy to be there, doing what they were doing, enjoying each other´s company.  Tristan, Sam and Arwen swung together on the outhaul swing, landing close to each other in the water, laughing the entire time.  Jacob, for the first time, is also enjoying swinging into the water from the bowsprit.  Arwen and Caelen baked chocolate chip cookies; we enjoyed them tonight.  Tavish decided it was time to get a haircut and I gave him a trim on the afterdeck.  This evening, about 2200hrs, the wind suddenly picked up quite strong and we had to quickly take down all 3 tarps.  The sky has turned quite cloudy and we are expecting rain.  This has not discouraged trainees and crew from sleeping on deck though, and if it rains, I will hear many footsteps making a dash for the hatches, sleeping gear under their arms.  We are up at 0600hrs tomorrow, moving to a new anchorage deeper in the bay and visiting a church in the village of Maroe, where Skipper has read, the singing is amazing.  Jose was ashore today and ended up playing volleyball with some young people, and being invited to bring the trainees tomorrow for another game at 1600hrs. Should be fun. The island is very quiet, not many cars have driven by the road by the shore.  There are fewer tourists here than in Moorea or Bora Bora, and many of the young people move away to work in the tourist industry.  This is it, I have caught the sore throat/runny nose bug that has been making its way through the boat. Until tomorrow, good night, Bonice.