Our berth in Papeete (capital of Tahiti and all French Polynesia) was right alongside the town - in the harbour. This most convenient berth was, nonetheless, quiet with few other yachts. There are three jetty pontoons that go into the harbour at right angles to the main road running alongsid the harbour. I later found out that most yachts go to the marina up by the airport - far away from the town centre. We were in a good place.
Mid morning on the Sunday we were joined by Lesley (Captain's wife) and Jane (sarah's sister next down - Laura, the third daughter, had stayed in Sydney). After greetings and welcome drinks we went off for lunch together in a nearby fast-food place - the nearest restaurant was only serving drinks. So our first Tahitian meal was hamburgers and chips (pommes frites, it being French Polynesia) David and family then left to find a hotel for the night. Dennis and I mooched around and went for a long walk. We returned to the yacht for a quiet night in. Papeete seemed to sleep on Sunday.
Pictures here
Monday morning took me off to a travel agent and a flight booking for Thursday - perfect : I had hoped to spend two days to see the islands of Tahiti and neighbouring Moorea. On returning to the yacht I found that the Hetheringtons had not fared so well in the hotel which proved expensive and not very comfortable. So they had moved onboard. Dennis and I opted to go to a hotel ourselves and, having found a nice one in our walk yesterday, we moved out to the Tahiti Nui Hotel. So new is this hotel that it is not completed, but very smart it is and we took an apartment for two nights - see the photos ! Such luxury after 3 months on a yacht ......
Tuesday morning Dennis and I caught the 9.15 ferry over to Moorea. A very fast, large catamaran ferry took us across the channel in 50 minutes. We had wonderful views of Tahiti receeding behind us and Moorea coming up - through a rainstorm at one point. At the ferry point on Moorea was a bike and buggy hire place. We were not allowed to hire mopeds - apparently the local police had tightened their policy and unless you could prove you rode mopeds regularly you ahd to take a buggy. Actually it proved the cheaper option and was huge fun. The buggy (as you can see) is a frame with two seats and an engine in the rear. So we spent a very happy 4 hours buggying around the island of Moorea. Wonderful views from a place called Belvedere; glorious bays; those amazing hotels with rooms out on stilts on the water (we got chase out from one of those resorts - very salubrious and exclusive are they); steep hill sides and deep valleys; and the wind in our faces ..... Four hours was actually enough to get around and we sat eating lunch - just finished when I realised that the 3.00 ferry was about to leave. So we raced for a ticket and the kind ferry man waited those few minutes to let us onboard.
The photos are a photo-essay and don't really need explanation - enjoy the tour.
That evening we had dinner with the Hetheringtons in the open air food market. This is a remarkable space right by the harbour - an open piazza that during the day is a paved park and in the evening comes alive with vans that provide food. Each one also sets out a dining area with tables and stools. The food is fairly eclectic - ranging from pizza and hamburgers to fish dinners. The space is right next to the cruise ship jetty and did well when the Dawn Princess was in - but even this night when the Princess had gone was busy enough. Very pleasent to sit out in the open to eat dinner.
And so having finished Dennis and I said our farewells to David & Sarah (as crew) and Lesley and Jane - they were all going off cruising the Society Islands (Tahiti being the capital) and making their way up to Bora Bora from which Lesley and Jane would fly back to Tahiti and then to Australia. Scotty should be with them too.
Wednesday morning Dennis and I were up to collect a hire car, then finish packing and off for a day's drive around the island. We stopped first at the Tahiti Airport Motel to dump our bags and then off on a tour. The island is just over 100kms around and we took about 6 hours to do it.
The island consists of two roughly round portions centered on volcanic mountains, connected by a short isthmus named after the small town of Taravao, which sits there. The northwestern part is Tahiti Nui ("big Tahiti"), and the southeastern part, much smaller, Tahiti Iti ("small Tahiti") or Taiarapu. The island is similar to Moorea both being volcanic in origin. The peaks are sharp and the valleys deep, steep sided and very green. The terrain is only inhabitable either in the valley floors or on the coastal strip, although the less steep slopes behind the town of Papeete have houses on the slopes. The road around the island hugs the coast mostly. There are a few roads branching off into valleys and up a few slopes but only explored one of these.
We visited a museum of the island and Tahitian culture which was most interesting. The exhibits themselves are a bit tired and it was not easy to find what ought to be a central feature of any tour of the Island. The Plynesian culture was highly sophisticated and wonderfully artistic. Photography was not allowed in the museum but I am sure you could find good websites demonstrating the Polynesian culture.
Further along the road were a collection of tunnels which were clearly volcanic lava tunnels like we had seen in the Galapagos Islands. Water flowed over and through them and beautiful gardens have been created by them with lush grass and wonderful tropical flowers.
Communities are dotted around the island like pearls on a necklace. There does not appear to be a local architecture - it is all very similar to anywhere else in the tropical world - mostly single storey houses. No high-rise around the the island, just in Papeete. The churches were interesting, many of them having a balcony half way up their tower. And in almost every settlement of any size was a temple of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints (Mormon). That evening we met some Mormons briefly in Papeete who confirmed that there were about 14 temples on the island.
Again the photos, like those for Moorea, are your tour through my eyes ....
After dinner in the open air market again, Dennis and I set off to the airport, dropped of the car and went for a short night in the hotel.
Rising at 4.00 we made our bleary way down to the airport - the walk is short from the Motel - and checked in by 5.00 for our 7.00am flight out to Sydney via Auckland. We were on the same plane to Auckland. I went Air New Zealand and he by Qantas to Sydney. I flew out of Tahiti at 7.00 in the morning and landed in Sydney at 2.30 in the afternoon. However as we crossed the International Date Line I actually left Tahiti on Thursday and arrived in Sydney on Friday..... I still cannot quite get used to this quirk of Longitude.
So suddenly the adventure was over. I left Sydney on 2 January and returned on 1 May, exactly 4 months. I have seen amazing things and been to places I have wanted to visit - especially Macchu Pichu, the Panama Canal and the Galapagos Islands and I have sailed half-way across the world's largest ocean. I hope you have enjoyed following my travels - Farewell for now.
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