A variation on Hotel California - "you can check out any time you like, but you can never come back"-

La Orana!

Last week I met our neighbour Claudie in the laundry room.  She speaks no English so up until now our conversations have been restricted to pleasantries but for some reason, we both thought we would put in a bit more effort while we waited for my sheets to stop spinning. 

Still days in Uturoa

Laundry room

I asked her how her recent trip to the repair yard had gone.  We had thrown and collected her lines when she had left (and returned) so it only seemed polite to inquire.  It turned out she was really pleased with the work done but was glad to be back.  Then she asked me about our departure plans.  I realise that my French skills have a long way to go but when I told her it was complicated by the fact that if we decide to leave, we are not allowed to come back her response was pretty unambiguous. “Ce n’est pas normal! Ce n’est pas normal” she kept saying and then added that she would go and speak to the Capitaine herself and tell him so.  I should say at this point that Claudie acts as a bit of a spokesperson for the rest of us at the marina and her word holds a lot of clout. She is 86 years old and has lived here since 1985 when she first arrived with her husband on their boat from Bordeaux.  Sadly, he died a few years ago but Claudie decided to stay and is by far the longest serving resident of Uturoa marina.  I find her quite inspirational. She does the 2 hour walk up and down the hill at breakneck speed at least 3 times a week , marches in and out of town every day for her shopping and has an army of friends of all ages coming and going whisking her off or staying aboard to socialise most days. I don’t know if she did go and speak to the Capitaine but I can tell you that on Monday morning the man himself left his air-conditioned office and knocked on our boat hull for the first time ever.  It seems that his boss has had a change of heart and from now on we can come and go as we please.  He can’t always guarantee a pontoon space will be available when we come back but if not, we can use a mooring in the lagoon and bring in the dinghy when we want to use the facilities here.  Well that was a change of heart indeed!  Excellent news as we can now test out Papillon on the water knowing we can retreat back to the marina if there are any problems.  Currently we are virtually ready to go.  Our engine spares arrive tomorrow and the new water maker sometime next week, all the major systems including the engines, batteries, solar, anchor, navigation are good to go and we’ve even had time to address some of the more frivolous things like a cover for the cockpit table, lighting in the saloon, USB power points around the boat and fan installations everywhere…not to mention those pesky toilets!  

Rainproof table

Our new disco lights in the saloon!

So Papillon is almost ready for the off at last.  You can never be completely ready with a boat but we are definitely ready enough to get out there and do some sailing. 

Bora Bora across the lagoon

New ferry in the lagoon - is it a decommissioned CalMac cast off?

To celebrate the news we went off to town to do a spot of clothes shopping - more swim wear and hot weather gear was required.  For reasons I can’t explain the clothes shops in Uturoa all seem to be owned by Chinese migrants.  Matriarchal figures stalk the floors leaving the menfolk to read their phones behind the counter and take the money. Some like the one where I bought my voluminous dresses are airy and spacious with racks organised by price and colour and it was here that the skipper quickly bought himself some new shorts and shirts. Others are more like an Aladdin’s cave - it was in one of these that I bought the second bikini of my entire life and I still can’t quite believe it happened. The shop was chaotic and poorly lit with clothes piled high to the ceiling still in their packets. Larger somewhat random items such as children’s bikes and kitchenware littered the aisles and from the ceiling hung an array of lightshades, Chinese lanterns and scarves.  There was virtually no floorspace and certainly not a swimsuit in sight.  I was all for leaving immediately but the skipper persevered asking madam owner if she had any bikinis.  I was scowling severely by this point but undeterred she grabbed my arm pulling me down a side aisle with red and gold crinoline like dresses hanging from the ceiling.  Burrowing behind their stiff skirts and throwing packets of shoes to one side as she went, she finally reached her target and triumphantly showed me a rack of bikinis.  “What size what size” she demanded. It was a complete lottery, but 5 bikinis were procured from the depths of that rack and before I could stop her, I was dragged off to the “fitting room” in the darkest corner of the shop to try them on.  The “fitting room” was an alcove covered loosely by a “curtain” the size of a hand towel.  The “curtain” didn’t draw completely and the only mirror was in the shop itself.   Madam parked herself outside expectantly.  Was she waiting on a running commentary on all her suggestions?  It wasn’t happening! I called Skipper over to take position and she finally got the message and slipped away.   Its not the best bikini in the world.  Thierry’s words “you can get anything in Polynesia but you can’t chose the colour” are particularly apt as the lime green and orange floral pattern is certainly not one that I would normally have gone for but compared to the other four it was a triumph and I took it! It was tried out later in the sea and didn’t fall off even after a motorboat zoomed by so by my criterion that’s mission accomplished and job well done!  

Lime green and orange florals

On a more sombre note we had our first brush with the law yesterday.  We came back from a late afternoon swim to 2 gendarmes standing by our boat.  They wanted to know if we had seen anything unusual over the last 4 days as two dinghies had had their outboard motors stolen.  As usual when asked a question my mind went completely blank but then in the middle of the night, I remembered that I had seen some guys on the pontoon opposite with head torches one evening over the weekend.  It was the first time I had seen anyone wearing a head torch since we had arrived, so it had struck me as a little unusual at the time.  Dinghies are generally retrieved and driven away in complete darkness here as people know where they are going and navigation lights are rare on a boat that small. It wasn’t much to tell but with conscience pricking I marched along to the gendarmerie to do my civic duty this morning.  Fortunately, they had a visiting policemen from France on duty to take my statement. It turned out he had switched careers from English teacher to Policemen for the travel opportunities.  What were the chances?  All my carefully translated phrases did not have to be put to use – thank goodness.  What sort of inaccuracies would that statement have presented!! I doubt anything will come of it, but it is a sad reminder that although this place appears idyllic, we still need to be careful with our stuff.

moon rising

sunsets

Otherwise it’s been a quiet week weather wise and news wise so I’ll finish off here with some photos of the cars, boats and street vendors that have caught my eye over the last few weeks.  We are going to miss the colour and flamboyance of Raiatea when we go.

rowing practice for the big race	Brightly coloured cars
Out rigger canoe water taxis	Bigger water taxis
Street vendors	Authorised users only in the marina bin wars!