Friday, April 20, 2012

Tahiti




After a very emotional departure from New Zealand, we arrived in Tahiti at midnight (8 hours before we left)  on April 20th. We had a lightening storm welcoming us to the island nation, but the first thing we notced was the heat. A lovely band with a Tahitian woman dancing also welcomed us into the airport and we  soon found our taxi driver, thanks to his “Deverson” sign! He drove us to our accommodation 'Pension Te Miti' in Paea, which took about 20 min. We were a bit shocked at how French the country was from the get go, but luckily our driver could speak English well enough. He was talking to Thomas about surfing in Tahiti, but couldn’t quite understand what Thomas meant when he was talking about his wetsuit! 
Thomas at the Grotto Caves of Mara'a





Gorgeous black sand beach on the North Coast of Tahiti-Nui
Ok so some positive stuff now! With a hire car we could escape some of the busy-ness and witness a more relaxed Tahitian life. Thomas did manage to have a surf at a local beach (not the reef break I craved, cos I wussed out). We did find some gems, waterfalls, blowholes, grottos, and a Polynesian dance show. We climbed in the stinking heat up a hill with stunning ocean views,  snorkeled, swam, sampled the local Tres Brassiers, Tahiti's craft brewery, made all kinds of friends at the Pension and when hitchhiking (one guy infact drove the jet skis for the tow-ins for the pro surfing competition on the ledgindary Teahaupoo big wave - very cool!)                                                                               

Thomas pulled on stage to learn some dance moves!

Amy + Thomas with dancers at the Polynesian Dance Show


We also took a day trip to the very nice of island of Moorea, known as the second most beautiful island in French Polynesia, it did not disappoint. We took the bus from the port to the Bay of Cook (about 13kms away) and spent all day walking back to the ferry. The Bay was absolutely gorgeous, and the walk was fabulous, but it was hot! Luckily we passed a few 5 star resorts, so walked right in and enjoyed their immaculate facilities! The bungalows over the reef and beach were gorgeous, with pools, bars and restaurants and all the fancy stuff, in all their commercial glory. Our host at the Pension had expressed how nice Tahitians were, but we were still surprised when on two separate occuasions two cars randomly stopped and offered us a ride! With moments like the magnificent sunset to look back on over Moorea while on the ferry, the friendly folks we met and looking back on our little pacific adventure made the trip a success!