We took a sail down the coast of Raiatea to the oldest marae in Polynesia called Marae Taputapuatea. Whenever a new marae was to be built on neighboring islands, a stone from this marae was used in the making of the new temple. This is the place of human sacrifices and religious ceremonies. It was pretty impressive, considering how old it is and the condition is still quite good.
As we sailed the boat, Jerry saw a place to dock the boat. We circled around slowly to make sure we wouldn’t hit any coral. As we did this a couple of Polynesian me stood by and looked at us. Once again, these guys looked like they were cast straight out of a Disney movie. I thought Captain Jack Sparrow would come around the corner any minute. They waved us in with big smiles and helped us tie up. Jock began with his usual “Maruru!” and that started the conversation. In a matter of no less than 30 seconds we discovered that one of the guys knows Sabrina’s brother on Ahe. He is a small French man whose name is Pascal, but his friends call him Piwi. He is a pearl grafter and had spent six years on Ahe working with Maki. The other man is a 300 pound Polynesian with exotic tattoos and a big toothless grin. Next thing we all are hugging and they are saying we are their good friends. Jock is inviting them on the boat and begins showing them pictures of Sabrina and Pascal as well as Maki and his family. It’s a small world.
When we returned to the boat, the greeters and their friends were playing friendly game of petanc and sitting around a hubcap grill eating chicken and drinking Hinanos.
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