I’ve been putting off doing a blog fromTahiti because I’m not sure what to say. Maybe if I had arrived here without first being in the Marquesas and Tuamotu I would find this place exotic and colourful. It is a very lusciously green island. Lots of tall volcanic peaks with palm trees, breadfruit, passion fruit, hibiscus etc – just like Marquesas. It also has a coral reef down the west side of the island and therefore has great diving and snorkelling – just like the Tuamotus. However, the capital –Papeete– is a very unappealing town and feels unsafe after dark. There is a lot of traffic, cruise ships, retired and newly married couples on tour. Not enough bars, restaurants, or shops to make it interesting. By contrast, the Marquesas and Tuamotus have all been peaceful and unspoiled. Overall I found it disappointing. It didn’t help that it was either overcast or raining for 10 of the 12 days we spent here.
Despite all this, I had a great time here mainly because this was a big stopover for all the Arc boats. The fleet had not been together in one place since the Galapagos, 2 months ago. By now everyone was keen to talk to anyone who was not on their boat and this meant lots of eating out and drinks on boats (mainly on Sapphire, mind you).
I discovered, just before arriving here, that my nephew Neil has a friend called Dan living here. It turned out that Dan works on a boat in the marina we were staying in and that his girlfriend,Perrine, works as a diver out of the same marina. It was great to have someone around with local knowledge. They brought us to a couple of really good restaurants. And Perrine took Gavin and Patricia diving. The restaurants were part of 2 hotels and Dan explained that the best bars and restaurants are in hotels and not downtown.
We had a few chores that had to be done while we were here. So we decided to get all these out of the way before exploring the island . By the time we got toTahiti we had cleared out the fridge, freezer, drinks locker and a lot of the goodies on board. So this meant provisioning again on a similar scale to that done in Panama City. Our target when stocking up in Panama was to have enough provisions to do us to Tahiti – so that worked well. Now we are provisioned again all the way to New Zealand. There are a couple of really good French supermarkets in Tahiti and that made the job easy.
Tahitii s almost the only place in the South Pacific where major repairs can be carried out. (Mr.Assam’s son on Apatiki has a small boatyard and can haul out boats under 15 tons). There is a good shipyard here and several of the boats have arranged for lift-outs. There is only one sail-maker and he is under pressure to get all the repairs done for various Arc boats in time for the next leg to Bora Bora. We needed to have a rip in our mainsail repaired. We only got it back in time because Scott went to the sail loft and helped with the sewing.
Another thing we wanted to do here was find out if Beatoo had arrived safely. They were the boat that ran up on the reef in Takaroa and had to sail here using a makeshift rudder. They arrived safely but are now waiting for a new rudder to be sent from France. The stress of the situation has taken its toll on the crew. My favourite Beatoo crew member, Carlos, has decided to pack it in and is heading home to Spain.
At least 5 other boats have also had crew problems. The Yorkshire couple I mentioned in a previous blog have also left the Arc and have flown to Australia. I’ll miss them. Some people have left one boat and joined another. I suppose it is to be expected. A yacht, no matter how big, is still a small space to spend long days and nights on. There is a knack to surviving and to not driving those around you crazy either. I think we’ve cracked it on Sapphire.
Last thing we had to do was pick up Jerry (from Cork) who is joining the boat, having left us in San Blas. Originally, I was to leave fromTahiti, but since I am now staying on until Bora Bora we will have an extra pair of hands.
With all chores done, rain stopped and Jerry on board, it was time to explore the island. We rented a car and using Dan’s list of the hot-spots, we spent 2 days touring the island.
Tahiti is made up of 2 islands, joined by a causeway. The main island, Tahiti Nui, is where most people live. The smaller island is Tahiti Iti. There is just one road that runs around the shore of Tahiti Nui. It takes about 2 hours to drive around the whole island. On our way around we visited Les Trois Cascade – 3 magnificent waterfalls. Because of the amount of rain over the previous days they were flowing quite fiercely. I could only take pictures from a distance as the spray was too much for the camera. We passed a couple of impressive surfing beaches too. There is a headland called Point Venus where Cook was stationed for 2 years. His job was to measure the transit of Venus across the sun. The reason for this was something to do with celestial navigation. Anyway, whatever it was intended for – the project failed!! I’m sure Cook had a wonderful time here though. He seems to have been very well received by the natives and how bad can it be to be surrounded by beautiful women with flowers in their hair. Most women still wear flowers today. A flower behind the left ear means you are married or not available and the opposite for the right ear.
As with all the other islands we visited in French Polynesia, the local people are getting a great deal from France. The old-age pension can be drawn once you reach 55. You don’t have to have worked and is equivalent to 600 US$ a month. Free education and health care. The government also provide a type of social housing whereby a 3 bedroom house is given for a cost of 1,000 US$ with the proviso that it cannot be sub-let. You own the house after ten years. I wonder if the French public are aware of the amount of money being pumped into French Polynesia.
Before the arrival of the religious missionaries, the Polynesians engaged in providing human sacrifices to the gods. Apparently, this was done on a voluntary basis. Only young men could volunteer. A number of tribal elders would get together and make the selection. The man would have to be fit and good looking in order to please the gods. He would then be given a drink to numb him and his throat slit. As a reward his family would be given a prime piece of land. A clever way to ensure a steady stream of “volunteers”. However, I bet the selected man pissed off someone on the tribal council!
A few other places of note are the Paul Gauguin museum, which has no original paintings or sculptures(!), the Botanical Gardens which has 2 giant tortoises from Galapagos, a fabulous fish restaurant in Tahiti Iti and my favourite place of all, the indoor market in Papeete.
Next stop is the island of Moorea which is only 10 miles away. There is a regular ferry across but we will sail over and anchor there for a couple of days. Dan has told us it’s not to be missed.
I’m gone to say to my little brother, that he should also go to see this blog on regular basis to get updated from newest information.
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