A bright, brisk sea and a new atoll on the bow! Our expedition leader Tom Ritchie has decided to add some surprises to our itinerary by bringing us to Tahanea Atoll, a location the ship has never visited before. The Captain has noticed a deep entrance to the atoll on the charts and with one eye on the depth recorder and the other on the surging current that is streaming out through the pass, he neatly brings us to anchor in a sheltered corner of the lagoon. Zodiacs down and the expedition team take out scout boats to assess our chances to land – perfect!
In no time we have the snorkeling platform set up on a nearby reef, and our first Zodiac lands hikers on a shallow coral beach. The whole atoll is deserted – what will we find? Wading across narrow channels between the islets we explore the next motu. A ramshackle fisherman’s shelter among the trees shows us that folk from adjacent atolls come here to fish from time to time. There are fish-drying racks outside, and a copra gunny sack inside marked “Huilerie de Tahiti”. They have set up a rickety bench in the deep shade of a Pandanus tree, where the south-east trade winds blow a welcome breeze through the shrubs. We sit and imagine ourselves as Robinson Crusoes here on this remote atoll. There is no doubt that Polynesians must have occupied these islets in former times. What became of them? Now it has been left to the wildlife. Tiny metallic skinks skitter away across coral rubble. Dancing fairy terns are preparing to nest in the Beach Gardenia trees beside us; Brown and Black Noddies fly past on their way to fishing grounds,and a small flock of Bristle-thighed Curlews fly over. Like us, they are refugees from the Alaskan winter, spending their holidays in the idyllic warmth of French Polynesia.
Under the shade of their parent trees, coconuts are sprouting in the coral sand, fresh green shoots waving in the breeze. We come across Steve, our Video chronicler who is filming a tiny young moray eel, which is hunting small fish where the waves lap onto the reef flat. Everywhere some new delight, a shell, a piece of coral, or just the intense turquoise shallows of the lagoon, while huge roiling rain clouds build on the horizon. Beachcombing in paradise: could there be a finer way to spend a morning? On returning to the landing site we find an impromptu cocktail bar set up by the ship’s crew: fruit cocktails and a choice of cold drinks under a broad umbrella. All this splendor and free drinks too! This afternoon the ship sets off to recoup our planned route south-east, with extra lectures to add some detail to our South Seas adventure: a lecture from Ian on the Seabirds of the Pacific, followed by Claudio with an account of how the Polynesians came to people these islands, remote specks of land in the vastness of the great Pacific Ocean. We follow in their wake, inspired by their intrepid quest for new lands.
