Hiking Huahine

The weather has been pretty ugly the last few days. There are lots of squalls with big wind and rain on and off. The wind goes from 5 knots to 25 knots in quick bursts but doesn't last very long. Our anchor is holding and we hope it will continue to do so – as well as all the anchors of the boats around us! One local boat is anchored quite close to us and nobody is aboard. This weather is keeping us in Huahine probably longer than we had hoped.

Yesterday morning, with the weather looking more settled (at least temporarily) we headed off to explore the island on foot. We roamed through the village of Fare and then headed towards the village of Maeve where we had hoped to find the large marae(temple). We walked along the perimeter road and went by a huge lake - Lake Fauna Nui. We stopped and saw a stadium and went in it. People were taking down lots of decorations from an event (don't know what). Near the stadium was a silly sight – an outdoor – tiki game arcade. There were three electronic video games sitting under the cover of a tiki hut.

We walked for awhile and then turned back. The rain was picking up and we were wearing out. On the way back we said hello (bonjour) to a man raking his yard (the yards and gardens here are really well maintained and very pretty). We walked past but he called us back. He then told Michael to pick some of the delicious grapefruit (pampleousse) from his tree and gave them to us. He also gave us a lesson in a few Tahitian words. "Yorana" – means hello.

We made it back to the town and picked up a baquette and looked at bananas – but they were all way too ripe. Then back to the boat to keep anchor watch as the rain and wind squalls came through all night long. There was a very pink sky this morning – so that could mean another bad weather day. Pink sky in the morning – sailors take warning.

We've been invited to a neighboring boat for sundowners today – so we'll hope the weather settles.

Bastille Day is in a few days and we're hoping there will be some festivities on Huahine. Many of the islands have major dance competitions and sporting events. We hope we can enjoy some local events here.