Tahiti New-er - October 21

Yesterday we circled Tahiti Nui. Today we experienced a newer side of Tahiti. (Yes, we are still in Papeete. It was part of the plan all along.)

We reserved a day pass at the InterContinental. You can’t just show up and get one - there are a limited number of day passes. We took a taxi to the hotel. It is on the other side of the airport, on a point of land.

The hotel property includes a man-made lagoon with a man-made sandy beach, an infinity pool, a marine turtle sanctuary, and more. We really enjoyed this beautiful property. It was not very crowded. The lagoon was crystal clear and was supplied by tidal water from the ocean that flowed in and out through a screen. Bright tropical fish swam in the lagoon and did not seem to mind the occasional human in their space. This was much nicer than the natural rocky waterfront that exists here.

The lagoon:

I am the one under the palm tree, waving at you

In the following three photos, the water you see is not the lagoon, but the open ocean:

Moorea is visible in the distance

Next to the lagoon was a turtle sanctuary where injured turtles are treated and given a chance to recover. It appeared to be part of the lagoon, but it was cleverly designed to keep the turtles in and apart from people.

These turtles are wearing some sort of protective suits

They gave us wristbands, and some yellow-and-white-striped towels. We were able to use the hotel’s chairs, so we were quite comfortable. We sat under a palm tree and enjoyed the pleasant trade winds that kept us from being too hot.

After a while, another couple showed up and took two chairs near us. They had the blue-and-white-striped towels that one gets on a Princess ship. They did not have wristbands. It was obvious to me that they were from our ship and had not paid for a day pass. They ate food that they had in their backpacks They did so by reaching into the backpacks and taking out handfuls of food in a sneaky way. It was obvious to me that they had brought food from the ship with them. This is illegal in many places, including Tahiti. I didn’t speak to them. I didn’t report them to the hotel staff, but I thought about it.

The infinity pool:

Our day pass included lunch at the restaurant overlooking the pool. It did not include the wonderful Mai Tais you may have noticed in one of the photos. “Mai tai” is Tahitian for “out of this world” or “the best.” Or so they say.

Our lunch was delicious. We ordered shrimp poke bowls, plus fresh tropical fruit for dessert. It was delicious and nutritious. However, Ken later had gastro-intestinal symptoms for many hours. We both ate the same food at the InterContinental, and I was fine, so maybe it was something he had on the ship.

Back on the ship, this was our view of “downtown Papeete.”

Today’s fabric is Tonga Batiks - Lakeside Geo Mosaic Pattern Anchor, by Timeless Treasures.

Tahiti Nui - October 20

The island of Tahiti is shaped like a lopsided figure eight. The larger loop is Tahiti Nui, or Big Tahiti, and the smaller part is Tahiti Iti, or Little Tahiti. Our tour today took us in a large circle around the perimeter of Tahiti Nui.

Gary, our guide, was an American ex-pat who has lived in Tahiti for more than 30 years. He provided loads of information as our bus drove around the island and made numerous stops along the way. There are no roads into the interior of the island. The center of the island is an extinct volcano and the terrain rises so sharply that the interior is not usable and is unsuitable for a road. Two things that stood out were the black sand and the large number of small rivers flowing down from the mountains/volcano. The land is very lush and green.

Our first stop was an abandoned hotel with a panoramic view. When Captain Cook sailed into Matavai Bay in 1769, a single tree with bright orange flowers served as a beacon high above the bay. This became known as One Tree Hill. The tree is no longer here, but the lookout point remains.

Panoramic view of Papeete, with Moorea in the distance

This beautiful African Tulip Tree is an invasive species in Tahiti. I’m not sure it would have been here when Captain Cook arrived. He must have seen a different species of tree with orange flowers - perhaps a mimosa.

Our second stop was Point Venus, where Captain Cook tracked the transit of Venus across the sun. This undertaking was part of a project involving a series of measurements in various places around the globe to calculate the size of the solar system.

A monument to Captain Cook and his expedition. Kind of underwhelming, isn’t it?

Outriggers on a black sand beach

Close-up of some outriggers

The Point Venus Lighthouse was built in 1867, the first lighthouse in the South Pacific

Next up: Arohoho Blowhole.This blowhole is a lava tube, created when hot lava flowed into the cold ocean. Air gets trapped inside the blowhole by waves and pushes back, sending a powerful geyser out of the tube with an explosive sound. (It is hard to photograph.)

I loved this green plant near the blowhole. All of the leaves had white sawtooth borders. I believe it is a variety of Acalypha wilkesiana.

We stopped for some fresh juice at the Gauguin Restaurant and we took a few moments to drink in the luscious views. There used to be a Gauguin Museum nearby, but it is now closed.

The Gauguin Restaurant

A lovely view of a thatched pavilion across the lake.

At Vaipahi Gardens we saw a waterfall, some gorgeous flowers, and lots of pleasing landscaping.

This large, waxy flower is called Torch Ginger. By the way, I discovered that the Photos app has a (new?) feature that will look up a plant for you and tell you what you have taken a photo of!

Soon we arrived at the Mara’a Fern Grotto - three natural caves, a permanent trickle of water, pools of cool, clear water, and ceilings covered with ferns and moss.

In our loop around the island we did not see a lot of tourism infrastructure. There were only a few hotels near Papeete, no restaurants, no evidence of tourists using the beaches, no junky souvenir shops. This is not necessarily a bad thing. My point is this: Tahiti is not Hawaii. 

It was a long day, and we were happy to get back to the ship. The last time we were in Papeete, we had really enjoyed “Les Roulottes”  -  a nightly gathering of food trucks in a park next to the pier. I think Covid took out most of the food trucks. There are only four or five food trucks there now, but it is still a lively adventure to eat dinner there.

After dinner we waddled back to the ship, not wanting to miss the folkloric show with the fabulous dance troupe, Tahitian Cultural Expressions. They were phenomenal. The dances came across as very authentic and it was such a privilege to see this performance. I had a hard time winnowing down the photos to a reasonable number.

The Hawaiian hula uses more arm movements and is more graceful in appearance than the Tahitian dance, which uses more hip movements and appears to be more aggressive. Nānā and Shabbat Shalom.

Today’s fabric is Tahiti Dream, by Kitty McCall. Isn’t it gorgeous?

Life’s Not Always a Beach - October 19

We were planning to get a day pass at the Hilton Moorea today, but. . . .

When we woke up it was POURING and the wind was blowing at 15 mph. The hour by hour forecast was 50-60% chance of rain all day. We could see ominous black clouds in one direction. 

We made the decision not to go ashore. This is a tender port — we would have to be ferried ashore by one of the ship’s tenders or lifeboats. It is a tedious process. Then we would have had to take a taxi to and from the Hilton. If it stops raining, everything will be wet for awhile.  So we decided to stay on the ship. If the sun comes out, we can go to the pool.

Appropriately, today’s cappuccino was a snail. It symbolized our speed today.

Moorea is 8 miles from Tahiti. Moorea and Tahiti are part of an archipelago called the Society Islands. The Society Islands are part of French Polynesia, which is a “French overseas collectivity.” In other words, French Polynesia is not an independent country, but has some sort of administrative relationship with France. The people of French Polynesia have French passports, though French Polynesia has its own flag. The flag includes an outrigger with five figures representing the five archipelagos, and a disc depicting the sun and the sea.

Moorea is less developed than Tahiti. It is very beautiful with its dramatic volcanic ridges and lush greenery. We are anchored in a scenic U-shaped bay. The tender pier is located at one end of the U, and the Hilton is located at the other end. You must drive along the entire length of the U to get from the port to the Hilton, and it costs about $25-30 US each way, and then you have to pay for the day passes.

We went to the Moorea Hilton several years ago. It had picturesque over-water bungalows in a crystal-clear lagoon that was never more than chest deep. We wanted to go back and spend the day sitting on the beach there, but we wanted the sun to be out when we did so.

It’s silly to avoid the beach because it is raining, as if you wouldn’t be getting wet on a sunny day. Isn’t that half the fun of going to the beach? But who wants to go to the beach when it’s pouring?

View towards the pier, from our ship

These are some of the Hilton’s bungalows, as seen from our ship.

View toward the bottom of the U

In the afternoon the sun came out, so we took the tender into “town” to walk around. The town was tiny, the pier was incredibly crowded, and there was no place to walk on the narrow road leading from the pier. We browsed at a small market at the pier and went back to the ship as soon as possible.

A small church near the pier

Back on our ship we watched a man paddle a small outrigger across the bay, and as we left our anchorage, a whale surfaced nearby. The sun came out and lit up the lagoon and bungalows. It seemed so peaceful, uncomplicated, and unspoiled.

  

Today’s fabric is Natural Healing Batiks - Dot Teal Ravine, by Kathy Engle for Island Batik.