Mike and I rented a sweet bright yellow Renault to circle the island of Raiatea.  Car rentals are a bit different here. It’s a no muss no fuss policy and after we busted out google translate we were out the door in a few minutes. Our main destination was Marae Taputapuatea. This is an ancient Polynesian site. There are many theories on what happened on these sites, religious, ceremonial, political, and everyday life. The archeologists have pretty much decided this was the mother ship, the cradle of Maohi culture, a mythical place marked with a great sense of spirituality. This site is known as the most significant archeological site in the whole south Pacific area. Our friend Sidsel (archaeological lecturer on Aranui) wanted to make sure we took a drive by. It was defiantly impressive and really did have a great aura.