Sunshine greeted us again this morning and we went on a short morning run before having breakfast.
Since, there was no diving available today, we decided to rent a car to explore the island. There is only one road on the island. It is the well paved coastal road and just about 60km long. It takes us past the harbor and airport, through Uturoa, the capital of Raiatea, and second largest town in French Polynesia, clockwise through smaller villages to our first stop, the Botanical Garden, with more than 100 different plants, brought to the island by the first inhabitants.
From there we briefly turned off from the costal road into the interior, to get on a short hike to the ‘Les Gabbros de Faaroa’, a geological curiosity. These are coarse, dark-colored, mohawk-shaped rocks, that form the chimney of the volcano that birthed the entire island.
About 2 km from this place we then hike along the Macaranda ridge trail, along the caldera of Raiatea’s main volcano. From the summit at 250m elevation we have a fantastic view of the Faaroa Valley and the Faatemu Bay, the southernmost tip of the island.
With nothing more to do, we return home and spent the afternoon at the hotel pool and a short dip into the ocean.