Tahiti Tour - 28 July 2024

It rained hard in the night and we woke to a wet grey morning which reminded me of the UK! The cockpit cushions and towels were wet and we were to hire  a car and tour the island today.

We had avocado and egg on baguette for breakfast which was great and good to have avocado again. Joyce went off to the facilities and came back soaked as she did not take her coat with her. Andy and I got ready and went to the car hire place to get the car. Once done we headed toward Papeete and we decided to go down the east side of the island.

Papeete spreads out quite a way with industrial units and shops etc but once through we began to get into the countryside which was very lush and green with palm trees, other trees and shrubs and rising hills and rocks on our right and the sea and reef on our left. It all looked a bit grey and wet and it was still raining. The road was lined with small houses on one story in sort of hamlets and many properties looked empty or run down with nice ones from time to time. We noticed there was quite a lot of poverty and deprivation on this island.

Our first stop was at a blow hole and the sea being a bit rough which meant it was in flow. The waves sweep in on to the rocks and soak the pathway you walk along and we saw a family get soaked. In addition, there is obviously a cave under one section where the water enters and it comes out with quite a noise and spray under pressure. This was quite fun and it would not have been so good in mild weather.

We then carried on to a road which went into the hills and mountains to see the three cascades (waterfalls). The road meandered up through palm trees, banana trees and shrubs to a car park and then we walked up to a 300-foot waterfall which was quite spectacular and we were sprayed wet near its bottom and the picture of the day is of this waterfall. The other two waterfalls are no longer accessible but one was enough.

We continued on south to the isthmus between the two volcanic cones of Tahiti and the weather began to clear up. It was as if we were going from black and white to colour. As the sky began to clear and the sun came up the colours came out and it gave the landscape a different look as well as the flowers and colours. We continued down the east side to Tauopo which is as far as you can go. We then had a barbecue lunch from a street van on the black beach at the end where it was quite windy (as it is always in the trade winds). 

We then returned up the same road to the isthmus and took an old road into the mountains which apparently went to Papeete and the road got narrower passing through a sort of tropical jungle. However, the road ran out and it was a track which we continued on for a few kilometres but it was getting stonier and rougher and we did not think we should go on. It was very remote and we were in the middle on nowhere but really we should have had a 4x4 vehicle. We retraced our steps back down and then started to come up the west side to Tahiti. This was more busy and more residential with nice villas and houses on the sea edge with the reef in front. We stopped at a public beach mentioned in the guide book which was a lovely sandy white beach where we had a swim and we snorkelled out on the coral which was not in bad shape and we saw lots of fish on the reef as we have seen many times but it was good and nice to have a swim again after a number of days in the marina. We also were able to get a crafted ice cream – I had coconut and chocolate which was very good.

We continued on and Andy said there was a road going up the hill from which we could get some great views. We drove up and came to a private residence area and we carried on up and looked down over the west side of the island and we could clearly see the water crashing on the reef and Morea the adjacent island in the distance. We came back down and returned to the marina and I had a text from the car hire company saying I was in a restricted area and that we should leave.

It had been a good day despite the weather and we had seen a good section of the island. We will explore more tomorrow and I will give you my thoughts after that.    

We went for supper in the local marina restaurant which was good as they had a band and it was fun and an enjoyable evening,

Crewing Opportunity Year Two

In addition, in year two I will be going from New Zealand in early January 2025 across to Sydney and up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and probably across the Indian Ocean to Cape Town and I will need some more crew.  

If there is any interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

The blog will continue as we move through French Polynesia and beyond.

If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com  I can only upload one picture a day and visit our website www.stormbirdgoesglobal.co.uk