Tahaa

After Raiaitea, it was off to her sister island, Tahaa.

Plans called for the girls to goon a tour which included pearl farms and shopping. Steve and I decided to forgoe the tour and go fishing instead. Unfortunately, we didn’t catch anything, but it was better then a day in the black pearl shops.

So here are some shots from the girl’s day out.

Say hello to their little friend.

At the pearl farm, they were shown how the oysters were seeded to produce cultured pearls.

Then a trip to the vanilla plantation where this gentlemen is showing the girls how the vanilla plants are grown in coconut husks. The vanilla plant is actually member the orchid family and is the only orchid that produces a fruit. Each plant has to be individually pollinated by hand and it takes over 5 years for the plant to produce mature vanilla pods.

This is followed by a lengthy drying process where the beans are exposed to sunlight for just a few hours a day.

Tahaa, apparently, is known to produce some of the worlds best vanilla.

After the tour, the girls went swimming while Steve and I worked on a balky outboard. Never a shortage of things to fix around boats.

Then it was off to dinner at a typical (and very expensive) island resort. In talking to some folks who were traveling about the Societies and staying in some of these resorts, the daily rates they were paying were as much as $650. Yikes.

Next day was snorkeling in a coral garden near the resort where we had dinner. More about that next time.

Cheers