The anchorage in the SE corner of Fakarava was very pretty. Lots of sand and very few coral heads to worry about. Steve, on SV LiWard, arranged a party on the shore for all 7 boats in the anchorage. The locals (6 of them) made fried fish, french fries and BBQ'd meat and chicken. Steve is a musician, so he set up mics and speakers and he played guitar and sang with two of the local men who play guitar and ukulele. One of the women sang. It was a lot of fun!
The next day we headed to Rotoava village near the northern pass of Fakarava. Although we heard the diving is good here too, we didn't dive or snorkel. Instead we went to town, ordered pastries and ate some ice cream. The following day, after a breakfast of pastries, we headed to the Havaiki Resort (in town) with some friends for their pearl farm demonstration. It was very informative and fun. We participated in the Pearl Lottery. That means we chose an oyster from the pile and were lucky enough to find a good sized Tahitian pearl inside. We weren't feeling 100% (something to do with the unhealthy breakfast perhaps?), so we didn't eat the raw oyster. Instead we all went to the waterside cafe at the resort for cheeseburgers.
