Rangiroa

Helen: Rangiroa is the worlds second biggest coral atoll - apparently. At the moment though, its grey and rainy instead of lush and tropical. There are lots and lots of palm trees, turquoise water in the lagoon, dolphins and white sandy beaches - but to be honest it doesnt look that much different from Scilly on a good day!
Our yacht is anchored just off a swanky hotel - the sort of place where London bankers come on honeymoon. I felt v scruffy when C and I traipsed through their reception hall with several black bags full of dirty washing the other day - Im sure thats not what the guests were expecting for their 400 quid a night!!
Weve been diving once already (there isnt much else to do!!) and saw dolphins, lots of fish and a shark - not sure I want to see them any closer though! Was v strange as we swam away from the reef to see the dolphins - first time weve been in 'the Big Blue' - easy to see how people get disoriented and cant tell which way is up... Unsurprisingly, our skipper didnt want to come diving with us - hes barely been off the boat - seems like such a shame...
Today weve hired bicycles - its a brilliant place to ride as its totally totally flat - the highest things on the island are the palm trees, which is why this was a v dangerous place to sail and navigate until the advent of GPS. You can see most islands from 20/30 miles away, but these atolls arent visible til about 3 miles...
The winds pretty strong just now which makes getting into and out of the atol through a narrow pass quite tricky - looks like well be here for a few more days - there are worse places to be stranded! Id like to visit the local vinyard - no kidding - there is a vinyard here - but C says we should wait til NZ. We did take a trip to a pearl farm though - v interesting. Oh, and we spent last night at a German film evening! C even managed to keep up with the conversation and slipped in his favourite phrase which served him well in GCSE oral exams but is a complete lie 'Ich bin einzelkind'...
OK, as ever, have to go - post office about to close. But, this connection has been better than most and we have managed to get a few more photos onto our Flickr site. Enjoy§
Lots of love
H and Cxx

PS we think its about time to move on from boat 5, so if anyone knows anyone whos looking for crew from Tahiti to NZ do let us know.....