Our Last French Polynesian Island...

Raʻiātea (Raiatea) is the second largest of the Society Islands and is widely regarded as the "center" of the eastern islands in ancient Polynesia. It is likely that the organized migrations to the Hawaiian Islands, and other parts of East Polynesia, started at Raʻiātea.


After landing on shore, we headed to the tourism office and found a guided tour whose itinerary was one I would have crafted myself.


Our first stop was at Tihoti Tarua with an introduction to the local products grown here.



Everything we could have wanted to know about how pearls are cultured was learned at Vairua Perles. It was surprisingly interesting. Who knew?


A highlight was to wander in the Botanical Garden. Beautiful, exotic, and so interesting.









A  must for me was the Marae of Taputapuatea, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Taputapuatea marae, which was established by 1000 CE, was the political and religious center of eastern Polynesia for several centuries. So much history and so little time to fully learn about it.








We ended our very full day sitting at a café at the port, reminiscing about all the memories made during our three days in French Polynesia. Next stop, five days from now, is Honolulu. Until then...

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