Rainy Day in Paradise

Raiatea, French Polynesia

Do we go or do we stay? That is the question we asked ourselves as we stood in the rain waiting to get on our tour bus. Raiatea means clear sky — which we thougth was funny gven that we were soaked as we got on the bus. Raiatea is the ony island outside of Tahiti that has a high school. Kids from neighboring islands i.e. Bora Bora come here for school at the beginning of the school year and stay until the Christmas/Winter break. Many do not come back after the break. The traditional name for Raiatea is “Havai’i”

Pearl Farm

The next stop was a Pearl Factory. There we learned they use dental instruments to extract the pearl from the oyster. Once the pearl is harvested, they put the oyster back into the water for another 18 months before they can havest another pearl. This is done times 3 then the oyster no longer produces a usable pearl.

After the demonstration we walked into the store. Normally, I can pass up the opportunity to shop. I know I am different as most people love shopping. This time I found a tear drop shaped pearl — I bought it. Steve was shocked.

The Mount Temehani

We discovered that most of the islands have legends that revolve around love and tragedy. This legend has a slight twist. A long time ago, a King married a beautiful young girl. They were very happy. He went to war and never came back. In her grief, she climbed to the top of Mount Temehani, planted her hands in the dirt and died. The twist is the flower “Tiare Apetahi” only grows in the spot where she died. The petals open every dawn with a sound like a “broken heart”.