4 September 2024 – Tahiti
I was woken about 4.30am by Mark and Corinne preparing to leave and I was to run them to the airport. I quickly dressed and in the dark we walked to the car and I drove them to the airport. There looked to be no queues and I then drove back to Stormbird in the dark and picked up some croissants on the way. Keith had got up to say goodbye to Mark and Corinne and had gone back to bed. I made a cup of tea and caught up on emails etc as the day broke.
When Keith got up we had breakfast and all seemed quite quiet without Mark & Corinne but the day looked a good one. John came again to finish his works and we headed off to the car leaving him to finish. Keith and I then headed east and went through Papeete and down the east cost of Tahiti Nui and heading for Tahiti Iti (the southern volcanic cone) and the most southern point you can go by road. Whilst you have the centre part of the city, like most cities, there is an urban sprawl of shops, commercial units, supermarkets and DIY stores. Once through this we headed to Point Venus where there is a lighthouse.
The lighthouse (todays picture) and location is famous for a number of reasons. The lighthouse was bult in 1867 and the construction was led by Thomas Stevenson – the father of Robert Louis Stevenson who wrote Treasure Island and who sailed around the Pacific many years ago. He and his mother visited the lighthouse years later. It was the first lighthouse in the southern Pacific. In World War Two it was hidden from the Japanese by painting coconuts on it so that the Japanese could not use it as a point of reference.
It is also very famous as it is the spot where Captain James Cook on HMS Endeavour landed to observe the planet Venus crossing the Sun. He landed here on 3 June 1769 and they set up an operation to track Venus. Transits of Venus occur in a pattern that repeats itself every 243 years. Cook was commissioned to do this by the Royal Society of London to expand scientific knowledge but also to assist with navigation and in particular measuring Longitude. Cook returned twice to the same location to do the same thing.
This position is also famous as it is where HMS Bounty landed with Captain Blythe and where the Mutiny on the Bounty started. There is a stone marking this and which has all the names of the crew that were on board this ship.
It is also where The Dolfin of the London Missionary Society landed which evangelised Tahiti. There are so many large churches on Tahiti.
We had to catch our breath really as this is such a famous place in many ways and we could see the passe they would have entered and the bay they would have anchored. You could almost imagine it but there would have been nothing there other than wood/rush huts and canoes.
We carried on east and south and as we went on the road narrowed and the commercial stuff declined and we were just driving between houses and/or shacks either side of the road and at times nothing between the road and the sea. We could see the waves crashing on the reef and the scenery became very lush and we had green verdant hills disappearing upwards with what looked like jungle type trees.
We then came to the Arahoho (literally translated as roaring road) blow hole. It is literally a lava tube with a perforated ceiling and was created millions of years ago and it blows out spray from the pressure of the sea in quite a loud way. Almost opposite was a road going up to a very large waterfall and it was raining. We walked up in the rain and it was a magnificent sight and some 300 feet high cascading down the rocks and through the jungle foliage.
We carried on round the eastern side of Tahiti Nui and enjoyed the scenery and colourful flowers and shrubs which bordered the road. There were areas where the cliffs were crumbing and works were going on to stop this. We eventually came to Taravao which is a town at the isthmus between Tahiti Nui and Tahiti Iti the southern volcanic cone. As we approached the town we could see the outline of Tahiti Iti in the distance. We stopped at a snack bar for a snack and then continued down Tahiti Iti to Tautira where the road runs out. It is about 18 km and it gradually gets more remote. The scenery is very green and beautiful. We got to the end and stopped at the beach to look around. The beach was black volcanic sand and there was a bay there inside the reef.
We retraced our steps to Taravao and then took the west route back to Papeete and our marina as it was shorter and quicker. We stopped at a beach for a swim and to cool off and returned to Stormbird.
Keith re heated the rest of Mark’s curry from a couple of nights ago and he made an aubergine and courgette ratatouille which we had with rice.
It had been a good day and we had seen the east of Tahiti. When I got back the watermaker guy had looked at the pump which was replaced and said it was working so at least I have a backup. I have also heard from Tahiti Crew that the main parts have arrived. They hope to fit these on Friday.
We head down the west of Tahiti tomorrow as far as we can go.
Urgent Crewing Opportunity
Mark will take Corinne home so if anyone would like to join Keith and I to see some more of The Society Islands now and until 29 September 2024 please get in touch. This could be a unique opportunity to see these islands. This is your chance.
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