On the Edge

Rangiroa is an atoll. It looks very peculiar. Just an irregular ring around a huge lagoon. So every where you are on Rangiroa, you are on the edge. We were staying on the ENE edge and could see both the sea and the lagoon from the road in front of our lodging. The strip of land is less than two city blocks wide. Moorea is expected to become an atoll in about 300,000 years when it sinks beneath the water. Rangiroa is famous for its dive sites that are reported to be some of the best in the world. I found the diving disappointing but it is probably because I am not thrilled by seeing sharks. That is the specialty here. I would rather see things like coral, colorful fish, leaf fish, seahorses and other smaller creatures. The dive shops I investigated specialized in seeing big things in the deep water which means you have luck sometimes and often you only see the big things at a far distance. I did see lots of sharks here, mostly black tip but some silky sharks, lemon sharks and others that I did not identify. The dive shops take you to the seaward side of the atoll and let you drift into the lagoon or do it in reverse according to the tide. We are taken in a zigzag pattern, out to deep water then back towards the reef. Most of the time is spent in deep water looking for sharks, dolphins, turtles and rays. We usually get a view of such an animal at a distance as it swims into view before leaving again. Not much chance for photos unless we are lucky. After diving the gap twice, I went to the local "Aquarium" site with a dive master who was not interested much in the dive and kept taking me into cloudy water. She was cold and tired from previous dives I guess or maybe just in a bad mood. She also wanted to surface when I still had 130 bar of air. It is usual in diving to stay down till about 50 bar. I am a low air use

diver but I did pay a lot for the privilege as the only customer on this dive.
photo #1. This little puffer fish greeted me when I entered the water on my first dive in Rangiroa.
photo #2. Here's a black tip shark. I have seen hundreds of them on my dives this trip in the South Pacific. Most of them here. It is near a 'Jackfish'. I don't really understand the term 'Jackfish' It seems to refer to more than one kind of fish. I found one that looked like this one on line and it was called a Jackfish.
photo #3

Tuesday September 13, 2016. Today I went on a snorkel tour through one of the passes. We passed through the gap 3 times getting in the water together, holding hands and floating through the pass to our waiting rubber boat. We climb aboard then ride back out to do it again for 3 trips. We also got to snorkel for about 20 minutes at an

area called 'the aquarium'. They call small islands on the lagoon side of the atoll, aquariums because they act as nurseries for many fish. The water is not rough there though there are ever changing currents. We are required to wear life jackets which is a bit of a bother but it is still a pretty good experience. Especially the free time snorkeling in the less cloudy water. At least I get to choose where to go with this outing. Not into the cloudy water like my last dive. I actually saw much more during snorkeling today than my last dive with the pissy dive master.
Tonight calls for another South Pacific stew. We have onion, cabbage, and daikon fresh, carton tomatoes, canned corn, spinach and white beans. Groceries are definitely not what I would prefer but we are making do. The stew is OK but could use more seasoning. We also boil up some potatoes for tomorrow’s lunch on the excursion to the blue lagoon. We don’t expect to be able to eat much from the buffet lunch on the beach.

Wednesday September 10 2016. What a day. We were picked up for our excursion this morning and driven in the back of a pickup truck with a one by eight board for a seat on either side of the truck bed. We pick up enough passengers to fill the truck then go to a boat launch where we board a small motor boat. It has a canvas drop down drape to shield one side of the boat. We sit to distribute the weight evenly and are immediately told, for security we must put all of our belongings into the large dry-bin in the middle of the boat. We put the backpack in and the guides do not seem happy with that. We put everything but shoes and our little camera in and they are happier. There are ten people on board including a captain and two helpers. None of the crew speak much English. One couple from South Korea speak with an American accent. They are on their honeymoon. Our ride to the “Blue Lagoon” starts off with a speed boat driving in a flat bottomed passenger or maybe a fishing boat. It is not designed for the speed that is used. We bounce and hit the occasional speed bump like in most motorboats. We ride 1.5 hours to the Blue Lagoon. Once there we wade into shore over uneven rocky bottomed knee deep water. We see sharks circling the boat when we arrive and most of the people are a bit afraid of the sharks and hesitate to go into the water. I tell them that these little sharks are not interested in humans. We walk through the sharks and make it to the beach where our guides set up a BBQ grill and cook coconut and wheat bread over the grill with leaves to shield it from the heat. It is turned many times during the cooking and soon chicken that has been marinated a short time is

placed next to it. The fire is made with coconut husks and the young man with the hatchet makes short work of chopping some palm fronds into short pieces for the fire. It is a power demonstration to watch him use that axe. We are on a little strip of land next to the Blue Lagoon, where small fish and sharks circle in the very shallow water at the edges. There are two kinds of young fish there. I do not know their name but one type appears to sip air regularly like carp. There are also very small black sea cucumbers. The littlest are smaller than 3 inches long and wedged under pieces of rock. Most of our group have taken off on a walk through ankle to knee deep water to the other island where they see more little sharks and some birds. I notice that birds are starting to line up just off shore near the BBQ. They are waiting for our scraps and regularly one of the guides goes to dispose of some food bits or wash a bowl in the salty water. I put on my snorkel gear and lie down in the 6 inch deep water to take photos. Soon the fish and sharks come close enough for me to take photos of them. After we eat and have a bit of travel conversation with the Korean couple. We tell them about the four state islands of Micronesia and recommend they try a visit there. While we are talking all of the other non-English-speaking people give their close attention to listen so they may all know a bit more English than we had thought. After our meal we watch the sharks, fish and birds fight for the scraps that are thrown in a bit at a time to increase the competition for our photo ops.
When we leave we only go a hundred meters or so from where we waded to the boat and are invited to snorkel with the 1.5 meter long, black tip sharks. There is a big lemon shark, 2 meters or more, that is attracting our attention and only a guide, the French guy, myself and the Korean couple go in the water. The sharks do circle but there is no anxiety till I see going under us, a huge shark, maybe a lemon. It does not raise up from the bottom but it is a monster as it goes under us. We are called back into the boat after only ten minutes or less. I hope the photos will turn out. I took probably more than 100. I am glad I don’t have to pay for developing them.
We get back into the bucking bronco of a boat for our one and a half hour ride across the huge lagoon. The antics of the driver are worse now. We go faster and the swells are about 5 feet with the occasional large wave. The boat slams down in the troughs and sends the passengers flying and there are regular spine jarring landings which are painful I am afraid I will be feeling this ride for days. Some people get sick and even are bounced out of their hard fiberglass seats on to the floor of the boat. After our very uncomfortable and wild ride we stop at Avatoru pass between the sea and lagoon for snorkeling again. Everyone is shocked that the rough ride is over and I am the only one who jumps in the water. It is a real treat. Clear water, lots of fish. I am only allowed less than ten minutes again but it is the prettiest place I have seen here in Rangiroa.
Our ride back to our lodging is another adventure. We are picked up in a different pickup truck with a rusted out bed on all of the edges, broken wooden board seats and we have to climb up using a broken bumper that flaps when you step on it. Vehicles must be nearly impossible to maintain here with the salt water all around. One interesting bit was that the Korean couple who had been picked up at an expensive hotel were called by name and seated inside the pick up. They may well have paid a bit more than we did but it made me grin to see it.
Before we leave here Chick and I visit that fancy hotel and the gift shop sells sarongs for $65.oo I see the same ones for sale at the Airport for $18. What a difference. Our last two days are highlighted by two trips with a local boat hired to take me to the local 'aquarium'. On my first trip there with him I am watched very closely and it is a bit annoying as I am called to join the group in the cloudy deep water a couple of times. The guide finally seems comfortable with me being on my own and lets me snorkel where I want for the last 20 minutes. The next day I get even more freedom to snorkel as I want to. I wish I had tried this guy on our first day instead of spending so much time diving here.