PfG: Tahitian Paradise

Tahiti definitely had a different vibe than Mo'orea, much busier and bustling with activity, not surprising for the capital of French Polynesia and its second largest city.

First glimpse of Papeete, Tahiti, located on the northwest coast of the island. It’s the largest cruise port in French Polynesia and the dock here has easy access to the town.

Figured I might as well get at least one picture of us together in this port since we had different destinations for the day.

We had some lovely Polynesian music to greet us on the pier.

I left first and joined my group to walk to our tour departure point to go snorkeling. The humidity felt like Houston in August and within five minutes I was soaked. Since I was going in the water anyway it didn't matter.

This is what happened after I left the ship, either someone didn't rub in their reef-safe sunscreen very well or they're planning on getting a side job as a mime!

Once we were picked up we were ready to set sail from the marina on our three hour tour, with Jerémie & Jean (French pronunciation on both these names please!) rather than the Skipper and Gilligan.

Here we are on our RIB, or Rigid Inflatable Boat. I hadn't done a snorkel tour on one of these before. Note here, I was the most experienced snorkeler on the boat which totally cracked me up! Thanks to my friend Jane, seated in front of me, for these group photos.

As we headed out we passed boats like the blue one, a design that originated in Tahiti, called flying fish boats. In these the driver sits in a spot on the bow, in front of the yellow boxy spot on top. These are used to catch the delicious Mahi Mahi.

Just as at Mo'orea, which you can see across the channel, Tahiti is surrounded by an outer reef, the rim of the original volcano which created the island. Here you can also see one of the large breaks in the reef.

Just a couple more views of the beautiful surf as it breaks out quite a way from shore. You may not be able to see them well but there were a bunch of surfers in the photo on the right waiting to catch a wave. In these more protected lagoon areas fish, dolphins and whales can come in to rest and get away from any predators.

One of the best parts of this snorkel tour were the dolphins that played alongside our boat! There were even one or two baby ones that loved to splash around. Not sure what it is about dolphins that makes them so much fun to watch but we were entranced.

Since I learned my lesson about taking my phone in the water I don't have any underwater shots here. The water clarity was much less here on Tahiti, partly due to a recent storm. I did want to note this spot on the island near the church in the foreground where the river puts the fresh water into the lagoon which causes the break in the surrounding coral,

On our way to our next snorkel spot we again watched these fun Spinner's Dolphins play and you can see that Jane was even able to capture a photo of one as it jumped from the water to make its spin in the air. Now you know where their name came from!

Most of the group declined to get in the water again but Mark, Jane and I splashed our way in. We two ladies followed our guide Jerémie, along the edge of the reef where it dropped off into the two mile deep Tahiti Channel. We saw fish among the coral but my favorites in this spot were the sea turtles who floated up and down, fearless of getting close to us. We could see the lovely designs on their shells. No matter how much we asked we couldn't get anyone else to come in to take a look. After another nice swim we made our way back up the tricky ladder and into the boat to return to the dock. All in all a fun snorkel tour.

Meanwhile, this dude was having fund under the water taking all kinds of video. Thanks to our friend Steve for these photos.

First dive they went to an was to a submerged boat and a PBY seaplane, cool Angelfish in this view.

Second dive was out to a fresh water vent. Karl tells me they had to swim across an abyss to get there. Here's some of the beautiful coral and a colorful fish from out there.

After a quick shower and a wardrobe change I was off again for my island tour. On the gates at the Presidential Palace, you see the Tahitian coat of arms. It's a great symbol of the culture with the double-hulled canoe in the middle, stars for each of the five groups of islands within French Polynesia, the sun's rays in the background, and the sea's waves at the bottom.

What is now French Polynesia became a French protectorate in 1882 and about a hundred years later, in 1984, it was changed to an autonomous territory. It is currently known as a French "overseas collectivity" which allows the islands to have more self-rule. It was due to this change that they are now allowed to teach Polynesian history in schools rather than just info about Napoleon and France. Fun fact, the current president of French Polynesia is also the Tourism Minister, interesting in that tourism is the major money earner in their economy. This site was originally a military base before becoming an official home and offices.

A couple of different kinds of plams trees just to show some of the variety of plants on the island. The one on the left is called a Bismarck Palm while the one on the right is a Fan Palm.

Here's our guide Dominic next to a Tahitian Noni tree. Yes, there really is such a tree and such a fruit and he assured us it has health and medicinal properties. I don't know how many times we've driven past the Tahitian Noni Company building on our way to and from Provo but I've never had a clue what the fruit looked like. Dominic asked me if I'd ever heard of the fruit when he found out I was from Utah and I assured him I had. The factory where they process the fruit for products sold in Provo is located in his home village. Small world sometimes isn't it! Now I feel like I need to try the juice.

I was surprised to learn that there was a large and historic Chinese influence in Tahiti. Immigrants were brought here for working the sugar cane and coffee fields. This photo is of a Chinese cemetery, many of the monuments have roofs because supposedly they don't like the sun on them for some reason. Plots get newer the higher you go. When Tahiti became a French territory in t 1882 the Chinese became a people in limbo as they weren't automatically given citizenship. It was finally granted in the 1970's but in order to do so they had to change their last names to look/sound French. It won't be surprising that many, if not most of the businesses on Tahiti are owned by those Chinese descendants.

One of the places I loved on this tour was a fabric factory, no surprise there. They had the machine on the left that could imprint fabrics quickly, like the purple fabric on the right.

If they wanted to change the design they could just change the roller. Here are some of the finished fabrics ready for various projects.

They also had more unique fabrics that had puzzle designs like the one on the top left, where the designer could lock in place different pieces, roll fabric paint on the elevated pieces, place the fabric on top, then run a paint roller over the fabric to imprint the design. We watched the design on the lower left being done. Once the cloth is carefully removed from the table it is hung to dry like the center photo. The next day the pieces are heated to set the paint. The table on the lower right was a design in the making with a hammer and chisel.

Here are some of the various paints and rollers that the workmen used to create their designs.

I had a hard time not buying a piece of fabric or something made from one of their beautiful designs.

Here's one of the ladies that was in the workshop next to the printing area who was sewing shirts and dresses for the retail shop. Watching her brought a whole new meaning to "sweat shop" because that was one warm place to work. She did have a fan nearby to keep the air moving.

As we drove through the city we were treated to some lovely street art. Each year they have the Ono'u, a festival that brings artists to Papeete to make these types of pieces.

We next stopped at Pointe Venus, the spot where Captain James Cook and company came to Tahiti to view and measure the Venus transit of the sun in 1769. This measurement aided later navigators and astronomers.The lighthouse here at the point was designed by the father of author Robert Louis Stevenson. The attached plaque shares the feelings of the author as he stood on the site in 1888.

Not far from the water we kept seeing these holes and were told that they were crab holes, used by the one above, which had apparently met its demise thanks to some of the wandering dogs in the area.

Also in the park was a memorial for the HMS Bounty and its crew. Yes, it's the same one that had the mutiny. Not only are the names of those from the British ship listed here but the names of the Tahitians the mutineers came back to are listed on the leaves.

Pointe Venus was just a lovely spot. I bet you're with me and you could have easily spent an afternoon there. Just one note, most of Tahiti's beaches are black sand, due to the fact that it is a much younger volcanic island than Mo'orea so the coral hasn't broken down or fish created enough white excrement to replace it.

Definitely not one of my favorite photos of myself but I wanted to prove that I had spent time here.

The final memorial here at Point Venus was to commemorate the arrival of the the London Missionary Society.

This wall tells the story of their arrival at various islands in French Polynesia. While their intentions were good the results of their arrival were eventually devastating to the natives. When Cook arrived in the islands in 1769 there were around 200,000 Polynesians, but within a century or so various western diseases had decimated that population and the number was less than 10,000.

These guys were my new friends I tried to practice a little French with, a very little. They didn't speak any English and my language skills are so bad we struggled but they stuck with me until we at least got ourselves introduced. Cute boys!

I'd love to have a hibiscus tree in my back yard that would drop beautiful blossoms like these every day. Aren't they gorgeous!

We stopped at this former leper village, no leprosy here now though, to check out some blue-eyed eels and some tiki carvings.

One more type of palm tree, this one a coconut palm. Dominic said we were safe under these, none of them were brown and ripe. I mean really, who would want to die from having a coconut fall on their head?

The beauty on the left is a Tahitian hyacinth and the scent was heavenly, while the color of the ginger on the left is one of my favorites.

I've seen these blossoms in a couple of countries now but I've yet to find a guide who can tell me what they are called.

Dominic had a can of sardines that he'd chopped up to entice the eels from under a bridge where they liked to hide where it was cooler. The roiling coil of them was pretty creepy, as you can see they would come right out of the water to get to the sardines....and they didn't want to share with the cat or the rooster. Check out Karl's YouTube channel if you want to see the eel attack the rooster!

One of the local residents earned a bit on the side by making acaia wood tikis and cashew wood war clubs. She was quite talented and we'll be brining a tiki home with us, might be a little large for a Christmas ornament though.

I made a few more new friends here. These guys could speak at least a little English. One of them was the brother of the wood carver. They were having a great time playing some soccer with one another.

One of the most splendid spots we stopped was the Vaimahuta Waterfall, so much greenery and multiple falls. And we all know by now that I love waterfalls!

On the left is a Crepe Ginger, a unique type of that flower. On the right is a sacred sugarcane plant.

Just another lovely spot to sit and listen to the water.

On a brief stop at the Arahōhō Blowhole we saw this sacred Ironwood tree, even though it is on the struggle bus due to being blasted continually by saltwater from the hole. It keeps on trying though because there are sprigs of new growth on the trunk. Never give up! There's definitely a lesson from this tree.

There were the weirdest fish I've ever seen clinging to the concrete wall. They apparently didn't like the water for when the spray from the blowhole hit them they climbed the wall. They really looked more like tadpoles than fish but Dominic told us they were something called Oti.

Oh look, it's me yet again. When I'm on a tour without Karl I'm limited with the models I have to use. The small beach here was a beautiful spot, with a lone boogie boarder doing 360 degree somersaults. He was amazing.

One last sacred tree which also has medicinal purposes, the Rosewood tree. Dominic pointed it out to me and told me the pods have seeds that can be used for toothache.