French Polynesia

On Jan. 19 we awoke to the sight of land after 8 days of deep blue ocean and flying fish. When we opened our curtains, there were beautiful tropical islands on either side of the ship. We were headed into Taiohae Baie on the island of Nuku Hiva. Taiohae is the main city at the port. The port consisted of a small landing with natural stone steps. The ship anchored in the Baie (bay) and we were tendered into the tiny port. We were welcomed by the friendly people of this lush paradise in French Polynesia. The principle language is French and the currency the Polynesian French franc. We converted some US dollars to the franc and found out that it didn’t take long to spend all our francs!!! (More on that later.) We set out to explore the island and search for the Herman Melville monument since he lived in Nuku Hiva for several months. His writings were greatly inspired by the people and the island. We were pointed in the direction of the monument which was 2 or so miles ahead around the bay. As we walked we stopped at the local markets and looked at the Tikis and shells for sale. The vegetation was exotic and the flowers were blooming everywhere along our way. The island had a sweet and very fragrant smell. It was warm, around 80 degrees and the sun was very bright. As we made our way we happened upon a tiny museum run by an American woman named Rose who has lived on the island since the early 1970s. She welcomed us in to her air conditioned home/museum which we greatly appreciated after walking in the hot sun for 2 miles. She gave us a wonderful background of information about the island and showed us her artifacts and artwork she had collected over the years. It was here that I purchased my own personal Tiki who now sits in our cabin watching over us. Rose also told us where to find the Herman Melville monument. We left Rose and made our way up the hill to a beautiful local hotel where we sampled our first taste of Polynesian beer called Hinano. It was great to sit on the patio overlooking the beautiful bay and enjoy the refreshing brew. We found out how expensive things are in French Polynesia as our beers were over $7.00US each. We had about $20 in Polynesian Francs so after we paid for the beer we were broke! We finished our beers and headed back to the ship. We were hot and tired but very happy to have visited the beautiful island of Nuku Hiva.
After another relaxing day at sea we docked in Papeete, Tahiti. The first impression was not favorable. Papeete is large bustling city. Lots of traffic and very fast-paced. We walked around the downtown area and visited the local Market. This is a multi-story open air building with stall after stall of vendors selling Tahitian products such as pareos (the beautiful cloth used for draping for dresses, skirts, etc.), tiki, shell jewelry and black pearls. The hottest commodity in French Polynesia is the black pearl. There are many sizes and colors and grades and the prices vary, but all are expensive. Again we found that the prices are high for just about everything. We walked around for a couple hours and saw what we could by foot. The people were friendly and most could speak some English although the language most spoken was French. Since we weren’t scheduled on a tour with the ship we decided to hire a local taxi to see more of the island. We struck up a deal with Maria, a taxi driver who took us and 2 other couples in her van. Once we left the city the sights became more like what you would expect! Maria took us high on the mountain overlooking the city for views of the bay and the coastline. Then we went on a winding 2 lane road around the east side of the island along the rugged coast. We saw black sand beaches and stopped at one location to see a “blow hole”. This is an opening in the rocks where the waves crash through and produce a gust of mist at a high rate of speed. It makes a loud whooshing sound and sprays you with water if you get too close! Next we went inland through lush tropical vegetation to a place where there was a waterfall. We had to walk further into the forest along a rocky path to eventually find the magnificent waterfall towering hundreds of feet down a mountainside. Breathtaking!! After a few more photo ops Maria took us back to the ship and we were so glad to have seen the beauty of Papeete. We had a much better appreciation for the island. Later in the evening, we went back ashore to sample the local flavors of Papeete. Every evening the parking lot near the dock fills with small trucks that convert to small restaurants. They set up tables and the local people gather for all sorts of delicious food. There is Tahitian music playing and everyone sits around and enjoys the food and the ambience. I tried a coconut ice cream that was out of this world! Back on board the ship, we were treated to a show of traditional Tahitian dancing. The dancers were in full costume with hula skirts and pareos, flowers and shells. A nice way to end the day.
Next morning we awoke to the tropical paradise of Moorea. Moorea is only 17 miles from Papeete. It is a smaller and more exotic island than Tahiti. We had to tender to shore and found ourselves on a sandy beach with a few local vendors and not much else. We had a tour of the island and saw pineapple plantations, the mountain called Bali Hi in the movie “South Pacific” and much more. It was an exhausting tour around the island (there is only one road) but one we were glad we took. Moorea is much more beautiful than Tahiti. We had a wonderful lunch at a small outside café consisting of a French baguette and Hinano beer!
The approach to the island of Bora Bora was gorgeous. Bora Bora has one main island and many smaller bodies of land called “motus”. You can only get to the motus by boat. Most of the expensive hotels are built out on the motus and have cabanas on stilts over the ocean where you can stay for $400+ a night. We were tendered to the main island which after Moorea seemed dirty and over populated, yet much smaller than Papeete. We took another island tour in a converted truck with bucket seats. The truck was decorated with live local flowers which we fed to the land crabs at one of the stops. It was hot and the road was bumpy. We saw a lot of the island and ended our tour at the supposed bar that invented the Bloody Mary called “Bloody Mary’s”. We had the famous Bloody Mary drink there which was good but very over-priced! We left the island thinking that unless you stayed at one of the resort hotels on the motus, Bora Bora was not as pretty as we had expected.