Wow! What a spectacular day we had today! Early this morning, we docked in Raiatea, which is French Polynesia’s second largest island, but by no means is this a hustle-and-bustle type of island. This reminds us of what early Hawaii must have been like, before there was much influence from the outside world. This place feels pretty untouched in many ways. The town is just a few blocks long and the rest of the island is pretty much controlled by nature, it would seem.

Our first order of business today was to take a 4WD tour of the island. We boarded into the back of a 4×4 pickup outfitted with seats that held eight and took off to explore the island. The weather wasn’t the greatest today … a bit cloudy with periods of rain … but the temps were still warm and pleasant. The tour took us through the island’s crater, which is now covered with papaya, pineapple, mango, vanilla, and lime plantations as well as wild jungle areas that seem right out of a Hollywood set. From there, we headed to Marae Taputapuatea, one of the most sacred spots in all of ancient Polynesia. It was here that tribal meetings from all kingdoms of Polynesia would be held and it is also where Polynesians were set out to explore and settle what is now New Zealand and Hawaii. In 1969, over 5,000 human skulls were found behind the rock wall at Marae Taputapuatea, which indicates that this was also a place for frequent human sacrificing. From the marae, we boarded the 4×4 again and headed to a vanilla plantation. You can smell vanilla all over this island … it is amazing. From there, it was time to head back to our ship in Uturoa.

After a quick bite to eat on the ship, we both headed out to climb the 3,000 foot mountain we saw from our deck when we docked in the morning. We had read about the magnificent views from the top of the mountain and thought it would be nice to do an independent activity today. Once we found the trail and got past a few confusing initial turns, the steep uphill climb combined with the high humidity here today had us soaked. Along the way we passed wild pigs and wild horses, including a newborn foal. One last steep uphill push past the horses along the path and we reached the top and soaked in the amazing view and the nice breeze that was blowing there as well.

Back on the ship tonight we had another fine meal in the ship’s restaurant and then got to enjoy a post-dinner traditional Polynesian music and dance program put on by the people of Raiatea. It was very well done.

We overnight here before pushing away at 6AM tomorrow for about a six-hour cruise to Bora Bora, where we will be for a day and a half. More to come from there, but until then, enjoy these photos of Raiatea (click the images to enlarge) ….