Sunday, June 29, 2014

All in the cruising life - Tahiti


Papeete Market
Our previous hurricane/cyclone seasons have been spent in places we have really enjoyed.  Grenada and Santa Marta.  They both had a lot of charm and lively locals with interesting places to visit and other cruisers to spend time with.  This year it was to be Tahiti which promised to match.  But unfortunately not.  It just didn’t work for us and we are not sure why.  On the surface it has a good marina and sheltered anchorage nearby.  Lots of other cruisers.  A huge Carrefour 10 minutes walk away and, a half hour away by bus, the town of Papeete is a bustle of boutiques, restaurants and markets with a distinct French flavour.
 
Painful but I did enjoy being 60kg (91/2 st)

It didn’t help that I arrived with Dengue fever which took a month to really recover from.   When we first got here just the sight of the 6 lane highway you could see snaking up the hill could reduce me to tears.  We had hardly seen cars let alone a highway for over 9 months.  So Tahiti did feel like the big smoke – choked with traffic and exhaust fumes. 

Most of our cruiser friends had left for New Zealand and we discovered that we didn’t know anyone in Tahiti.  We did eventually meet some other people who we would chat to on the dock, but no real friendships developed.  So we felt quite isolated.  Although it later turned out that there was a thriving French cruiser network that were having BBQs on the dock and enjoying outings to other islands and places.  All of this we missed tucked up on our mooring or at anchor. 

To cap it all, the marina where we were moored was trapped between a busy highway and the sea and there was not much around to do.  Apart from a couple of restaurants in the marina the rest of the area was residential on a steep hill with nowhere to walk or pass the time of day.  And there were no buses after 6 in the evening or on Sundays, it cost $40 each way to get a taxi anywhere.  Yes $40 each way. 

The cost of living became another scourge.  The locals are used to it and somehow afford it, but to everyone else it’s scandalous and you feel constantly raped – especially as the locals see you as a wealthy tourist.  Coming from Panama the home of the $1 beer to pay $6 for a small beer in Tahiti was a shock but we are now inured to it.  Good practice for being back in Australia I guess... 

But whilst there is a litany of Tahitian woes, there is an element of ‘what did the Romans ever do for us’.  Was there anything we did enjoy during our stay?

Oponuhu Bay
 

Sailing School - scary when they are let loose and are heading for your boat
First of all getting away from Tahiti after our initial stay of 6 weeks was blissful.  We went to perfect Oponuho Bay on Moorea.  My favourite anchorage so far.  You sit in gin clear water in a perfect lagoon with imposing volcano rims all around.  A short dinghy ride away (so short we often just paddled in and back) there is a charming white sand beach where locals come to play their ukuleles.

 
These boats are made of metal!

 


We had a couple of perfect weekends just chilling on the beach with a picnic, swimming and learning to paddle board.   A small shop selling fresh baguettes and lots of sights to visit nearby topped the place off.  And we pretty much had the place to ourselves.  Why did everyone else sit in Tahiti? – we were just glad they did. 

But we had to return to Tahiti ourselves to collect mail and get other jobs underway.  This time I was dengue free but Mark got some nasty flu and bronchitis which laid him low.  But we did start to have some fun.  We met some Australians who were crew on super yachts and spent Australia day with them.  The idea was to have a dock bbq, but we all got invited to the French Naval Commander’s house and spent the day with his family - his Australian wife put on a great Aussie spread complete with the most delicious pavlovas I’ve ever tasted.

 


We had moved from the mooring field to anchor in the bay near the marina which was also a relief – less like being in a caravan park with a lot more space around.  Plus we were on the main drag where the quick paddle canoes exercised so every evening we were treated to the sight of 6 athletic men (sometimes women) paddling past.  We noticed that the number and intensity of activity was increasing. 
 

Then one Sunday morning we awoke to the waves and engines of hundreds of small fishing and pleasure boats in the bay.  There was a race.  70 V6 (six man) quick paddles were about to set off.  It was before 7 but we got the dinghy down and made the start line just in time – narrowly avoiding being on the start line not understanding how these things work!  It turned out to be a marathon – 49k to Moorea and back.  Most of them completed the trip in 5 hours – less time than it takes us to sail across one way - and they had paddled there and back accompanied by the flotilla of small boats.  It was quite a spectacle.

 
The starting line - that's Moorea in the distance

And they're off
 
The local rag, which I used to practice my French, announced that there was to be a day of traditional sports – stone lifting, spear throwing and coconut tree climbing.  A Polynesian highland games and the men were all wearing skirts (what’s with these games and men in skirts?). 

 
The stone lifting and tree climbing were impressive but the scene stealer was the spear throwing.  A coconut is hoist on a huge pole the height of a lamppost and 30 men throw spears at it for 20 minutes.  Each team marks its spears and the one with the most and the one nearest the top of the coconut are the winners.  We had a go with little success but these guys were awesome.  Gives you a lot of respect for Capt Cook and his crew when they were throwing them in earnest...

 

Getting a machete through a coconut is difficult enough


Mark perfecting his technique


 
 
 We also discovered the roulottes which are a Tahiti institution.  Basically vans appear around 6pm and serve up fabulous steaks and fish along with other local curries and dishes.  You sit on stools, order one meal for 2 as the portions are so large, drink a soft drink as they don’t have alcohol licences and then follow up with a crepe and a coffee at another roulotte.  There are huge washing up facilities nearby and the vans are immaculate.  By midnight they have all gone and you would never know they existed if you were just there during the day.
That was veal! 



It’s not just the roulottes where the food is good.  You can pretty much buy every kind of French cheese and charcuterie and our waistlines have taken the toll.  The Tahitian’s eat big; it’s not unusual to see whole sides of pork in the shopping trolley.  The tuna here is also the best we’ve ever had and did help to rebalance our diets somewhat.
 
We tried not to eat the reef fish but loved the tuna
 


 


 
As we sit at anchor in many of the bays, a huge cruise ship will appear in the night.   The first to notice it announces to the other we have a block of flats alongside.  They are huge, graceless mini-cities on the water and totally change the vibe of the island they are visiting.  The locals roll out every tourist attraction and we try to avoid going ashore or to town when they are there.  Nonetheless, Mark has had a fascination with these boats and has always wanted to see inside. 

The Paul Gauguin only has 300 passengers - some have 5000
Paul Gauguin cruise lines are based in Tahiti and with my airline background I wondered if they ever had open days for locals.  Turns out they didn’t, but they arranged for us to see on board ostensibly to see if we would like to book a cruise....  It was changeover day and we were given a tour by a sweet Tahitian girl who also does the dancing in the evening shows.  They were all a bit spooked as their last cruise had been a special charter of Broadway folk.  300 of them!  The local crew were at a huge disadvantage as they couldn’t tell the famous from the non which irked the famous somewhat.  Not to mention the pressure they were under with their evening shows.   For now Mark’s curiosity is sated and if we were ever going to book, we wouldn’t bother with the more expensive cabins; they seemed no different from the ‘cheaper’ ones.
 

Cruising is 80% trying to get things fixed in the strangest places.  Our trusted Dubarry sailing boots were discovered one day in a state of disintegration.  The compound used to attach the soles to the leather was crumbling.  Dubarry were useless and didn’t want to know.  A fellow frustrated customer on their face book page asked them if they were twinning with Ryan Air for the worst customer service nation. Like!  But here we were in Tahiti with a few thousand more miles of crossings and no boots to keep our feet warm. 

The local cobbler couldn’t help but sent me to another, 2 bus rides away on the other side of Papeete.  This guy wasn’t interested either but I finally persuaded him to have a go.  When I saw the army come in and take away 60 resoled boots, I was very hopeful he could deliver.  And deliver he did.  It took him a month (obviously army contracts come first) and we had left Tahiti by then, so he sent them on a plane to Huahine where we were anchored.  Dubarry eat your heart out. 

So there are some good memories from Tahiti. And one we will never forget. 

Taapuna Pass
 
We have left a bit of our marriage there.  One journey returning from Moorea, we ran into multiple squalls on the short 5 hour crossing.  It was cold and wet.  The entry to the Tahiti lagoon via Taapuna pass leading to the marina was a very welcome sight.  As we guided ourselves through the markers on either side to avoid the breaking waves, we furled away our sails.  When Mark went to grab a sheet, his wedding ring flew off his cold wet hand, hit a stanchion and landed in the water.  We were both in shock for a couple of days.  We thought about putting out a reward with the dive shops, a ring tattoo, or a local ring but finally decided we would wait and get a replacement in Sydney.

 

 

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