There have been a few places we have anchored that just gave the feeling of something special. It’s hard to put your finger on what makes a place feel that way, perhaps it’s not the place at all – maybe it’s just the day or something else going on that is evoking that emotion. Whatever the cause, when we pulled into Baie Vairahi on Raiatea, I thought it was special.
We left Bora Bora after saying goodbye to many boats we had met over the last few months. Now is the time of year where boats that want to make it down to New Zealand before cyclone season need to leave French Polynesia and start heading west toward Tonga. We had a last, fancy dinner at the Bora Bora Yacht Club with a large group of people to say our goodbyes and headed out for Raiatea and Taha’a the next morning.
Raiatea and Taha’a are unique in that they are two islands inside the same lagoon fringed by reef all the way around. We stopped first at a couple of anchorages on Taha’a, did some snorkeling and got to see another pearl farm, where we actually got to see the grafting of the oysters and removal of the pearls (very cool!). But, we really wanted to head down to Vairahi on Raiatea where we heard that there was an awesome hike called Les Trois Cascades (The Three Waterfalls).
We pulled into Vairahi Bay and were the only cruising boat in the anchorage. Aside from some unoccupied, small local sailboats on moorings, we had the bay to ourselves. That might have been part of the allure of this secluded place. Or, perhaps it was the calmness of the water, or the misty clouds on top of the hills at sunset. Maybe it was the fragrant smell of flowers after a brief rain shower, or the the sounds of the birds at sunrise. I don’t know what it was, but I wanted to capture the feeling in a bottle and take it with me.
Vairahi Bay at dusk…
We set out to try and get some information about the Trois Cascades hike, as we really didn’t have a lot to go on. We wandered into a small hotel called Pension Les Trois Cascades, so we figured they must have some information based on their name. We met the French owner who told us that yes, we could do the hike on our own, but the trail wasn’t well marked and it might be hard to find. He recommended we hire a guide and gave us a name and number. The next day we joined our guide, Kiam, and a group of French tourists and set out for the waterfalls.
After our last hike in Bora Bora, any hike was likely to be a breeze, and we knew the hike would only be about three hours. The trail was obvious for parts of it, but other parts not so much. I could see easily losing the trail and missing the waterfalls (or having to backtrack a few times to find it.) The hike itself wasn’t too strenuous, but we did have to use ropes in several places to climb up a bit.
The terrain and vegetation were completely different than the Bora Bora hike. This hike was basically in a rainforest. We followed the river, and there were moss and ferns growing on every surface. Bamboo and the Polynesian Chessnut Tree dominated around us. We got to see waterfalls both big and small. We stopped at each one to marvel at the flowing water and soothing sounds. At the highest waterfall at the top, there was a pool you could swim in and cool off from the hot, humid hike.
The hike was nice, a bit relaxing after our last one, and the waterfalls were beautiful. But, I was just as happy back on our boat looking out over Vairahi in this little special place we had found.
~katie
