It's seven thirty, and we are about to leave Fakarava.
We spent the night just by the tiny village guarding the South Entrance. Amazingy, this used to be the capital of the Tuamatos. Now it has but two families, a pension with a wonderful view, a plain church with a pretty altar piece, a dive shop, a lot of abandoned buildings, no electricity but a solar-powered mobile phone mast giving a wonderful connection as Norfy found when he phoned home this morning. And as we discovered when we arrived yesterday afternoon, it has wonderful snorkelling in the Pass, where you can drift with the current down the edge of the passage along the coral garden. And whilst you do this, there is a myriad of fish to marvel at of every colour, shape and size. To cap it all, three-foot sharks swim lazily by, seeming not to care about these human intruders.
After that, we felt we'd earned our sundowners. Chris cooked a great meal of chicken thighs, which we shared with Don and Anne from Harmonie.
All well, and best wishes to everyone.
Yacht Cleone
Fakarava
Tuamotus Islands