Bob and Theresa: Papeete Tihiti!

Tahiti! In the Footsteps of Captain Bligh!

We pulled into Papeete harbor early Saturday Oct 6.

The harbor is small and the officer of the deck and pilot made parking the ship look easy with thrusters!

From Papeete harbor you can see Moorea in the distance.

Paddling canoes as teams is very popular in Polynesia and we saw several crews practicing in the morning cool as we pulled in.

Moored across the channel was a small "island hopper" ship - capacity 400-500 passengers called the Paul Gaugin after the famous French painter who spent several years in French Polynesia.

From the ship's berth, you could see all of the center city of Papeete with St Mary's Cathedral the centerpiece.

On the dock were Polynesians in full regalia to greet us and dance for us. We were unfortunately on a shore excursion and had to go right past without staying to enjoy.

Spirit looked great with Moorea as a backdrop!

We caught our excursion - a circle island drive - and struck out. Our first stop was an ancient temple.

These temples were destroyed by the people as the islands became Christian and have only recently been restored as cultural sites.

As we left, our guide pointed out a breadfruit tree - the item that Capt Bligh was intent on bringing back to the West Indies before Fletcher Christian took over the ship in the famous "Mutiny on the Bounty". Bligh later returned in another ship and completed the mission. Christian and his crew of mutineers, along with some Polynesians who got drunk and fell asleep (according to our guide), found Pitcairn Island - an island not on any charts and lived in peace for decades. Their decendants still populate Pitcairn.

We visited a cave with a pool said to be a favorite swimming spot of Gaugin.

Our guide told us that the apparently shallow cave extends much further than meets the eye. Many people have thought "I'll swim to the back of the cave, it's not far!" only to find that half way across, they are not much closer than when they started!

Our guide pointed out and identified the most popular fruits on the island at a local fruit stand.

At our next stop, we were welcomed to a small "jardine" (garden) with a gift of small fragrant flowers which we were advised to wear behind our ears - right if available, left if not!

The gardens in the vicinity of the caves were beautiful and these poor photos cannot possibly do them justice.

A beautiful waterfall made a great backdrop for a photo of two lovers in "paradise!"

Our next stop was for lunch at the Gaugin Museum Restaurant. In spite of the name, we were 1/2 mile from the museum. The restaurant was very nice and right on the water. We sat at a table with the water our "next door neighbor!"

Outside, the restaurant had pens of various types of fish.

The setting was idyllic.

Our guide told us that the aluminum bands are placed around the coconut tree trunks to prevent rats from climbing the trees and eating the coconuts!

Our next stop was the Paul Gaugin museum.

Bob relaxes for a moment with our guide.

While there were no original Gaugin paintings on hand, the museum nonetheless had a good representation of his work in reproductions.

This map shows Gaugins various routes to Tahiti - one coming through Asia minor and Africa!

The museum grounds were lovely and offered several great photo ops!

The land in the background of this photo is Tahiti-Iti (little Tahiti) connected to the larger part of the island by a narrow isthmus.

Another stop and short walk brought us to a 100 foot tall waterfall!

An arched footbridge provides a crossing for a large stream.

Another stop for a "blow-hole" where water trapped in undercut rock is forced out in a giant plume by the following waves. Bob heard a large exhaust of air on the opposite side of the road. When he investigated, he discovered that the blowhole extended to this small hole. He could feel a lot of air but was not prepared when he stood right in front - the blow took his hat off and knocked him back a few feet!

As we puled away from the parking for the blowhole, our guide said we would see the product of local teen artists who were challenged to do something other than graffiti!

Our final stop for the day was at Cook's Point where this modest monument to Capt Cook is erected.

Nearby is another memorial to the Christian missionaries who brought The Word to the islands.

Also nearby is the only lighthouse on the island, dating back to the 19th century.

Finally, we walked the short distance to the very nice public beach

When the tour ended, we walked into Papeete to Cathedral de Notre Dame

Inside was a very unusual Madonna & child in Island style. Prior to returning to the ship, we walked to McDonalds but could not get on Wi-Fi.

We went back aboard the ship and walked into Pharaoh's Palace to find a Polyensian Dance show nearing it's conclusion. We watched this very talented hula dancer - except in Polynesia it as not called hula - I'll have to check with our expert!

They also had a grand finale with grass skirts, swiveling hips and drum music! Quite a dance!

As we prepared to pull out, we noted a new yacht moored near the one we'd seen earlier. This one was even bigger - Bob estimated 150 feet! It had two helicopter pads, a hot tub and seemed very nice!