From the Marquesas we sailed to the Tuamotu, a large series of atolls of all sizes. We decided to go to Aratika probably because few boats go there. We stayed one month and were the only boat. The atoll is absolutely stunning and is very pristine since so few people go there. No hotel, no restaurant, no resort, that's what we like, just being there in this peaceful atoll is a treat in itself.
We read a lot, worked on a new version of GeoeEdu (www.geoedu.info), the Atlas and Game on the worldwide geography that we launched in October 2008 and just took the time to admire the atoll and tour it to take walks on the small "motus" (islands) bordering the atoll.

From Aratika we took advantage of the South-easterly wind to sail to Tahiti, back to "civilisation". When we arrived in the bay of Punauia we had to pick up a mooring buoy since it's pretty deep inside the lagoon and the anchors often drags. We discovered Papeete the next day after struggling through the traffic jams.
For us, Papeete was just a "technical" stop to have our alternator repaired but we enjoyed the small city and discovered two museums worth visiting, the "Pearl Museum" opened by Robert Wan, a Chinese businessman who succeeded in this industry which has been suffering from a major crisis since 2005 because of the abundance of farms and the decrease in the quality of the pearls. As in all industries, the search for short term profits really hurts!
The second is the Museum of Tahiti and the islands, a great way to know more about the discovery of the islands by Cook, the British and French colonisation process and about the customs in these islands before the arrival of the Europeans.

After Tahiti, just a short sail to Moorea, Tahiti's "sister island" where many French have a week-end house to escape from Papeete. Moorea is really a jewel, it's small and beautiful inside a very nice lagoon. Moreover Polynesians are always friendly, easy-going and very helpful like everywhere in French Polynesia.

We could have stayed longer but we had an "appointment" with Georges from the sailing boat "Iergès". He left last year from Martinique to go back to France after a second circumnavigation and came by plane this time to see his son, Chef at the "Relais Mahana" in Huahine.

As soon as we go inside the lagoon we were seduced by Huahine. The lagoon and island are both beautiful, the shades of green of the flora is stunning. Here, there is hardly any boats, just two in the bay when we are.
We decided to tour the island with Georges which was a perfect day including the visit to a Pearl farm where we learned a lot about the hard work of the "lagoon farmers" as they are called and the precise work of the "greffeur".

Pearls here are usually known under the name of the "black pearls of Tahiti" but they are actually in all shades of grey, from light to dark grey with touches of green, burgundy or blue and all sorts of shapes too. The peral industry suffered but will always survive since "there will be pearls as long as there will be women" said Robert Wan.

After this great stay in Huahine, we had to take "Minuit" out of the water, a leak at the stuffing box started to worry us so we decided to haul out on a trailer at the "Chantier Naval des îles sous le vent" in Raiatea. We spent 4 days on the hard under a bright sun to complete the repair, put 3 coats of anti-fouling and even managed to do some varnish inside. The shipyard was perfect and after two more days in the tiny marina we left to sail in a few hours to Tahaa, the neighbouring island of Raiatea which we can reach without leaving the lagoon. Again, Tahaa is just another jewel and we sailed around it and enjoyed the anchorages for a few days before sailing to Bora-Bora, our last destination in French Polynesia.

Bora-Bora, the Honeymoon island as it's called, probably the most beautiful lagoon in the world. Small depths and snorkeling in coral gardens makes Bora-Bora a unique lagoon in Polynesia. It's from the View Point of the Sofitel Private Island that we took the best pictures of "Minuit" at anchor on sand on only 4 meters of water. We then motored back to the Bora-Bora Yacht Club for an excellent meal and our last sunset in French Polynesia where we spent 4 and half months never to be forgotten!

Now, more than 1.000 miles to go! Next island stop: Fidji!