Days on Taha'a

We motored to Taha'a and stayed in our long-time favorite, Tapuamu. There are some services there:  a store (of sorts), gas, water, diesel, and ice. There is also the Pari Pari rhum (as they spell it) distillery that we visited regularly. 

We were sitting out the end of a Mara'amou and these rainbows continued to appear since Sun was behind us. 

This is Tapuamu's tiny harbor.  Our dinghy is squeezed into the right-hand corner: you can just see her stern and outboard.  They have a large freighter a few times each week, and regular shuttle service to and from the most exclusive and expensive resort on either Taha'a or Raiatea:  Taha'a Island Resort. 

Lovely Conni stops to inspect something as we head to the market for a few groceries. We each carry our gear in dry bags, of course:  that's her yellow one. 

Life in Tapuamu during Covid.  Everyone is wearing a mask, as you can see, as did we. 

This papaya tree is outside the PariPari distillery.  The stalks are hollow and we have been taught to use them to drink coconut water. 

This is a vanilla vine growing on a support.  They do sell some vanilla products, but I don't know if they use the products that they grow there. 

This is the aging room at the PariPari rhum distillery. They use used oak barrels, and age it for various ages.  "Fût de chene" is barrel size, about a 1/4 barrel we think. It's a very small distillery and uses a traditional and locally grown sugar cane.  This rhum, rhum agricole, is made from the cane juice rather than molasses as most rhums. 

Through the entrance, I snapped this shot of Wings at anchor in Tapuamu Bay. We rode that anchor for 4-5 days through some very strong winds.  When a mooring became available, we decided to trust our anchor set and stayed put.

Conni is purchasing some of the many products that they sell here.  We're all in masks, of course.  Behind at the left is the small German-made still used by the distillery.  PariPari offers some tasting, but not for all of the products. The staff person spoke no English so we made do with our French as she explained the intricacies of rhum production at PariPari.