Journal: French Polynesia, 28 Sept 2001 We arrived in Papeete (pronounced pah-pay-eh-tay) airport in total darkness at 5am. As you can imagine, I was over-the-moon at having to jostle through the immigration and customs lines at this ungodly hour in the morning. At least there was a Polynesian band to entertain us as we waited on line. Although it is difficult to get into a hula-hula spirit just after being woken from a deep slumber. Aside from the occasional ecstatic honeymoon couple, it looked like everyone else would gladly have taken a raincheck on the "entertainment". After dispensing with the necessary fomalities, our first order of business was to get some local currency. Using my FleetBoston card, I got money from an ATM machine at the airport. God bless ATM machines! And then, after getting the money, I asked the currency exchance office to break the big notes that I had just gotten from the ATM into more practical demnominations. This is all so easy! Armed with knowledge from the guide book, we then sought out the least expensive way to get into town. We walked from the airport to a nearby road and got on "le truck". By now, it was starting to get bright. The bus service on Tahiti consists of a bunch of privately-owned trucks that have been converted into passenger vehicles. These vehicles are known as "les trucks". They run along established routes that are indicated in paint on the side of the truck. You just flag one down, get in the back and make yourself comfortable on the wooden bench, and pay when you disembark. The fare is a very reasonable 120 francs (a little more than a dollar) to anywhere on the island. We then made our way to Hostel Teamo, which according to our guide book is the least expensive place to stay in Papeete. All the dorm beds are taken, so myself and Davie splurge for a double. It costs about $40 per night for the room, which is very reasonable for Tahiti. The accommodations are, in a word, primitive. Our room has walls on three sides and a wooden fence on the other side. (I tell Davie that it would be a little more like paradise if we actually had four walls in our bedroom.) The proprieter of this establishment, a little old Chinese lady, considered the fencing, with large gaps between the upight pieces of wood, to be a selling point by extolling it's ability to provide ventillation. We were too tired to care what she said. And most importantly there were no bugs around. The room was so small that, unless we are in bed, we cannot both fit in the room. Ah, the pleasures of backpacking. At breakfast in a waterfront cafe, Davie discovers that a glass of orange juice in Tahiti costs over $5. This is the first of many surprises as to the cost of things (a can of coke costs $4). The one item that appears to be well priced is bread, with fantastic baguettes costing less than $1. These apparently are subsidised by the French government. I was immediately struck by the lack of spoken English here. Basically, you need to be able to speak French to get by. It's taking me a little bit of time to get my comfort level with speaking French up to scratch, but I'm getting there. A visit to the tourist office arms us with information about Tahiti and the other French Polynesian islands. We spend the remainder of our first day recovering from our travels by catching up on our sleep and familiarizing ourselves with our new surroundings. A bite to eat and a few drinks are followed by a relatively early night. French Polynesia, 29 Sept 2001 Today essentially consisted of wandering around. I got up and Davie didn't feel like doing anything, so I took off on my own. I walked to the Polynesian Cultural Center on the western extremity of Papeete. Then I went to "the" supermarket. I say "the" supermarket because there is only one mentioned in the guide book. I get some stuff for lunch. To give you an idea of the cost of things here, this is what I got:
I took my $17 lunch and went to the waterfront to eat it. You might consider $17 for lunch to be a little extravagant, but believe me, I fully appreciated every morsel of it. Just after lunch, it suddenly got very windy, the skies darkened, and then there was a 15-minute downpour. After the rain, the skies cleared and it was back to gorgeous sunny weather again. Strangely enough, the exact same thing happened yesterday at the same time. These daily downpours probably explain the lush vegatation that abounds in these parts. In the afternoon, I embark on a hike into the hills behind Papeete. According to the guide book, everything shuts down at lunch time on Saturday and does not open again until Monday morning. Everything really does shut down... all stores, gas stations, etc. As I was hiking along these rural backroads into the hills, I would encounter groups of neighbouring families hanging out together. I would come across one of these groups every half-kilometer or so. In each case, there would be a radio providing some background music and a few games of boules being played - one amongst the men, one amongst the women, and another amongst the kids. Without fail, I would be smiled at and greeted with 'bonjour' as I passed. After a few kilometers, the road ended. Here there was a basketball court and a large group of people on it; music started playing and they started to dance in unison. They were dancing what looked like a graceful version of the Maori haka. This was the subject of my first photograph in Tahiti. I think it is fair to say that the scenery in Papeete is not the most photogenic. The streets are narrow, noisy, and dirty. And the well-developed port dominates the vistas. Walking back into the hills behind town afforded my first experience of what I imagined Tahiti would be like. After spending most of the day walking around in the sun, I was glad to get back to the hostel and have a siesta. Upon waking from my siesta, Davie informed me that two Glasgow girls had arrived at the hostel and that we were going for a bite to eat with them. My weariness was instantly forgotten as I leapt from my bed and got ready to go out (singing "Flower of Scotland" as I got ready). Julie and Fiona (aka Jules and Fee) are a good laugh. They have already been to many of the places that we are going, so we pick their brains for all sorts of information. We went down to the waterfront together, where a bunch of food trailers (called les roulottes) form a well-lit and colourful market. We ate some Chinese food and then went for a few beers (by the way, a beer in a bar costs about $5). French Polynesia, 30 Sept 2001 Sunday is an extremely quiet day in Papeete, with few places open. Luckily one of the few places that is open is an internet cafe, so we get the sports news from back home. However, the internet is annoyingly slow and a bit expensive so we didn't stay on for long (it costs about $10 an hour). We get the news that Celtic beat Rangers; I will collect my winnings from a bet with Dave later tonight (the winnings consist of beer). After a walk around the port, it's time for another siesta for me. And then Davie and I head out with Jules and Fee again. We go to les roulottes and afterwards the girls go to the airport for the next leg of their trip. Davie picks up a six-pack and a couple of chocolate bars as payment for the bet and we go back to the hostel to consume them while playing cards. French Polynesia, 1 Oct 2001 We get up at 7am to take a ferry to the island of Moorea. A few people have recommended that we go there for a day or two. We are staying at a campground/hostel on the west side of the island. This time our room actually has four walls. It is quiet nice and at $35 a night is less expensive than the last place. The scenery on Moorea really is spectacular with steep lush green hills, beautiful sandy beaches, and the most amazing clear blue water. The sea changes color where coral lies beneath. Our room is right on the beach. I think part of the reason that Moorea looks so beautiful is a local ordanance that no building can be taller that a coconut tree, ensuring that there are no big hotels. Today brought the usual lunch time tropical shower. However, today it did not stop raining after 15 minutes; it actually developed into a bit of a storm. So we settled into our room for the afternoon. It gave us a chance to populate our journals with words and do some reading. That evening we ventured out for a bite to eat and afterwards returned to our room with a six-pack and played some more cards. That night, because of the cool air and the high winds, we needed our sleeping bags. Up until now, we have been using sleeping sacks. A sleeping sack is essentially a bed sheet that is in the shape of a sleeping bag. It is very useful when you do not trust the bed sheets in a hostel. I have been using it every night so far. But tonight the sleeping bag came out... and I was very glad to have it. Fench Polynesia, 2 Oct 2001 We get up at 8am with the hope of renting bicycles for the day and cycling around the island (60 km). It is raining lightly. We discover that all of the bikes are already rented out, so we decide to go for a walk instead. The light rain is actually quiet nice for walking. We walk along the coast past a couple of bays, and then back into the hills, before coming back onto the coastal road. The most remarkable aspects of the walk were the crabs and the dogs. All along the coastal road, all you can see is crabs scurrying down holes as soon as they feel the vibrations of humans approaching. It is fascinating to watch them run sideways and disappear down little holes, especially considering I am at the very least as afraid of them as they are of me. There are also many dogs along our route. However, strangely enough, the dogs are docile. I don't think we would have gotten very far if we were walking past the same number of dogs in Ireland. In all, we walked 27 kilometers. When we made it back to the campsite, we had just enough energy to go out for a bite to eat. We went to a local place that was recommended by Julie and Fiona. We both tried local fish dishes along with the local drink (the mai-tai). The dinner was great, but the mai-tais were even better. After we had drank three of them, the proprietor took an interest in us and bought us another round on the house (who would have thought it... a buy-back on Moorea). Fench Polynesia, 3 Oct 2001 It is time to leave French Polynesia. We get up at the ungodly hour of 6am to catch the early bus and a ferry back to Tahiti. As our flight is not until the middle of the night, we rent a little Peugeot 106 for the day. It costs a whopping $82. Our drive started in sunshine. However, the rain soon returned. The weather ended up being reasonable. However, if it didn't rain, it threatened to rain. The highlight of the trip was a natural blow hole and a series of three waterfalls. It was also interesting to watch the multitudes of surfers oblivious to the fact that it was raining. We returned the car to the airport, and endured a 10-hour wait for our flight at 4am. We occupied the time with the usual journal writing, reading about the next destination, playing cards and chess, and enjoying a few beers with the last of our local currency. Spending: 6 days, 5 nights
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