Raiatea adventures | river jungle |coral gardens |sacred sites Vlog 78

The island of Raiatea is known as the birthplace of Polynesia, it is from here that canoes went out in the mythical Octopus shape, its legs reaching as far south as New Zealand and as far north as Hawaii, east to the Gambiers and Easter islands and west to the Cooks and Tonga. The peoples of all these places share a similar culture and language and as New Zealanders' it was fascinating to be able to visit the sacred site of Taputapuatea where the first 7 canoes of our Maori people originated from. We also enjoyed our jungle river adventure where we got to try local fruits we had never heard of before and came back laden with produce, the people here are so generous with their time and local knowledge. The coral gardens of adjoining island, Tahaa, was another highlight, buzzing with life, we saw fish we had never encountered before and lots of live coral. We now know why the ancient peoples of Polynesia flourished here in this verdant landscape on both sea and land! Join us as we adventure around the world on our yacht, Nikau. We are a family from New Zealand who wanted to take a break from normal life before our kids got too old and left home! We have 5 in our family plus our cat (Sugar) and our dog (Coco). Our three kids are Naomi (16), Bella (14) and David (12), they are completing NZ correspondence school while we travel from Europe back to NZ over a few years, some of our favourite activities are scuba diving, snorkeling, fishing, and discovering local sights, food and history in all the places we visit. We hope you enjoy the journey too!