More From Papetee, Tahiti

Greetings,

Well I must say Papeete has been interesting and a totally different experience from what I was expecting from the south pacific. I am enjoying it either way as different experiences are what I am after. Evan and Chloe are with me now and we have much exploring to do of different islands and I think one day in the city has been enough.

Papeete reminds me of Vancouver in many ways but on a much smaller scale. The harbour here is like a miniature Burrard Inlet. There is a dock for container ships, a cruise ship dock, one for mega yachts, a marina and a seawall backed by a park. A cruise ship arrived which was fantastic as we were able to watch a traditional Tahitian dance performance that was put on for the passengers, there were probably around 100 dancers in one performance all in full costume, absolutely amazing. A mega yacht arrived and had let about five of its passengers out the rear garage on jet skis to follow it into the harbour, I have no idea how big it was but the helicopter on the aft deck looked pretty small compare to the rest of the boat. Some people try and reduce their carbon footprint and some people want there’s to be seen from space I suppose. The park is absolutely immaculate, I watch the groundskeepers hard at work hanging out in the shade waiting for a leaf to fall off a tree, there is constant security making sure people don’t walk on the grass, its ok to sit on it, or smoke in the park. The rest of the city is pretty dirty. There aren’t any highrises but other than that it has all the wonders of a big city, homeless people, drug addicts, buskers, high end shopping, many stores looked like they could have been on W4th or Robsons Street, and a China Townish area. The open air market was similar to Granville Island but much bigger, things are definitely cheaper here as there is much competition. There is definitely a lot of western influence, McDonalds seems fairly popular and any Pulp Fictions fan will understand my need to have ordered a McRoyal with cheese. Some cruisers have expressed much disappointment in Papeete saying it is not Polynesia, it is not traditional Polynesia but it is inevitably what happens and it is interesting to see the Polynesian take on a city and what they seem to retain culturally.

I made a sort of friend with a mid twenties Tahitian, I was quiet skeptical at first as I am not a very trusting person but it turned out all good, everything I tell you is what I believe to be true but because his English was about as good as my French it may not be accurate. I say sort of friend because I was aware in exchange for his gifts and tour guiding he expected something in return which was fine with me as long as it wasn’t cash. So I bought beer, cigarettes and food and in return I got a taste of actual life in Tahiti, well his life, worth it if you ask me. The first day he talked to me and we smoked some cigarettes, the next day he brought me some mangoes and a coconut and we hung out and drank some beers, he then invited me to go to his house to eat the next day. He showed up and I was like what the hell so we jumped on his scooter and I was more scared leaving Papeete than I ever was sailing down the Pacific Ocean. We passed cars on either side, didn’t matter if there was oncoming traffic, rode on sidewalks, through crosswalks all while he was laughing and hooting, he was quiet animated. We went to his family’s home where we hiked up the mountain in the backyard a ways and chopped me down a stalk of bananas and checked on his pot plants. Then we picked an Ouro or bread fruit off the massive tree in his front yard and built a fire to cook it on. We scootered t to the store and bought some canned meat and beans to eat it with, probably not that traditional. After that we headed to one of the local beaches which was very beautiful and not too busy, his brother worked or stayed I am not sure at a house on the beach rented by a young wealthy French dude from Paris. Probably the coolest bachelor pad I have ever seen. The beach was European and I can’t say I didn’t appreciate that. After the beach he showed me a historic site where the ancient Polynesian used to sacrifice people and eat them. I had explained to him my kids where arriving that night so he insisted we pick some flowers and make some welcome to Tahiti leighs. This insisted of pulling over on the side of the highway and picking flowers of a fence and then a trip to the cemetery where they had flowering trees we picked. We rode to his girlfriend’s apartment in town and made two leighs and a bracelet one for Chloe. After that we brought the fruit back to the boat then bought some steaks and pasta for dinner, we had dinner at the apartment and used the shower there. After dinner we watched a Japanese movie dubbed in French, I know kinda strange. Evan and Chloes flight arrived at 10pm so we scootered to the airport and met them, the kids and I took a cab back after he explained to the cab driver where we were going. It was very interesting hanging out, he was very helpful and generous, once again would have been great if I could speak French but oh well, oh well.

It was obviously wonderful to see Evan and Chloe and their only complaint about the flights was that it was long, I had absolutely no sympathy. We spent one day in Papeete checking out the shops and open air market. In the evening we ate at the food trucks, about a dozen vans pull into an empty parking lot and pull out tables and chairs and set up mini restaurants every evening, they serve a sort of Chinese, French, Tahitian fusion menu. Evan and Chloe are not used to the heat yet and after one day we were all ready to leave for somewhere where we could swim. The next day we motored down the channel between the reef and the island to an anchorage. So we are still on the island of Tahiti and within walking distance of a McDonalds but we are at anchor and we can swim off the boat to the reef and snorkel. There are more sailboats in this bay than I have seen altogether in this trip and it will be good to go to a smaller less busy island but there are some formalities we still have to deal with after the weekend.

My sister recommended I set up a Picasa Web Album so I am attempting this and have attached the link, probably a better way so you can view more pictures.

Until Next Time,

Jonathan