Taha'a is a small island of about 4,500 population who live peaceful lives, fishing and farming. Here we are on one of the ship's tenders taking us to the island - I'm on the left, next is my sister and on the right is friend Kim.
Taha'a is often called the Vanilla Island, for its numerous plantations of 'black gold'. We visited a vanilla farm where they explained how vanilla is cared for - always grows in the shade, never direct sunshine. They are put out to dry, slowly, in the sun but for limited time only so they don't become 'crisp' which ruins them.
This is Alfredo standing next to one of the vanilla vines climbing up a bushy tree - so it gets shade from the hot sun. You can see the green pods hanging rather like pea pods. I bought some vanilla beans to bring back and I'm going to put them in a bottle of light rum to flavor it. I also bought some honey with a vanilla bean in it but I had to have someone mail it as it's illegal to take honey into New Zealand.
Here's a huge palm tree with coconuts - I got the feeling that coconuts are rather like potatoes - they're everywhere and kind of taken for granted - although there's nothing better than a freshly broken, crunchy coconut to eat. FYI: More people are killed by falling coconuts than are killed by sharks!
Taha'a was the center for fire-walking ceremonies in the several islands around it - until the missionaries came in 1822 at which time it came under French control. This is one of the little townships and you can see a church on the left a little way down the road.
This is the 4WD vehicle we drove around the island in - it's similar to the ones we had on each of the islands. I sat in the front with the guide (and they drive on the left side of the road too). This shows Paula and Kim on the left and Rob on the right. We had just loaded up from visiting one of the pearl farms.
The MS Paul Gauguin has its own private motu (small atoll) called Motu Mahana and after we returned from our island tour, I took a tender to this atoll - they had a BBQ meal, massage tent over the water, locals selling jewelry, arts/crafts, etc. and white beaches with crystal clear water - as you can see.
Even though the photo is a little blurred (they didn't want me taking a photo of the inside of the tent), I just HAD to post it - so you can dream of a massage in a setting like this. The water had a lot of coral and sea cucumbers and small silver fish which darted about so quickly I couldn't catch one in a photo.
On a rather sad note, all the islands had dogs roaming free - un-neutered and un-spayed. Most were in poor condition, some injured and some seemed desperate for attention. I am going to contact one of the animal charities to see if something can be done - something MUST be done.
My final photo is showing the main island behind our ship, taken from the motu. The water is varying shades of blue depending, of course, on the depth of the water and what was underneath it.
Taha'a is a small island of about 4,500 population who live peaceful lives, fishing and farming. Here we are on one of the ship's tenders taking us to the island - I'm on the left, next is my sister and on the right is friend Kim.
Taha'a is often called the Vanilla Island, for its numerous plantations of 'black gold'. We visited a vanilla farm where they explained how vanilla is cared for - always grows in the shade, never direct sunshine. They are put out to dry, slowly, in the sun but for limited time only so they don't become 'crisp' which ruins them.
This is Alfredo standing next to one of the vanilla vines climbing up a bushy tree - so it gets shade from the hot sun. You can see the green pods hanging rather like pea pods. I bought some vanilla beans to bring back and I'm going to put them in a bottle of light rum to flavor it. I also bought some honey with a vanilla bean in it but I had to have someone mail it as it's illegal to take honey into New Zealand.
Here's a huge palm tree with coconuts - I got the feeling that coconuts are rather like potatoes - they're everywhere and kind of taken for granted - although there's nothing better than a freshly broken, crunchy coconut to eat. FYI: More people are killed by falling coconuts than are killed by sharks!
Taha'a was the center for fire-walking ceremonies in the several islands around it - until the missionaries came in 1822 at which time it came under French control. This is one of the little townships and you can see a church on the left a little way down the road.
This is the 4WD vehicle we drove around the island in - it's similar to the ones we had on each of the islands. I sat in the front with the guide (and they drive on the left side of the road too). This shows Paula and Kim on the left and Rob on the right. We had just loaded up from visiting one of the pearl farms.
The MS Paul Gauguin has its own private motu (small atoll) called Motu Mahana and after we returned from our island tour, I took a tender to this atoll - they had a BBQ meal, massage tent over the water, locals selling jewelry, arts/crafts, etc. and white beaches with crystal clear water - as you can see.
Even though the photo is a little blurred (they didn't want me taking a photo of the inside of the tent), I just HAD to post it - so you can dream of a massage in a setting like this. The water had a lot of coral and sea cucumbers and small silver fish which darted about so quickly I couldn't catch one in a photo.
On a rather sad note, all the islands had dogs roaming free - un-neutered and un-spayed. Most were in poor condition, some injured and some seemed desperate for attention. I am going to contact one of the animal charities to see if something can be done - something MUST be done.
My final photo is showing the main island behind our ship, taken from the motu. The water is varying shades of blue depending, of course, on the depth of the water and what was underneath it.
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