Can't believe...

That we have been in Rangiroa over a week all ready - we have been busy - well busy for us!

Sunset dinghy ride

We are anchored off the Tiputa Pass. It is a beautiful bay surrounded by the Kia Ora resort, dive shops, and a great public beach and wharf, plus there is little grocery store and some gift shops. Perfect for cruisers.

Tiputa Pass

As you can see, getting through Tiputa pass is a challenge and you want to make sure to hit it at slack tide. It can still be an exciting ride - so be alert.

Relaxing at the beach snack shop

Rangiroa also has some great snack shops. The public beach snack shop is our favorite - great double cheeseburgers and french fries, plus big Hinano beers at a fair price (for French Polynesia).

Local kids playing bocci ball

We decided to play some bocci ball after lunch - the local kids were much better than we were. They really enjoyed showing us how to play.

Relaxing on the water taxi

There is a water taxi that runs from the wharf, across the pass, to the Tiputa Village. The village is very small, but we enjoyed the excursion and the exercise, plus the water taxi stopped by Moondance to pick us up. Can't beat that.

Rangiroa lagoon - beautiful

The Rangiroa Lagoon is huge - about 40 miles long and 17 miles wide and fairly easy to sail around. Rangiroa is a popular destination for divers - lots of coral and fish.

Carol hanging at the Kia Ora resort

The Kia Ora resort is beautiful and we treated ourselves to drinks one evening (sorry no happy hour), but we enjoyed ourselves. They let the cruisers tie up to their dinghy dock, plus have helped us get taxis and provided lots of good information.

Taking a break

We have been doing big time provisioning in Rangiroa - getting ready for our long trip to Hawaii. It isn't real easy to provision here, but we have figured it out. We hitchhike or catch a cab ($400 Cfp pp) to the Avatoru village, which is about 8 miles away.

Doug's happy - hamburgers and Hinanos

There is 1 gas station, 3 grocery stores, and 2 snack shops in Avatoru, and we have visited them all - several times. Unfortunately, they aren't close together and we aren't very organized, so we do lots of walking and hauling our purchases around the village.

Provision run - almost done

Our favorite grocery store is Chez Daniel. The manager, Elisa, and her team have taken very good care of us. They even haul us and all of our goodies back to the boats (for free), plus stop at the gas station and the liquor store, plus wait on the beach while we grab our returnable Hinano beer bottles from the boat. We couldn't ask for better service!

Cruising kids enjoying the roulette

We met another cruising family on Big Fish - very nice people that have a ski resort in the French Alps. We all splurged and went to dinner at a nearby roulette. Good food and prices, big portions, and just a short walk from the public beach. We will definitely go back.

Crew of Evergreen having a good time

So, as you can see, we are enjoying Rangiroa. Besides lots of eating and provisioning, we have done some snorkeling, checked out all of the gift shops, done some beachcombing, worked on projects, and lots of relaxing.

Enjoying the rain

Our weather has been a little unsettled since we arrived (lots of rain!), which the locals are grateful for. We are waiting for a weather window so that we can start our trip to Hawaii, but it is slow coming. It looks like, we will be in Rangiroa until around November 6. Oh well, we like it here, plus we have more exploring to do!

PS: Happy Halloween! The locals are celebrating Halloween for the first time - hard to imagine, huh? Wish we could join in the festivities, but we aren't sure what the taxi runs are after dark. Oh well! We made popcorn balls (our first time) and watched a scary movie with Evergreen. Too fun!