This morning we went for a hike up to the top of the hill near the anchorage. There is a TV tower there, so we hiked up the service road to the tower. The hike was relatively short, but very steep. You would definitely need a four wheel drive to get up that road. The view was spectacular. Here we are looking to the southwest. The land is a little island motu in the center of the lagoon.

Here is a view to the south. You can see the hotel’s bungalows on
the water.

View to the southeast. Below is Matira Point and in the distance you can see Tahaa and Raiatea.

There was a tour group there, so we listened in to what the tour guide was saying until they departed. He said that the reefs form around the actual edge of the islands, and that as time goes on, the edges sink, forming the lagoon. He also explained that the passes were once river mouths, and the reason the coral didn’t form in those spots was because it couldn’t survive near the fresh water.

As the guide was herding his group back into the truck bed, Pete asked where he got his tattoo. The man replied that his brother had done it and told him his brother’s name and location of the parlor.

We headed back down the hill and went to a nearby restaurant for lunch, Tahina Hut. From the outside it looked kind of like Bloody Mary’s. Inside it had the sand floors, but the décor was more earthy, traditional Polynesian.

It was a little more expensive than Bloody Mary’s, and with much smaller portions. The food was definitely elaborate gourmet, while Bloody Mary’s is simply prepared foods using high quality ingredients. Christi got a salad with goat cheese and breadfruit gnocchi. The gnocchi were small and fried, so they were crisp. It tasted like gnocchi, which is no surprise since neither potatoes nor breadfruit have any real flavor in and of themselves. Eric and Pete got sushi, which came with the same soy mustard dipping sauce we had gotten in Papeete. Eric got a tomato, cucumber and feta salad. Pete got bouillabaisse fish. Shelley got the raw fish in coconut milk. The food was all good. For dessert, Eric got pineapple wrapped in a thin phyllo pastry dough and Shelley got a berry crumble. The desserts were excellent.

While we were eating, Pete asked the waitress where she got her tattoo. She said the same name as the tour guide had told us. Shelley said “Oh, yeah, we met his brother today.” The waitress gave her an odd look. She assumed the lady didn’t understand and repeated “brother” a couple of times in hope the word would register. After a minute, the waitress said “He’s my brother”. We have met only two locals and they are siblings. What are the odds of that?

After lunch we went back to Kosmos to change, and then headed out to a site on the southeast side of the lagoon along the reef that two guidebooks said were the best on the entire island. It was a good hour plus ride in our slow little dinghy, and it was gorgeous. Along the way we saw a spotted eagle ray and chased it around trying to get a decent photo of it.

We could see some small boats in the distance at the spot, and we assumed they were fellow snorkelers. Once we got there, we realized they were locals fishing. There seemed to be no living coral, just small patches of dead coral and lots of sea urchins. The area indicated in Lonely Planet was quite large, so we puttered around the entirety of the area in search of this fabulous spot. Nothing. We took the dinghy as close to the reef as we could before the water got too shallow, then got in and swam over to the reef. The good coral must be there. Still nothing but a few fish, including an enormous puffer fish and an enormous porcelain tiger shell. Defeated at not being able to find the good spot yet again, we headed back to Kosmos for the night. Later we found out that spot was destroyed by El Nino a few years ago.

Side note: we have seen 4 more bugs, three outside and one inside. After looking more carefully, they are definitely not roaches. They look more like a beetle. Hopefully in a few days the boric acid will have wiped them all out.