Author: Florence

Knowing that we had nothing much planned for the day, we’d decided to sleep in. And woke up before seven.

Andy checked his email. Nothing. No News.

This meant – probably – that we would not be leaving French Polynesia today.

We went to breakfast and then checked with reception. Flights had resumed this morning but they’d had no news from the airport about our flight either, and… they were very sorry but they were full today so we couldn’t stay here another night. On that note, Andy phoned Air New Zealand to get some sort of update. On Booking.com, I found us a (relatively) affordable room at Le Meridien.

Andy came back with news. We were booked on the early evening flight tomorrow (Tuesday), and we’ll be getting to Auckland at 22.25. He’d also managed to get them to re-arrange our internal flight booked for tomorrow evening to Thursday morning free of charge Knowing that check-in at Le Meridien wasn’t until 2pm, we didn’t rush there but instead spent an hour contacting the AirBnBs and hotels we’d booked for tonight and tomorrow night, as well as the excursion we’d booked to try and re-arrange things. So we arranged, de-arranged, planned and re-planned.

We got a taxi to Le Meridien, and I have to say that by now, it feels like we’re people who travel from hotel to hotel to review them. So here it is. The ultimate guide to posh hotels in Papeete (I know some people get paid to review hotels, our review is just based on our humble thoughts):

• In last place, the InterContinental Tahiti Resort and Spa. I didn’t like it at all. The staff were friendly (especially the barman who gave me a generous helping of rum in my cocktail) but it is too big. And with one restaurant and one pool closed for renovation, everyone was packed like sardines around the other pool. Our room (not the most expensive I know but still not cheap) was dated and dingy
• In second place, the Manava Suite Resort Tahiti. The infinity pool and pool bar looked great but we didn’t have a chance to use the facilities as we had to check out by 11:00. The room was good and the staff were nice. It was an improvement on the previous hotel, but definitely not as good as the Manava in Moorea
• In first place, Le Meridien Tahiti. The pool is great, the room is great (and it’s only a basic one) and there is a beach. The staff are friendly and super helpful. They’re the first to truly understand that we’re not supposed to be here and they made sure that everything was perfect for us. We’d definitely come back to this one on our next venture in French Polynesia

We still had to wait an hour or so for our room to be ready, so we explored the complex (lovely!) and walked to the supermarket a few minutes away to get some supplies. By then, I was feeling like we hadn’t done much these last few days. The rain in Bora Bora; getting ready to leave for New Zealand; changing hotels constantly and not being able to enjoy our time in each of them and make the most of the facilities. Anyway, just to say that it’s the little things that matter. We got a bottle of Tahitian white, some iced tea, lovely cheese and bread, a quinoa chickpea and mint salad, and some local pastries. By now, we should have been in our AirBnB in Auckland having some control over our food.

So we had it all sorted. We had lunch and breakfast for tomorrow. We’d planned to have dinner at the informal restaurant by the ocean to treat ourselves – our last night in French Polynesia. They have three very tasty vegetarian options.

Once we got into our room, we checked the activities available for tomorrow morning. With our flight late afternoon, we’d decided to see some of Tahiti. We went down to reception to book our excursion. Andy’s phone buzzed. Air New Zealand were now offering us a flight at 4.10 tomorrow morning. Talk about timing!

We decided to go for it. More rain is forecast here over the next few days, and we do have things to do in Auckland. So… our taxi to the airport is booked for 1:30.

With the rest of the afternoon free, I went swimming in the pool and read my book in the sunshine. Andy went snorkelling off the beach.

We’ll be having our breakfast for dinner in a few minutes and go to bed early.

The frustration over the last few days is down to not knowing what would happen when. So a lot of time was wasted. And then some news came and we had to plan around it, and then a different update. The flash flood on Sunday seriously inconvenienced us and our itinerary. We’ve had to fork out a fair amount of money for two hotels here and one in Auckland. We have lost three nights in Auckland – all non-refundable. We have insurance (the best one we’ve ever had) but… insurance has small print. And yet you see… this is all immaterial. Someone lost their life as a result of the heavy rain on Sunday, and that put everything into perspective.

The alarm went off at 6.15am. We got up, dressed and got into our pre-ordered taxi at 6:45am.

When we originally planned this leg of the trip, we made a point of spending a night in Papeete so we could see the town and visit the famous Sunday market.

Turns out the Sunday market is from 4am to 9am. Hmmm. I have to say we did think twice about going… but we did go and I’m glad we bothered.

The taxi driver asked me to confirm our destination a couple of times and then said mysteriously that today was Sunday and that was God’s day.

I understood what he meant when we got to the market.

It’s divided into various sections – fruit and vegetables, meat and fish. There’s also a section for tourists where you can pick up last minute souvenirs. None of the shops on the upper floors were open, and neither was the café we were hoping to go to for breakfast. On the lower floor, only two tourist shops were open (we bought some natural Tahitian mosquito repellent). Still, it was buzzing with sellers and customers.

Andy had read that the upper floor was a good place to go to for overall shots of the market, and so we went up. We managed to take a couple of shots before a grumpy security man told us that it was forbidden. ‘Oh sorry’ I said. ‘What’s forbidden?’ I got no sense out of him except that it was forbidden. He escorted us to the stairs – and then I understood. That set of stairs had a chain on it with a sign saying that access was not allowed on Sundays. At the bottom of the stairs, another security man met us and he pointed to the sign. I apologised and said that we didn’t know because the set of stairs we used by the main entrance didn’t have a chain or a sign.

Once we cleared this misunderstanding, we explored the market further. There was a great pastry section and many exotic fruits and vegetables. There was a man in the corner making sugar cane juice. On a couple of fish stalls, we were saddened to see some of the pretty fish we’d met whilst snorkelling.

A couple of streets by the market were closed to traffic today and were lined with stalls. There was a man selling a variety of coffee from larger plastic vats. And a couple selling lovely cakes made with local fruits – banana, mango, papaya and pineapple.

We walked a few blocks around the market to get a feel for the town. The area immediately surrounding the market seemed quite rundown but there were a number of buildings with quite graphic designs and they caught my eye.

We were on our way to the taxi rank when we noticed a church a few streets away. We walked to it and saw that it was the cathedral (the temple de Paofai) and that a service was about to begin. It was packed; people were standing at the back. Most people were wearing white, and all were signing beautiful hymns. The air was thick with incense. The cathedral has been rebuilt a number of times and became more and more Polynesian each time. The mahogany Madonna and Child and a couple of stained-glass windows depicting local scenes stood out.

The journey back to the hotel went quickly. We had a chatty taxi driver that talked me through the pros and cons of most of the islands in French Polynesia so we’d know which ones to visit and which ones to avoid when we come back – 🙂 – like many of the locals we’ve chatted to, she wasn’t keen on Bora Bora either.

We got back to the hotel before 9am and went for a swim and got back to our room just in time. The heavens opened. We finished packing, checked-out and looked for things to occupy ourselves until our transfer to the airport. I’d like to say that the four and hours went quickly but they didn’t. We walked about – dodging heavy showers –, had a small lunch and we worked on our diaries. As departure time neared, we got a transit room and had a shower. For the first time in many weeks, we put long trousers and shoes on. Very odd.

We got to the airport in about 15 minutes. We were next in line for check-in when the couple in front of us turned around and indicated that things were not looking good. Soon enough, there was an announcement: the runway was flooded and so our flight was cancelled. We were still trying to come to terms with this news when the second message came through: Air New Zealand would not take any responsibility for the passengers. We’d have to find our own hotel and transport there.

Being quoted a ridiculous price for a room on the phone, Andy got onto Booking.com and got us a room for a third off. In the taxi to the hotel, we listened to the news. Our flight was mentioned, as well as localised flooding in town. I asked the taxi driver whether this happened regularly. She mentioned the weather being all over the place. It didn’t rain in December as expected this year and they had lots of rain a few weeks ago when the airport flooded too.

And so here we are. Stranded in Tahiti.

We’re spending tonight at the Manava Suite Resort Tahiti. The hotel is much nicer that the Intercontinental (I wasn’t going to go back there) and has a nice feel to it… which is just as well as we don’t know how long we’re going to be here for!

We went for a walk and had half a decent sunset. The rain’s stopped for now. There is a lovely infinity pool (and a pool bar) so I think tomorrow morning’s sorted!

I wasn’t ready to leave French Polynesia. Apart from the last couple of days, we’ve had stunning weather and a superb time here. But this is not what I wished for. So far, we’ve lost our AirBnB booking in Auckland for tonight, and our only full day of sightseeing in Auckland. If we don’t leave French Polynesia tomorrow, the losses won’t bear thinking about.

We woke up to an overcast sky and made our way to breakfast. Andy was happy to find a great selection of fruit and a ‘proper’ coffee machine and proceeded to treat himself to an expresso. We got seats right by the lagoon and saw an incredible variety of fish (including some new ones). People happily chucked bits of food in the water and the fish all rushed to nibble it.

After breakfast, we explored the other side of the complex, and found lots of fish in the protected lagoon (this is where they take the turtles for a swim in the afternoon).

At 10:30am, we headed for the museum for a brief talk about safety around the turtles. We then went to the turtle hospital. Here, they look after turtles rescued from poachers, turtles with fishing net related injuries, and baby turtles. These were very cute and they were given to the hospital as eggs as their mother had been killed by a poacher. It is illegal to kill turtles but there is a demand for the meat and so the money means that some are ready to take the risk. In front of each turtle there’s a lunchbox containing fish, shrimps and squid bits which you feed to the turtles. You’re not allowed to touch them or make them eat out of the water, you need to drop the food in the water and they get it. They gave me a latex glove, and even with the glove on I can’t say that I particularly enjoyed picking up the fish and the squid but I got to feed turtles. Each afternoon, one of the turtles gets to go for a swim. The only reason it’s only one of them is that they are quite territorial and the protected lagoon is not that big. Most of the turtles we saw are green turtles, with the exception of one hawksbill sea turtle (these are critically endangered).

We played pétanque and I won; I should stick to Scrabble and pétanque from now on.

With the weather showing no signs of improving, we decided to go swimming – first in the two swimming pools, then the mini jacuzzi, then the ocean and finally the non-protected lagoon. All along, it was just us. A few Americans congregated around the pool bar looked at us weirdly.

Back in our bungalow, we saw fish underneath our glass floor so we decided to go snorkelling. Andy saw a number of fish. I didn’t see anything, but as I removed my mask and got back on our steps, a small ray went past.

We both expressed surprise that it was already 2:30pm – island time again.

Thunder and heavy rain. We spent the afternoon indoors, deleted some photos, researched our next destination and watched the final episode of Apple Tree Yard.

We were close to getting cabin fever when the rain eased off so I sent Andy out for a walk. And when the sky cleared, we had a beautiful sunset and of course, an iridescent cloud (our third in three days; they are a thing!).

On the way back to our cabin, we decided to pay a visit to the Miki Miki bar, sat on the terrace and ordered Tiki Miki (Manao white rum, Avatea dark rum, pimm’s, passion fruit juice, mango juice and ginger cordial).

Andy was ordering room service (not sure what we’re having, I just heard the words Pinot Noir) when there was a knock on the door – my missing laundry, which arrived on Air Tahiti flight VT241.

On fish watching duty, I switched on the underwater lights beneath the bungalow and spotted three large fish right under our glass floor. We were just about to leave to go and see the Polynesian show on the beach when a school of fish came by. We were watching them, lying on the bed, with our heads towards the glass floor, when a reef shark swam past.

We woke up to the light switching itself on in the room. There is a timer, connected to the fan but neither of us had used this so it’s a bit of a mystery.

We went down to breakfast early and it was lovely to be able to have the space all to ourselves. It’s a great hotel with great staff and we’re sorry to be leaving it.

We left for the airport an hour before our flight; the journey took about fifteen minutes. Another airport, another chicken. No one seems that bothered that chickens are roaming free in the ‘terminals’ here. We checked in, boarded our flight and ten minutes later we were in Bora Bora, the ‘Pearl of the Pacific’.

We’re the only ones from the plane going to our hotel, so we got the boat transfer to ourselves.

They had bad weather here yesterday. Today, with the sun shining, it is as if someone’s turned the colour monitor up. It’s insane.

Arriving at the dock, there is a happy chap playing the ukulele… just for us 🙂

Our hostess showed us around the complex. It’s all very different here – Le Meridien is a five star hotel. It is busy, mostly with French and American tourists, here to be seen. We looked slightly shabby in comparison. The staff are very friendly but it is a little more impersonal (in our last two hotels, we never had to give our room numbers). We signed up to a loyalty scheme which will give us 10% off food in the restaurants in the evening. There are two restaurants and two bars on site; we’re told we need to book for dinner!!!

We explored further on our own. There is a shop selling souvenirs (beer mat anyone?); a pearl shop and an activity desk. We looked at the options on offer and booked a couple of activities for the forthcoming days. My credit card’s now feeling a little sorry for itself.

As our room wasn’t ready, we sat near the beach. A great place for people watching. There was a man sitting on a deckchair by the beach playing with his drone. Hammocks and rattan sun pods scattered about – I suspect these get snatched early in the morning.

Our room… is a private overwater bungalow. We have a dressing room. We have a bath! I don’t know when I last saw a bath. We have a glass floor and in theory we should see fish, but maybe due to yesterday’s weather, the water’s a bit choppy and not that clear today. Let’s hope things improve over the next few days. We have a sun deck and steps to the ocean. We have a spectacular view of the island’s iconic square-topped peak.

We had a quick swim, and ordered room service. We’re having an early dinner, so we shared a mozzarella and tomato salad. Andy got himself a pineapple juice; I ordered a glass of Chablis.

We spent the afternoon swimming straight from our deck, and drying out on our deck chairs. A tern flew by a few times, his under-wings picking up that incredible turquoise colour from the sea. That same turquoise colour that I’m looking at from my ‘working desk’.

We walked along the beach on our way to dinner. No idea where everybody was – just us on the beach… and an iridescent cloud.

We’ve only been here a few hours but Bora Bora? The verdict is out.

Sometimes I look around me and can’t quite believe we’re here. I guess that’s the issue with flying; in Central America we travelled from A to B overland. In this case, I mean, how is it possible that places like this exist?

We had breakfast in the open-air restaurant, with the view of the ocean in the near distance. It’s early morning in February. It’s warm and sunny.

At 8:45am, our taxi arrives. Destination Uturoa, the second largest town in French Polynesia after Papeete in Tahiti. ‘Greater’ Uturoa has over 8,700 inhabitants. But we only glimpsed at the town. After a quick visit to the ATM and a rapid walk through the market (mostly fruit stalls), we boarded our boat for our half-day excursion.

We picked up another couple from a hotel on the other side of the island. It’s near a small fishing village, there are only four people staying at the hotel right now. Why go there? If it’s peace and quiet you’re after, this is the place to be. It is isolated. There are fewer people living on this side of the island. The rooms are gorgeous bungalows, colonial-style. I’d be quite tempted to stay here next time… but then again, I really like our lodge, and the food is very tasty.

Our first stop, and the one I had been looking forward to most was Taputapuātea. We docked and explored a number of marae and other structures. This was once considered the central temple and religious centre of Eastern Polynesia. Our captain and guide, Teva, was a mine of information.

Raiatea has much cultural and historical significance. It is believed to be the original birthplace of Polynesia, and is rich in ancient legends and temples. 

Raiatea means “faraway heaven”. Its original name – or mythical name – is Hawaiki, “the homeland”. It is thought that this is where the great Polynesian migration began towards Hawaii, Easter Island and New Zealand. Rocks from the site were taken to establish marae in these new islands.

The migration was only made possible when five kings came together in Taputapuātea to sign a peace treaty. This brought about a period of prosperity and new possibilities.

The site is believed to be the final resting place for the spirits of the ancestors and archaeological research was stopped so they would not be disturbed. 

One structure has a gruesome past. This is where enemies were skinned – grated on the rocks. This would deprive them of their identity, which they wore on their body; the ink telling were they were from, how many battles they had been in, how many they had killed.

And this is something that is still very much evident today. Men and women have intricate geometrical and ancestral tattoos. Men are generally topless; women wear bright floral dresses and most sport a flower behind their ear.

One thing we didn’t quite appreciate when we planned this leg of the trip is how big French Polynesia is. Surface wise, it’s as big as Western Europe. The ring road in Raiatea is 100 kms (too much for us to cycle!). A flight from Tahiti to one of the remote islands in the Gambier archipelago takes 3.5 hours.

Next, we sailed into the Faaroa bay and up the Faaroa river. This is the only navigable river in French Polynesia. The landscape’s instantly different. It felt like being on the Amazon. Lush vegetation around us; a small passageway… a real sense of adventure. We only went up for three miles, after this, the river narrows down further and goes up steeply. Our boat’s not meant for this type of adventure. The hotel manager had suggested we canoed up the rest of it to reach the waterfalls. We did well not to laugh in his face.

Leaving the river behind us, we headed straight for the Iriru motu. It is public and owned by the community; everyone has access to it. Most land in French Polynesia is private and you need permission to access it. Lunch for us was watermelon and we tried sugar apple. It’s like a ball with a thick rind with knobbly segments. It’s green, the flesh is fragrant and sweet and quite creamy (some people think it tastes like custard).

We walked around the motu; it afforded great views of Raiatea and Huanine. I went for a swim; a ray glided by.

Back at the hotel, I went for a quick swim in the pool. My (non-alcoholic) cocktail arrived, ‘L’île Sacrée’. Of course.

Andy made the mistake of asking me what we should be doing next. Without hesitation, I said ‘let’s canoe to the motu near the hotel’. In the hotel guide, it says it’s only 10 minutes away. We know we’re not very good at canoeing so we estimated 30 minutes. A few seconds into our journey, we ran into difficulty. The tide was low, which meant it was quite tricky to navigate around the corals. Once there, we walked around the motu which we mostly had to ourselves, and made the journey back. Let’s keep this simple: we are not canoe people.

After a welcome shower, we went to the bar and treated ourselves to a bottle of white wine from Tahiti. Yes, you read that right. Andy was doubtful. I had done a tiny bit of research and decided we should give it a go. Verdict: a good move! You can read about the vineyard here, and here are tasting notes.

We were in reception at 9:00am, waiting for one person to arrive from the airport. He had been caught in a snow storm in New York and after a convoluted route and four days, he arrived in Huahine to be re-united with his wife. The poor chap only had time to drop his luggage in reception, and we were off.

We had a half day tour of Huahine ahead of us. We would explore both Huahine Nui (Big Huahine) and Huahine Iti (Small Huahine) in a figure of eight – the two islands are separated by a narrow channel and connected by a bridge.

Just like the other Society Islands, Huahine has a beautiful lagoon surrounding a lush green interior.

Our guide, Manava, told us about Polynesian origins and migrations, some aspects of traditional Polynesian culture, religion on Huahine (in one village, there have eight different denominations) and Marae (temples). He talked about archaeological finds, explorers, missionaries, colonial France, flora, fauna, island formation and some aspects of life as it is today and he even speculated as to the future of the island. It was a non-stop flow of information… in just over four hours.

We visited a vanilla plantation, stopped to looked at a mangrove and learnt more about how they grow, observed a motu from a distance (a motu is a reef islet formed by broken coral and sand within an atoll). And then we stopped to look at the sacred blue-eyed eels from Faie. Weird things if you ask me.

Up to the Maroe belvedere, where we stopped for the obligatory photos. And then  on to the 400 year old fish traps (which we saw yesterday), some of which are still in use today. Our final stop was the Maeva Marae where we visited the museum, which we didn’t have time to do yesterday. The museum is in a fare potee (open traditional house). We learn that each temple was dedicated to one god – there was a fishing god and a sports god amongst others.

Huahine is a less visited island and yet, it is rumoured to be one of the most picturesque of all the Society Islands. Around 7,000 live on the island. Tourism is less developed here, and consequently, people live a more typical Polynesian lifestyle.

After the tour, we walked five minutes or so along the beach to Fare. This is the biggest ‘town’ on the island. There’s a total of four restaurants, a big supermarket… and not much else. We stopped for a late lunch at ‘Chez Guynette’ (our first choice had zero vegetarian options). By the jetty, we had our best view of the “Pregnant Woman” – every island finds character in the shape of their hills, and in Huahine, it’s a pregnant woman!

Fortified, we decided to check out the archeological site next to the hotel, the Tahu’ea Marae (that took fives minutes) and then we borrowed the Botanical and Historical Tour guide to the hotel’s garden. Initially, this was something to do… but we were soon impressed by the variety of plants and trees, including fruit trees: banana, mango, breadfruit, coconut, passion fruit and papaya. The guide also explained all the medicinal and nutritional properties. The trees are also used to make tools, canoes and the bark can be used to make clothing. And then, right in the middle of the complex, we have the earliest ceremonial marae identified so far in East Polynesia, dating back to 1,000 A.D. – the Vaitotia archeological site.

We finished the afternoon with our now traditional swim in the sea and the pool.

We were seating on our terrace with a Mai Tai cocktail (me) and a beer (Andy) when our laundry turned up. Please explain to me how we had to fill in a laundry form when we handed our clothes in this morning (this is the first time we’ve had to do this) and yet two items are missing (another first).