Huahini Part 2

Day two was tour day and Armando, our local guide picked us up in a modified pick up truck.

First stop was a quick visit to the Post Office to send postcards home that will probably get there around Christmas 2013.

The flowers and gardens here are just spectacular.

These are actually vanilla plants. Tahaa, a few islands down the road is noted to have the best vanilla in the world. The plants are actually grown in piles of old coconut husks which fertilize the plants. The vanilla plant is actually a member of the orchid family – the only orchid which produces a fruit. The plants have to be hand pollinated and take over five years to yield there precious fruit.

Next stop was an ancient reconstructed Marae. Various structures were devoted to specific purposes such as cooking, canoes, sleeping and religious ceremonies.

These are ancient fish wires which are still in use today. “V” shaped channels constructed from rocks are set up to funnel fish into holding areas on the incoming and outgoing tides. The owner of the weir then blocks the exit and scoops the fish our with hand nets. Pretty ingenious.

Another Marae – the largest on Huahini.

And a visit to feed the “sacred” eels. I still don’t have any idea what makes them sacred other then the fact that they have escaped the fate of other eels on Huahini – a trip to the dinner table.

Some views from around the island.

We were told that these rock structures were named after various parts of our sexual reproductive organs – I’ll leave it to you to figure out which is which. I wasn’t entirely clear about this, but the name Huahini, apparently is a reference to part of the female anatomy.

Any way, here are some pineapple plants but it is the wrong time of year for the actual pineapples.

And a view of Fare, the main town on Huahini.

And Iron Lady sitting at anchor just off Fare.