From Papeete to Raiatea

Conni departed for Alaska and I remained behind to sail Wings from Papeete to Raiatea, then decommission her for the long layover. In looking through some photos, I decided to post some of the more interesting ones of our time in Papeete and a few photos from my stay in Raiatea.

As Conni and I were walking one afternoon, we came across this odd staircase.

This is memorial to French Polynesian war dead. The French rooster tops the monument. The larger one with the statue here is for WW I, and Conni reads the memorial for Korea.

Papeete Town Hall (Mairie Papeete was inaugurated in 1990. Papeete Town Hall is located at Place Tarahoi and was designed to replicate the 19th century colonial design of the old Queen's palace that once stood in the same spot. It has a golden yellow paint job and an iconic clock tower, much photographed. It is directly across Rue Paul Gauguin from the war memorial.

On our walk, we climbed as high as we could and found this lovely view of the Papeete harbor area. Wings is out of view but is at water's edge on the left.

Along the same walk, we found these lovely homes high on the mountain side. The temperature was several degrees cooler and what wind was available was available up here.

Beware of fire ants! Who knew? Does this sign stop them from spreading?

The Danish sailing vessel, Nordkaperen, has been maintained in her traditional style, and even uses mast hoops, wooden rings, to hold her sail to her mast, unlike our sail track.

This is her steering wheel, completely exposed to the weather. Not my cup of tea!

Nordkaperen's deck from the wheel area. She has a steel hull and deck.

We were allowed to visit below and this ancient table was their pride and joy. It was old when put aboard Nordkaperen, 110 years ago, so it could easily be 2-250 years old, we were told.

Jump forward to Raiatea! These are our new sail bags!

Conni and I had meant to throw a beer party for the Raiatea Carenage crew and never had the opportunity. My Valdez friend, Joshua (leaning at right) and I completed the thought. The beer proved to be a potent social magnet and crew and cruisers appeared.

Snack Mimosa's owner and manager is this lady, a real character.

Hotel Hinano's breakfast area and lobby in the distance is lovely, with the nice white tile.

Coffee, pain chocolate, baguette and juice, a true continental breakfast, is served each morning at Hotel Hinano.

The cruise ship Paul Gauguin as seen from my hotel window.