Tahiti

Date: August 2012

Day 1:

While most people refer to all of French Polynesia as "Tahiti", this is not entirely correct. French Polynesia is a collection of five main island groups, and Tahiti is only one of the islands in the group called Society Islands. It is the main island of French Polynesia though, and about 60% of the population lives on Tahiti.

We land here on a flight from New Caledonia, and experience one of Earth's time-zone flukes. During a flight of five and a half hours we traveled 21 hours back in time. That makes this sort of a "groundhog day". We had breakfast, lunch and dinner on New Caledonia and, on the same date, we have breakfast, lunch and dinner on Tahiti.

We are landing at 4:20 am, so I expect a quiet airport with sleepy staff. I am even joking that there will be definitely no Polynesian dancing welcoming us at this time of the day. So it's quite a shock that the airport is full of people, very hectic, chaotic almost. Three planes just arrived and the airport doesn't seem to be able to handle that. On the upside, yes, there is dancing entertaining us while we wait in the long (long!) immigration line.

Polynesian dancer welcoming us at the airport, Tahiti

On the way to Le Meridien Hotel the friendly taxi driver explains that, because of the threat of a strike, flights have been reshuffled. That's what's causing the mayhem on the airport. Oh yes, strikes, the favorite French past-time. This way we will definitely not forget that, even this far away, we are still on French territory.

View from Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

After breakfast we sleep through half the day, waking up just in time for lunch at the waterfront Le Carre Restaurant. The sun is blazing, barely a cloud in the sky, but there is a pleasant breeze. Just perfect.  We check out the (very poor) selection of postcards in the hotel's souvenir shop, then we spend the rest of the afternoon on the beach and in the pool. The water on the beach is too shallow for real swimming, but the sand-bottom lagoon pool is perfect for our 8-year old daughter.

Beach and over-water bungalows at Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Grounds of Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Drinks at Le Carre Restaurant, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Lagoon pool at Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Bundled up from head to toe in warm towels, we watch the amazing sunset on the beach. Just like on New Caledonia, the sun sets early here, around 6 pm. It takes my breath away. Our daughter is less impressed, and nags us to watch the rehearsals of a Polynesian dancing show instead. We try to reason with her that it will ruin the experience for Friday night, when we are supposed to see the actual show. But the rehearsals do look interesting, so once the sun sets we move over to the hotel bar to watch the dancing.

Sunset, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Sunset, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Sunset, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Polynesian show rehearsals, La Plantation Restaurant, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

We have dinner in the hotel. I don't think they cook great here, and the selection on the menu is not great either. But the service is very friendly, the air is perfect, and .... "I AM ON TAHITI!!!". After dinner we do a little stargazing on the beach. The night sky is so clear! Just beautiful.

Day 2:

We planned to go whale-watching today, but it's already full. So, we rent a car instead and set out to discover the island. Tahiti reminds me mostly of Oahu of the Hawaiian islands, which is not surprising. They are both volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean, inhabited by Polynesian people. They are also both the main, and consequently most densely populated and most developed of their respective island groups.

We set out to circle Tahiti on the coastal road. Actually, we are only driving around the larger part Tahiti Nui, as the smaller Tahiti Iti can't be encircled in a car. The weather is perfect today. Sunny and warm, but fresh.

I am the one navigating, which is not that complicated considering that we are simply following the coastal road. All addresses here seem to be denoted by a simple "PK" and a number. These PK-s (points kilometeriques) denote the distance of the place from "PK 0", which is at Pape'ete's Cathedral. The PK-s go in a counter-clockwise direction, as do we, so I find this system very helpful.

During our drive we pass lots and lots of dogs and chickens on the roadside. We see numerous churches, always preceded by a "SILENCE, CULTE" (quiet, worship) road-sign.

Roadside church, Tahiti

Our first stop is Marae Arahurahu in Pa'ea. There is not a lot to see, but it is a nice place, and I think it's important for us to visit at least one marae (ancient sacred place) while we are in French Polynesia. This one is the largest ceremonial complex on Tahiti, and has been carefully reconstructed in the 1950's. The tiki (sacred statues) on the site are all reproductions, not that I can tell the difference.

Map of Marae Arahurahu, Tahiti

Marae Arahurahu, Tahiti

Marae Arahurahu, Tahiti

Tiki, Marae Arahurahu, Tahiti

Marae Arahurahu, Tahiti

Getting back onto the main road is trickier than we thought. It is quite busy, so we have to wait a while before we can make our left turn into it.

At times the scenery by the road is absolutely breathtaking. I find it hard to believe that Tahiti is the least beautiful of the 3 Polynesian islands we will be visiting on this trip. That's not possible! Can anything be more picturesque than this?

View from the coastal road, Tahiti

View from the coastal road, Tahiti

We stop at Maraa Grotto, and stroll through the lush roadside park with ferny caves.  It's a strange place, because even though we are only a couple of steps from the busy road, we feel like we are in a jungle. Even the air is more humid than out on the road.

Maraa Grotto, Tahiti

Maraa Grotto, Tahiti

Maraa Grotto, Tahiti

Maraa Grotto, Tahiti

Maraa Grotto, Tahiti

Maraa Grotto, Tahiti

I am really looking forward to our next stop, the Musee Gauguin. I always liked Gauguin's Tahitian paintings, so for me this a must see. It's a bit of a letdown though, because the museum exhibits are not terribly interesting. Most painting seem to be reproductions, and I don't think it gives a very good sense of his life on Tahiti either.

Musee Gauguin, Tahiti

Musee Gauguin, Tahiti

The grounds of the museum are much more interesting than the interior. The garden is lovely, with absolutely superb views.

Grounds of Musee Gauguin, Tahiti

Grounds of Musee Gauguin, Tahiti

Grounds of Musee Gauguin, Tahiti

There are three original tiki displayed on the grounds. Tiki do not appreciate being moved, or even touched, so there are all kinds of stories circulating about the fate of the men who moved the statues here.

Tiki, Musee Gauguin, Tahiti

Tiki, Musee Gauguin, Tahiti

Tiki, Musee Gauguin, Tahiti

Tiki, Musee Gauguin, Tahiti

We are hungry, so we skip the Botanical Garden next door in favor of the McDonald's nearby. It is big and clean, and, even by McDonald's standards, it has the best french fries ever.

View from the coastal road, Tahiti

We pass the point where Tahiti nui and Tahiti iti meet, then continue north-east, toward the Faarumai Waterfalls. Even on official maps they are mostly referred to as Les Trois Cascades (The Three Waterfalls), so I assume that there are three of them, but we only see one. As in most places today, we are the only visitors, which is wonderful. The waterfall is nice, but not amazing, so we don't stay too long.

Faarumai Waterfalls (Les Trois Cascades), Tahiti

After a short drive we arrive to the Arohoho Blowhole. At first we are not sure what we are looking at, but once it starts blowing it's quite fascinating. My picture doesn't really do it justice.

Arohoho Blowhole, Tahiti

View from the coastal road, Tahiti

Next stop is the lovely Point Venus, where Captain James Cook landed, and then observed the transit of the planet Venus in the 18th century. Today the place is dominated by a pretty 19th century lighthouse, and is a popular picnic spot for locals. In fact it is so crowded when we arrive, that we don't even feel like getting out of the car. It's getting late, and we are all a bit tired by now.

Point Venus, Tahiti

We drive on toward Pape'ete, French Polynesia' capital. While the waterfront looks nice and new, with parks and playgrounds, the rest of the city doesn't make a great impression. Traffic is terrible, the buildings rundown, and the entire town seems like a never-ending row of pearl-shops. But maybe I am just too tired. In any case, we decide not to stop, and simply drive through toward the hotel.

We pass a lot of people walking home from work, carrying fresh baguettes for dinner. Yes, we are definitely on French territory.

Driving through Pape'ete, Tahiti

Driving through Pape'ete, Tahiti

Back in the hotel our daughter heads straight to the pool, then we move over to the beach to enjoy the lovely sunset.

Sunset, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Dinner with live jazz, and for me a Polynesian tasting platter, with goodies like fish in vanilla sauce. Then stargazing on the beach. The big splashes in the dark water make me wonder about the size of the creatures which live there.

Day 3:

After breakfast we take a stroll on the walkways connecting the over-water bungalows. To a city person like me, the number and variety of fish here is absolutely astonishing. The colors! The jumping! The strong reflection of the sun doesn't let me take good pictures, so you will just have to take my word for it. It's amazing. We are not going to do any snorkeling on this island, but we will definitely have to do some on the two others, Moorea and Bora-Bora.

Coral by Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti 

Fish by Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti 

Fish by Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti 

Coral by Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti 

View of Moorea from Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti 

Coral by Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti 

After lunch we are picked up and driven to Marina Taina for whale watching. We have done a couple of whale and dolphin watching tours before, and I didn't think this would be any different than the others. Imagine my surprise when we get there, and it turns out that they expect us to get in the water with the whales. We feel completely stupid, we did not bring our bathing suits (everyone else seems to have gotten the memo, as they are all wearing theirs). Luckily they hand us wet-suits, so that solves our problem.

Marina Taina, Tahiti

View of Tahiti from the water

We are basically riding on a large motor boat, and it's fun, except for the fact that my husband has to hold our 8-year old daughter during the whole time. We are all sitting on the edge of the boat, and it's quite bumpy, so letting her go is not really an option.

It's only the start of the whale-watching season, and the last three groups did not see a whale, so I don't have high hopes. Also, this does not seem like a very sophisticated operation, not like the one in Iceland, where we did manage to see some whales. Here we basically ask around local fishermen if they have seen a whale, then set out in the general direction where there might be one. Like looking for a needle in a haystack, so it's not a great surprise that we don't see any.

Fisherman, Tahiti

View of Tahiti from the water

I am not terribly upset about this, because it was a fun way to spend the afternoon, and we had a lovely view of the island. We will just consider this a really expensive sight-seeing boat-ride. There is no refund if there is no whale, but we could come on the tour for free again. In fact we could keep coming for free until we see a whale (there is a man with two teenage sons in our group who are doing this third time already, unsuccessfully). We are leaving tomorrow, so this is not really an option for us. Not that I would want to spend my entire vacation on a boat looking for the elusive whales anyway.

Dinner is seafood buffet in La Plantation Restaurant, during which we watch a Polynesian show. Before the show there are demonstrations of traditional flower weaving and tattooing on the stage.

Flower weaving demonstration, Polynesian show, La Plantation Restaurant, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Flower weaving demonstration, Polynesian show, La Plantation Restaurant, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Flower weaving demonstration, Polynesian show, La Plantation Restaurant, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Tattoos used to be significant in Polynesian culture, carrying information about their wearer, such as social status. In old times nearly everyone in Polynesia was tattooed. But the missionaries banned the practice (along with dancing and revealing clothing) in the 18th century, so it almost completely disappeared. Today there is renewed interest in traditional tattooing, which is done with tools made of tortoise shells and bones. Of course there is no actual tattooing going on during the demonstration, it's just pretend. But we do get to see the tools, and get an explanation on Polynesian tattoos. It's all in French, so I don't understand much of it, but even I understand when the gentleman laughingly declares: "the difference between traditional and modern tattooing is that tattooing with machine hurts a short time, tattooing with traditional methods hurts a long time".

Traditional tattoo demonstration, Polynesian show, La Plantation Restaurant, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Traditional tattoo demonstration, Polynesian show, La Plantation Restaurant, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

And now the actual show begins. For this I will let the pictures do all the talking.

Polynesian show, La Plantation Restaurant, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Polynesian show, La Plantation Restaurant, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Polynesian show, La Plantation Restaurant, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Polynesian show, La Plantation Restaurant, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Polynesian show, La Plantation Restaurant, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Polynesian show, La Plantation Restaurant, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Polynesian show, La Plantation Restaurant, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Polynesian show, La Plantation Restaurant, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Polynesian show, La Plantation Restaurant, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Polynesian show, La Plantation Restaurant, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Polynesian show, La Plantation Restaurant, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Polynesian show, La Plantation Restaurant, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

Day 4:

After breakfast and packing we are having drinks on the beach. The weather is perfect, and I don't really want to leave, but I shouldn't complain. We are just hopping over to the neighboring island of Moorea, which is supposed to be even more picturesque.

We are taking a 30-minute ride on the fast ferry Aremiti 5. I am surprised by how modern and pretty the ferry terminal is. The luggage seems to work on an honor system, as we simply drop it off with a guy, who loads the suitcases into a container, without giving us any piece of paper in return. But we do get them back fine on the other side.

Ferry terminal, Tahiti

Local ladies at the ferry terminal, Tahiti

The ferry is air-conditioned, but most tourists, including us, choose to sit outside in the baking sun, so that we wouldn't miss the view.

Aremiti 5 ferry from Tahiti to Moorea

View of Tahiti from the Aremiti 5 ferry

Days later:

We return after a wonderful time on Moorea and Bora Bora. Yes, now I understand why Tahiti is the least picturesque of them all. After being on those two laid back, relatively undeveloped, paradise-like islands, it is very strange to be back on a four lane highway.

We only came back to Tahiti because this is where the international airport is. Our flight is tomorrow morning, so we will be overnighting at Le Meridien again. The receptionist recognizes us, as do the waitresses, which is nice.

We are having lunch on the terrace of Le Carre Restaurant, with a lovely view of Moorea in the distance. As I look at the braking waves, past the coral reef, I can't help but remember the humpback whale we saw jumping yesterday at a very similar spot in Bora Bora. I stare out there for a while, just in case a whale happens to swim by. But no such luck.

There is a group of Australians at the table next to us, and suddenly one of them shouts "Is that a whale?". I can't see anything, but he seems confident in what he saw. A bunch of boats seems to be heading in that direction too, so I guess he might be right. Yes, there it is! And not one, but two whales! There is no jumping, but still, how amazing is this? We are having lunch and two whales just happen to swim by! By now the unsuccessful whale-watching trip is a distant memory. (If you are wondering why I am not posting any pictures of the whales, it's because I was simply not ready with the camera).

View of Moorea from Le Carre Restaurant, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti 

Over-water bungalows, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti 

For dinner it's back to the same restaurant, the same table. It's completely dark by now, and in the shallow water below we see people with flashlights, catching small fish.

 Father and son fishing by Le Carre Restaurant, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti

The evening is lovely, and we are joking that it could only get better if suddenly a whale would jump in front of us. Of course the whale would have to be lit for us to even see it, so obviously this does not happen. But just as our dessert arrives we hear a loud boom. Fireworks over the water! I am not sure who ordered them and why - my guess is that one of the many honeymooning couples - but that's none of my concern. I am enjoying them immensely. What a perfect ending to this perfect trip!

Fireworks by Le Carre Restaurant, Le Meridien Hotel, Tahiti