Note: Although I am writing this in Dec 2023, these events happened in June & July 2022.
On June 26 Peggy returned! She had been gone since May 19 when we were in Nuka Hiva. I met her at the nice, small airport in Fakarava, just a few miles from the dinghy doc in Rotoava.
We did a bit of provisioning and then got to the good stuff – snorkeling the numerous coral areas and touring the town of Rotoava and the area. We rented bikes and pedaled down the island a few miles where we had a nice picnic.
Pic above is a good sandwich shop that was just what we wanted for our picnic. The owner makes tasty sandwiches every morning and sells them from her front room until they run out. She is happy to tell stories about ‘the old days’ when she started the business many years ago.
There are several small grocery stores in Rotoava. The pic below is the biggest one, located at the doc where the supply ship ties up and where the dinghy’s doc. Very convenient, but like all grocery stores in Rotoava, they are likely to run out of fresh fruit and veggies (except maybe bananas and Papayas) within a few hours of the supply ship unloading. So we kept an eye out, watching to see when the ship would arrive.
There was also one good bakery that made baguettes, loaves of bread and a few pastries. Sometimes I would go in before first light to get the baguettes fresh from the oven!
We spent some time at Fakarava Yacht Services where Stephanie and Aldric helped us with provisioning questions, tide tables, advice on places to go, and they refilled a propane tank for us as well. This is where we rented the bikes and they will do your laundry as well. They are a great resource for cruisers!
