14 September 2024 – Tahaa by Land
It rained about 6.00am but was dry at breakfast although the sky looked quite overcast. I had WhatsApp’ d a car hire company the night before and had not received a reply. I therefore called the number and she said she did have a car. I looked up where it was and it was about 2nm up the island.
Keith and I got ready and set off estimating where we should land and came to the place which had a pontoon. I went ashore and it was not the right place although they rented cars but did not have one available. The man told us where to go which was the main town. We therefore went there and it started to rain quite hard on the way so we got quite wet. As we arrived there was a large wharf and we moored the dinghy. We met a man who spoke good English and we explained the situation and he rang the lady (we have found people here very friendly and helpful on the whole). She had a car but in an hour and she would come to us. As we waited there were a number of ferries and water taxis coming to the wharf where we were waiting and cockerels in boxes. One man came up carrying one put it on the ground and it did not run off. It had all its lower feathers removed. Keith wondered whether they did cock fighting out here. We wondered around and there was nothing here other than the wharf and a car park and it is obviously just where you get a ferry to Raiatea.
The lady came after about 30 minutes and told us we should not leave our dinghy here (she implied it might be stolen) and told us to go round to the next bay and we could leave it at her house. We therefore set off in the rain again and found her house which had a little beach and it was a nice establishment. She had the car hire office the other side of the road.
Once we did the formalities we set off round the island which is about 70 km. It is larger than you think and larger than Moorea for example and specialises in Vanilla and Pearls. There is only really one road round which goes around the island along the waterline. This is a very pretty island as there is not a lot of population and it seemed to us that their houses were generally well cared for and that there had been quite a lot of planting along the roadsides and people’s properties. They have long American type post boxes so they can fit a baguette being delivered. It was very low lying and on the island side of the road there were quite a lot of areas where the water could flow with palm trees and a slight swamp type feel plus quite a few inland lagoons and lakes. This is also an island of flowers and they are everywhere and there are a lot of hedges and flowers which grow from them with reds, pinks and white and they are abundant. The shoreline is lined with coconut trees which give it that tropical feel.
The pace of life here is very quiet and we saw people in the sea, fishing, looking after their gardens etc. Traffic is very light and there is no public transport. There are a lot of drying platforms for coconut husks. There is the odd abandoned car etc but far less than Bora Bora. We started our tour of the south of the island and passed through various villages with the odd shop but little else. The road has no markings and is just wide enough for two cars but you would not want to go over the edge.
Our first stop was a Vanilla Farm and the lady who runs it came from Toulouse. This was fascinating and I learnt a lot about Vanilla (I had very little knowledge anyway!!). Essentially Vanilla is a vine. Mexico was the only place it grew until it was brought to other countries like French Polynesia. In Mexico it grows up trees and can be 80 meters tall. The vine produces flowers which are pollinated in Mexico by Hummingbirds and bees. In Tahaa it can be grown in a few ways. Firstly, in a sort of net green house where it grows up wooden supports but whilst this is good in terms of shelter from the sun and rain and from birds and insects it needs some additional chemicals to complete its process. What this lady does is also outside is to use trees to support the vine and she also plants them in coconut husks. There are no hummingbirds or bees here in the same way so she pollinates the flowers by hand when they open with a small stick. It then takes about 9 months to produce a pod which can then be picked. She plants Acacia trees which attract ladybirds which eat the insects and she has chickens around her trees which keeps away the birds.
Once the pod is picked it is dried in the sun for a couple of months and then from there she massages the pods each day so that they gradually dry in the right way and really by the end of a 3-year process (from planting) you get the concentrated pods. She had various products she makes with them and we tasted the vanilla infused honey and vanilla paste. Keith bought some vacuumed pods and I bought some Vanilla essence. It was a great visit and there are a number of vanilla shops around the island and a number of the net greenhouses we saw.
We carried on and at one point the road carried us inland. This looked like a rainforest type jungle with palm trees , banana trees, shrubs and huge flat top trees which look like enormous umbrellas. We then came to the administrative center for the island and stopped for a bit of lunch -barbecued fish. We continued our tour and were due to come across a good patisserie but we could not find it and it may be closed now. We did come across the Pari Pari Rum Distillery where a young man who spoke good English explained what they do there. They had links with Tahiti and came to Tahaa as they could not get enough good land to grow sugar cane there and now they have about 8 hectares and hope to get more in Tahaa. They use about 12 different sugar cane varieties some of which were here and others were imported. They grow the cane and then squeeze it using a machine and extract the juice and then ferment it. However, they have to send it back to Tahiti for the final process at present. They make white rums and a dark rum which they mature in barrels which gives it its colour. They have also started making some gin and the rum and gin have won awards in Paris. This was again a fascinating visit.
We carried on with our tour of the island which continued to show its beauty despite the rain. We eventually came back to the car hire place having had a great tour. We got into the dinghy in the rain and had a wet journey back to Stormbird. We had a shower and changed our clothes and a cup of tea!.
We had both enjoyed the day despite the rain which was still falling. We may rain for the next few days. Oh well it gives the boat a good wash!!
We decided to have a snack type supper of salads and bread and cheese which was nice. We may move on to Raiatea tomorrow which is not far but another island to explore.
Crewing Opportunity Year Two
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 then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025. 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