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10/10/05 11:14am -
Our luggage is packed and sitting on the front steps by reception, and we're in the open-air bar, whiling away the time until our 3:30pm departure. Both of the past two days were excellent. On Saturday we got up nicely rested, packed our mountain-climbing gear, got breakfast, told Club Med reception where we were going (in case we didn't come back that night) and hopped the shuttle to Vaitapee. There, we checked on the available of a 1-day cell phone rental (none) and let the gendarmerie know that we were heading up the mountain and planned to be back by 4pm. GPS calibrated in both compass and altimeter (being _at_ sea level is mighty convenient...), and pictures taken of the mountain, off we went at about 10:05 am.
Initially the trail _was_ the road, but toward the road's end, a local man who was busy weed whacking his yard (and the road) pointed us off to the left to the trail. After a bit of casting about through melon fields we found the path and started up. We had a couple of false starts on unnecessary bushwhacking, but soon found ourselves on the mostly easy to follow, somewhat blazed trail up the west side of Mount Paihia/Hue. We climbed for two and a half hours, and this time the guidebook was right on. It was a tree-root to tree-root clamber punctuated by occasional scrabbles up rocks, and even rarer flattish portions on which to rest. Once or twice we got a bit sidetracked (particularly when the trail took an unclear jog to one side or the other) but all in all it was a very direct climb. We'd agreed that we'd climb up for two and a half hours and allow three and a half to get down; though down is usually easier than up, we would be more tired, and we wanted the extra safety margin. Unfortunately, by 12:10pm, we had only reached the start of the northward traverse around from the west to the final ascent on the northeast side. At that point, Megan was getting a bit tired, so we called off the final ascent, and simply traversed far enough to enjoy the great view of Faanui with our lunch.
Just after 12:30, we started back down , still getting off trail here and there - again, mostly at trail-jogs where straight down looked 'right' until it was "I don't remember this rock". Then we'd clamber back up to the last point we remembered, find where we'd gone astray and continue down the trail. At one point we ran into a group climbing down being led by a guide who seemed quite displeased to find us on the mountain. His charges translated that he seemed to feel he has some authority over the trail (despite it being a public trail) and didn't we know about the American who fell and broke his leg on the mountain last week, spending the rest of that day and night and into the next day on the hill, injured, and had to be helicopter-ed off the mountain?! And how could we think!? to climb the mountain without _him_, and _he_ would take us down off the mountain!
What an asshole.
Yes, we know about the stupid American who went up the mountain _by_himself_; without telling anyone where he was going and got hurt and had to be rescued, but no, we don't need your indignance at someone not paying you to guide them up a mapped and marked trail while making sure to start back before they got too tired. Anyway, he was pushing his people down the hill much faster than we felt comfortable going, so before too long we'd lost sight of him on the trail below. Later, while on another false side trail, a single local coming down the trail called to us from 10 yards over (on the main trail) and motioned for us to us the main trail. He said nothing else - merely walking ahead once we made the trail, and stopping to see us catch up whenever he went out of sight ahead. When we reached the bottom at 2:30pm, I handed him a $50 note (5000 XPF) and said thanks as he headed off into the brush.
Back at the road we again encountered the asshole, who was loading his customers into a compact car for the ride back to their hotel. He seemed to have calmed down a bit, and it came out that what he was probably most pissed about was that we were from Club Med. It seems he had tried to get them to take some of his flyers for his guide service, but they weren't interested - despite not yet having any mountain guides listed on their excursions catalog. So we parted more amicably than we'd met, but I didn't really have any question about why Club Med turned him down. Not a first-class operator. (But then neither is the current head of Excursions here, but then she's also Italian, and we've unfortunately come to expect a bit of snottiness from most of the Italians here...)
Anyway, it was only 2.5 hours up to 480m elevation (out of 600m) and 2 hours back with side-trails and lunch included, so we had 1:45 until our shuttle would be back for us. We checked in with the gendarmerie to let them know we'd come back safely (and early), and went to get something cool to drink at the snack shop below the excellent boutique with the map. An Orangina and vanilla milkshake never tasted so good. :) With plenty of free time left, we did some shopping and picked up gifts for folks back home, along with making sure we hadn't missed anything important in that little town. After shuttling back to Club Med, we showered the mountain out of our hair and off our bodies and then went to enjoy our 30 minute massages before dinner at Bloody Mary's.
Bloody Mary's is an institution at this point, having been opened by American ex-pats back in 1979. The floor is sandy beach, with cubbyholes by the entrance for your footwear. All of the tables and stools (there are no chairs) are hewn from local wood long since polished to a shine, and the ceiling suspends fronds and leaves with the best possible impression of being outside without having to worry about the rain... The menu is presented in a unique manner: Just beyond the matre'd is an open iced case with all of today's fresh meats arrayed for viewing. All of the fish is fresh caught today, and the steaks and chicken are flown in that today. You actually pick your piece of entree meat, along with what appetizer you want. The owner writes down your order and off you go to your table the atmosphere, fresh bread, and a drink while (if you're us) your sashimi tuna and teriyaki tuna kabobs are prepared. A simple salad preceded excellent dinners of marinated Oho/Owaho and Mako Shark. I now second Jen's recommendation of their maitais as The Best, and share her and Rob's fascination with the sink fixtures in the restrooms. To wit: Pulling a large wooden ring releases water down a well-flowered, free-standing rocky waterfall which ultimately provides a space for one's hands to receive the water. Unique describes damn near everything in the place. The meal was exquisite and the perfect end to a day of exercising vital powers along lines of excellence.
Sunday we got up around 7:30am to grab some quick breakfast before our all day Maraamu boat excursion. We left the docks with three other couples and the family running the excursion at 9am. Our first stop was what used to be Manta Point, before the construction started on two new hotels right at that area: the new Ritz Carlton and (another!!!) Intercontinental Hotel. The last time folks saw mantas there was about 4 months ago. Bastards. After a very pleasant but manta-free 45 minutes snorkeling, we climbed back into the boat and headed to a private motu owned by the family, where waited the three friendliest stingrays I've ever seen! Maude (one of the guides) had them eating fish out of her hand while they rubbed on and glided all over her and everyone else in the water. It was amazing to see these wild creatures tamed and clearly affectionate. Certainly the food had much to do with it, but despite being free to come and go, they seemed genuinely friendly. Dogs? Yes. Cats? Sometimes, sure. But I guess I've never given fish enough credit in the intelligence department. :)
After we'd played with them for a good while we put on our fins and went snorkeling over and in a beautiful coral garden. Part way through the swim, I noticed a profusion of sea urchins in the area. In fact several coral heads seemed to be filled with the spiny black beasts. And when we reached a point with a depression where our guide had us stop for a bit, I saw a stone on the lagoon floor that was _covered_ with broken urchin bristles. The mystery was solved when our guide used a long sharp stick to extract a half dozen urchins from a nearby coral head and line them up for the slaughter. :) They were too small to get any good human-edible meat out of them, but a few whacks from the long stick broke each one open, and the fish had a feast. We swam back to the beach and boat through a surprising collection of water temperatures. Had I not known better, I'd have suspected alternating hot and cold springs scattered about the lagoon. I know it was the sun, but still... Wow vertically oriented thermoclines!
Once back, we watched another one of the guides use bait fish to try to lure some small sharks into the immediate area, but the current was moving in the wrong direction (out to sea through the barrier reef, instead of in toward the lagoon from which sharks could come), so the stingrays simply enjoyed more food.
On shore we enjoyed our second coconut show of the trip, and I got to both shuck a couple of coconuts in the Tahitian way, and learn how to (and somewhat successfully try to) climb a coconut tree. Lunch followed. :) It was grilled everything, including my first taste of the flavorless Breadfruit(tm). Everything else: fish, ham, sausage, chicken and veggies was very tasty. After lunch, Ned led us on a hike out to the old coral head - once submerged, now part of the motu. He showed us the saltwater-drinking tree with weapon-worthy wood, and explained how to catch an octopus while walking the reef: Tow a small piece of shell behind you on a string. When an octopus grabs it to eat, grab the octopus. :) Tasty.
After the hike we played with the rays a bit more, then napped in the shade a bit. Around 2:30pm we left the motu to continue our trip around the island. Our final stop before returning to Club Med was a sandy-bottomed shallows teeming with rays, amongst which we swam and waded some more. After a quarter hour we continued on, finishing our circumnavigation of the island back at Club Med docks. It was a fine time, but I ended up with a rather sunburned back - a result of my foolish decision not to wear a shirt while snorkeling. I'd been very good about such things for the entire trip, but alas I succumbed to the idea that I'd somehow become a bit more adapted in that time. Not so much, really. At least it wasn't too bad - no peeling at all, and wearing a shirt isn't too uncomfortable, so such is life.
We came back to an excellent final dinner with these philo dough egg and fish pot-pie kind of things that were amazingly tasty. We also got a chance to swap contact info with Ron, and see the Fire Dancing show again, it being Sunday. This time Megan didn't get pulled up again, but we did have front-row seats, which was much better. :)