Ia ora na!

Life continues to be good here on Raiatea Island. We have spent the last couple of days sorting, cleaning and menu planning - no problem as today it rained for most of the day which gave us an excuse to stay inside. As David mentioned in his last blog, we have rented a car, so yesterday we drove around the island which took about 3 hours. We made a stop at Marae Taputapuatea, a sacred site which was once known as the spiritual/cultural center of the Polynesian world. We have memories of first visting there when we chartered a boat here with the Bilyks when Ryan and Amy were quite young. We also visited when David, Ryan and I sailed the boat here in '91. That time, my sister Kathy and her daughters Beth and Meghan were with us and we visited the site just as it was getting dark - we felt the mana of the place and made a quick retreat back to the dinghy! Last night we enjoyed drinks aboard Ho'onanea with our new friends from Canada and Australia. Both couples are cruising in tandem on their own boats, having met at some point during the Pacific Puddle Jump that starts in Mexico. A very friendly, congenial bunch they are. After they left, as we were preparing dinner, we heard the sound of drumming and singing coming from the church across the lagoon, a local dance troupe practicing for an upcoming heiva performance, no doubt; in fact, I can hear the sounds of the drums again as I write this. There is perhaps no sound more exotic - today's amplified music cannot compare. This place is much as we left it, perhaps changed by the filters of our older eyes, but still as beautiful and welcoming, and tempered by the fond memories we have of being here with Ryan, family, and good friends. Thinking of you all with fond aloha, Karin and David

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