Thursday, March 16, 2017 – Snorkeling in Huahine (HUH)

Last night we both slept poorly, as Bill was coughing all night again.

We had breakfast at the pension, already in our bathing suits. We didn’t need to go to town, so we could spend the morning snorkeling.

Teps, our kind host at Pension Meherio, told us that if we walked up the beach to the right for about 10-15 minutes we would see where the lagoon would narrow down as the reef grew closer to the beach. He told us that at this place there were nice coral and fish to view and that the current would allow us to drift all the way back to the beach that is roughly in front of the pension.

In some parts, it was a little difficult to walk along the foreshore and it was quite hard with coral in our reef shoes. We ended up very close to the reef and the pass and we saw even more fish that we had not seen before while snorkeling. We chose to go along the outside of the masses of coral, more towards the reef, and at one point, near to the pass the current became so strong that it almost ripped April’s bathing suit off. We both struggled a little to get in closer to shore again. We loved it so much, we spent two hours snorkeling through the maze-like mounds of coral, heading back towards the beach. It was well worth it for the amount of coral and number of fish in this area, which is more than the area around the beach in front of the pension.

We clambered onto the shore to pick up our towels and beach bags just in time for lunch. We rushed back to the pension, eyeing the dark clouds gathering overhead. We arrived back just before a heavy tropical rain hit.

While Bill heated the leftover pizza from the night before, April attempted to do laundry in the machines at the pension which Teps had generously allowed her to use. The machines were, of course, not like ours in Canada, and were French, with many unfamiliar, mysterious names and symbols. While the first load of laundry marinated, we ate our leftover pizza and sweltered in the humidity.

We had a mid-afternoon shower, as we were hot and sweaty again. We then took at nap.

Dinner was later, around 7:30 p.m. at the pension. Teps had ordered dinner from a friend of his with a food truck. They delivered it to the pension, since there were so many of us that wanted to eat from there (two singles, two couples, plus Teps, his son, and his son’s friend). Dinner was grilled red tuna steaks in a delectable vanilla sauce (vanilla is grown on Huahine), plus rice.

For dessert, someone offered April peach yoghurt and April was also given cookie ice cream. Bill was not feeling very well and decided against having dessert.

We were relegated to the “Anglophone” table with two other guests, one an American, and the other a French professor who lives in America. Conversation was very interesting and we enjoyed our dinner at the pension very much, especially because we didn’t have to leave and find dinner in town.

At about 9:00 p.m. we went back to our room to go to bed, as we had booked an excursion for the next morning. 

Breakfast at Pension Meherio.

Miri Miri the cat at Pension Meherio.

Taro growing at the Pension Meherio.

Teps has a degree in agriculture and planted a beautiful garden around the Pension Meherio.

Tiare de Tahiti or Tahitian Gardenia. This fragrant flower is what is handed out frequently to tourists in leis. Locals sometimes put a single bloom behind their ear.

Wednesday, March 15, 2017 – Huahine

Today Bill still felt really awful, but we had managed to sleep about 8 hours the night before, which was much needed and made both of us feel more human. We had breakfast at the pension—the usual fare, but this time with different fruit including something that doesn’t translate into English very well, called a star apple, and French Polynesian grapefruit, which is less acidic and bitter and more sweet than the grapefruit in North America. We think it tastes similar to a pomelo.

Breakfast.

Teps' son loves Miri Miri, the kitten, and Miri Miri's mother pictured here.

We walked to the pharmacy and April asked the pharmacist to see if there was anything she could take for her swollen feet and ankles. He said there wasn’t much a pregnant person could take, but suggested that she wear flip flops instead of more constraining shoes like runners while her feet are swollen. He said that the heat and humidity were undoubtedly not helping. He also advised her to drink tonnes of fluids. This is difficult as April already has to go to the washroom all the time as a result of being pregnant.

We walked into Fare, looking in a touristy shop along the way, and then went to the Super Fare Market where April tried on flip flops and chose the most comfortable pair. We also picked up a baguette, drinks, and some lovely French cheese for lunch. We then walked back to the Pension along the beach. We had lunch early at 11 AM. The two pension cats joined us and begged vigorously for pieces of cheese. While the mother cat tried to take the sandwiches right from our hands, the kitten was much more mild mannered, choosing to beg from the floor with the dog. The kitten let us hold him and pet him, which made for a lovely calorie free desert.

Pension Meherio

Another view of our home away from home

One can use bicycles for free

For showering off after the beach.

Sharing lunch.

Miri Miri the kitten (he loves to be pet so they named him Miri Miri which means caress in Polynesian).

Mother and baby hopefully waiting for more food.

The pond by Pension Meherio.

Pension Meherio is surrounded by beautiful flowers that Teps, the owner, planted (his degree was in agriculture).

Tiare flowers smell like a heavenly gardenia.

In the afternoon we fell asleep in our room but were awakened by a torrential downpour and what sounded like a little bit of thunder. We hung around the pension until the rain stopped and the sun came out again. We walked to the beach and turned right to walk the short distance to Treehouse Pearls. We visited this pearl vendor, Ray Marks, when he just had a plastic table and a hand painted sign by the beach 9 years ago. The place is considerably fancier now with a treehouse retail shop that displays various black pearl jewellery pieces as well as loose pearls. This is an obvious increase in overhead, including staff (Ray was not around).

April tried on several black pearl necklaces, however, we left empty handed as the pearls offered were mostly baroque or circled and we were not impressed by the prices, plus there were very few loose pearls available for purchase to create a piece of jewellery (usually a more economical option than buying a pre-made piece).

This necklace, in a lariat style, had 218 black pearls on it.

April felt the first sign of a cold coming on, a very sore throat and a stuffy nose. We rested at the pension after the trip to the pearl shop. It was pouring with rain again and it was very, very humid and hot. We spent some time composing blog entries.

Pouring rain.

You try looking this effortless while perching on a edge of a swinging door.

We did not have to go out to find dinner, as Teps, the owner of the pension, ordered pizza for the guests staying here. April had a shrimp pizza with garlic which turned out to be shockingly good, as the shrimp was cooked perfectly (the chances of this happening at home would be almost zero). Bill had a Hawaiian pizza that he also thought was good. We only made it through half a pizza each and saved the rest for lunch the next day.

A giant hermit crab came into the kitchen at the pension and Teps told us that he has one twice as big that lives under his house.

Pizza for dinner.

The guy on the pizza boxes puts special toppings on his pizza.

Tuesday, March 14, 2017 – Huahine

We had a terrible sleep due to the extreme heat and humidity that did not let up even in the middle of the night. April had trouble getting comfortable and Bill had a terrible cough from his cold.

We had breakfast just after 7:30 at the pension—baguette, butter, jam, and slices of watermelon, and a cup of tea each.

We returned to our room and got ready to walk to town. We took the back road route to town, so we could stop by the pharmacy to see if there was something to help Bill get over his persistent cough and cold. The knowledgeable pharmacist, who spoke excellent English, helped Bill find a nasal spray and expectorant for the cough. April found some temanu oil and some monoi oil with Tahitian tiare flower in it.

We walked to the bank after and managed to get some money out of the machine with a debit card, but for the credit card we had to get the assistance of the bank teller again.

We walked further towards Fare and bought a few items at the Super Fare market, including a popsicle each, which in the mid-morning 30 degree heat melted very, very quickly. We ate our popsicles and had a cool drink, as we sat on a dock and looked out at the turquoise waters.

We looked in an artisan shop and then went to the Restaurant Huahine Yacht Club for lunch. Bill felt very sick and had only a starter salad. while April had the fish burger with salad. We both had coconut water straight from a young coconut served with a straw. One of our cat friends joined us for the meal and took scraps from us and let us pet him.

Fresh coconut water right from the source.

Where's my coconut?

We walked back to the pension, changed into our swimsuits and went to the beach. April spent almost the entire time (a couple of hours) snorkelling. Bill was not feeling well and spent some time lying in the shade resting and then came out to snorkel with April for the last part.

The path between the beach and Pension Meherio.

We went back to the pension in the late afternoon, showered, and had a nap. First, Bill started awake and then April started awake. Individually, we both thought we had imagined it, but when comparing our experiences, it seems as though something jumped on and over us. Given that we have only seen tiny ants and geckos in our room, it must have been a very brave gecko. This may have been payback from the gecko we scared the night before by trying to take photos of it.

We dressed, and walked into Fare, where we had dinner at the the Restaurant Huahine Yacht Club. As they were out of the Mahi Mahi that we were going to eat, we had Oahu fish on the recommendation of the waitress.

The fish was served in a vanilla sauce (vanilla is grown in French Polynesia, including on Huahine). April had her fish with fries and Bill had his with green beans. For dessert, April had warm coconut cake with coconut ice cream (this was absolutely excellent). Bill had mango sorbet, but had trouble eating much, as he had a coughing spell.

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The beach between Fare and our pension.

We walked back to the pension along the beach. We tried to air out our room to make it cooler. So far we have not seen a single mosquito, just some little flies and tiny ants. 

April wrote in her journal, while Bill coughed.

April’s ankles and feet were still very swollen as they have been since the flight. The heat and humidity are probably not helping, but many pregnant women have this difficulty on vacation, especially after long flights. 

We had a cool shower before bed as we were gross and sweaty again. It has not been cooling off at night.