Announcement on Tuesday evening: A heavy sea swell forecast for Rarotonga in the Cook Islands on Friday preventing safe tendering operations. Our planned visit there on Friday had been cancelled.
Instead we would visit the island of Raiatea on Thursday, where a suitable quayside will enable our ship to dock safely.
I fancied a kayaking adventure on the island, so had booked a place.
A short journey from the port brought us to the mouth of the Fa’aroa river where we set out on a 2 km journey upstream taking us close to the centre of the island.
Wading into the water, we climbed into the kayaks, two persons per kayak.
It was a very pleasant experience, although fairly heavy going upstream.
Unfortunately, my co-pilot started to develop muscle cramps and in the kayak’s restricted space he was unable to relieve the pain so we were forced to make a premature return to the departure point. I was getting pretty tired myself, so didn’t complain.
While waiting for the other kayakers, we watched two fishermen bring their small catch ashore.
Not many fish but they had only spent a brief time out in the estuary.
There were beautiful views as we sailed between the islands of Raiatea and Taha’a that evening.
The Isle of Taha’a at Another Point
We made our way between the islands and through a narrow opening in the reef towards the open sea. Bora Bora came into view in the distance but we were on our way to Tonga.
Leave a Reply