Loving the Diving!

Wednesday 16th April

We took a taxi to Avatoro, the local village - at the usual overpriced fare. I suppose we're getting used to the prices. The village has a bank, post office, shop/supermarket, restaurant of sorts and only one street. The traffic speed is kept down, not by speed bumps but by the bridges joining each island in the atoll to the next. These bridges have a height above the road of about 1/2metre and the approach ramps are about a metre long, thus good speed bumps. It cost 500 more to return due to 3 shopping bags in the back!

Yesterday I went diving again with a dive boat from the hotel - as well as Shin and John and Kim from Chantelle. My deepest yet, down to 20 metres. Lots of tropical fish and different corals. I saw a manta swimming by. They are incredibly graceful creatures and just lazily glide through the water. Several of the others saw dolphins as well.

Then Val and I dined ashore in the hotel, expensive, but then nothing grows here except coconuts, so everything comes in by air or, I assume, ship.

Today Shin is going over by water taxi to the next island in the atoll and is walking around, while the 2 of us, along with John & Kim are taking BlueFlyer for a sail in the lagoon. Our little anchorage has got very busy with other yachts arriving all the time, so who knows where we'll park tonight. We are invited to Chantelle for dinner tonight, having had them on board here a few times

Saturday is our proposed departure to Tahiti, and a big clean up and maintenance list to get through on our stay in the marina. Then we'll go and look at Moorea, the island next door for a few days, then on to Raieta for the beginning of the Pearl Regatta. This regatta brings us through another island and then finishes in BoraBora.