Huahine Tour

Even with inclement threatening, we took a long walk today and were able to see the Marae site that we had felt was a "must see" while we were here. A Marae is a rectangular stone structure that was originally a social center and later evolved into a religious and political center. Most events were celebrated there, events from all scales of life. They reached their height in the pre-European days, of course, and Captain Cook probably saw them at their pinnacle. Some of the Marae in the photos date back to the 1500s.

This cargo ship arrives every two days, uses bow and stern thrusters to go alongside the municipal docks, and uses its onboard cranes to off-load and load all manner of items. It also carries local passenger among the islands. What a system!

Conni finds a cat, and a pat is necessary.

Wings on her mooring. Look at that surf beating on the reef!

Sunday market in Fare.

Fare Post Office. What a great building!

The best industrial design that I've seen in years for these post boxes.

Whatever it is, it grows wild. Bird of Paradise?

A pension, or B and B, has a nice drive. The metal structures at right are for garbage cans.

Everyone has coconuts and everyone eats them. What to do with all of those husks? Make one BIG pile!

Conni catches Bill walking along the road.

"Feral" bananas grow in profusion.

Youngster makes good: a coconut lands on good soil and sprouts.

Hibiscus grows everywhere and adds color to the view.

A typical family grave at rest in a lovely home garden.

Mangoes! Again, no cultivation is necessary. Just pick when ripe.

A freshwater river makes it way to the sea. I thought that the scene was beautiful.

A Marae. Note the rectangular shape. The "spirits" were cordoned off in the structure at the far end.

Conni provides some scale. Note the "filler" rock inside the structure. The larger vertical stones represented deities or important family members.

The original museum was destroyed in the 1998 typhoon, but this lovely structure was rebuilt. It was, unfortunately, closed. Again, note the amazing right-angle structures.

Conni and the museum entrance.

The finely made corners of the Marae and amazingly flat tops bespeak enormous labor and talent for geometry. How did they get right angles? Why did they use right angles?

These depressions are "crypts" for the bones of important people.

Bill, emoting in the park. He wished that he could see into the past to understand what this meant to the locals.

Another view of the very flat tops.

A Conni photo showing the museum and the very cool little landing structures that were built into the sea walls.

Local paganism is not dead. Good for them.

Flat, flat, flat. Square, square, square. What did it mean?

The spirit wall: the vertical stones represented deities or famous deceased. That's what is said, anyway.

One of my favorite photos. This little section of wall shows the work of a single human, with the stones piled as they could be to fill the cavity. A human mind saw the gap and chose stones to complete the task. What a different world he saw. Little scenes like this fascinate me because they put me in touch with people and times long gone.

This is a great photo of several Marae with the deity stones in the distance.

This is rentable by the week, month, or year.

This is the little store at which we bought the baguette, Roquefort, and Orangina for our lunch.

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