Be careful what you wish for

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.