Travels in French Polynesia January 17 - February 6 2023

 

We wanted to go somewhere warm and sunny as a break from winter and ended up visiting our travel agent.  Her partner, June, had spent a lot of time sailing in the South Pacific and she suggested Tahiti.  Then she suggested a cruise on a freighter ship.  It sounded different enough to appeal, and off we went!

We had a lot to learn, and quickly too.

Some basic background:  Te Ao Maohi (known to most as French Polynesia) is comprised of five distinct island chains, the Society Islands (both "Windward" and "Leeward"), the Marquesas Islands, the Tuamotu Islands, the Austral Islands, and the Gambier Islands. In all, French Polynesia's 121 islands and atolls constitute only 1,359 square miles of landmass, but the archipelagos are scattered over one million square miles of ocean, making France the second largest presence in the Pacific. Most of French Polynesia's 280,000 residents make their homes on the "Windward" Society Islands, a chain containing the two most populated islands, Tahiti and Moorea.

 (This is a long sucker...take your time.......have a rest....)

Arrival in Tahiti (January 19 to 21)

Le Hotel Tahiti by Pearl Resorts (3 days)

          We arrived in Papeete, the capital of Tahiti, just after 7 pm and were promptly given lei’s made of Tahitian Gardenias to get into the spirit of things.  Unfortunately, it was fully dark by the time we arrived and so it wasn’t until next day that we got our first view into the magic of Papeete, on Tahiti Island.  Our first impressions were those of lush vegetation, flowers everywhere and welcoming smiling local people.  French is the first official language here (spoken by over 98% of the people) with Tahitian eventually becoming the second official language only late in the 20^th century.

Our hotel was beautiful, situated right on a black sand beach with crashing surf.  This was a view from our room followed by a picture of the beach below us.

On our first full day, we walked to an outlook above the hotel—you can see the lush vegetation.

Flowers were everywhere, including Tahitian Gardenias (very popular for lei’s), Hibiscus flowers (popular for wearing behind the ear), and golden Allamanda flowers.

Dining at the hotel restaurant was a treat in itself because it was a sheltered open-air venue with a good beach view.

As we have found in other open-air tropical restaurants, there are a lot of critters that consider the area a perfect dining drive-through.  We had a number of regular mooches:  The Mynah bird, "free-range" chickens, and an imperious rooster.

(The first morning I had considered the rooster call an old-fashioned wake-up service from the front desk….)

We even had a mooch cat!

Speaking of poultry, over the next few days we quickly realized there were feral chickens everywhere.  (Once we got more experience, we found that was true on every island.)  The staff would try to flush them away, but the critters were very persistent.

Downtown Papeete

The second day we took advantage of a hotel shuttle to go to town.  It was about a 20-minute ride to city centre which was arranged around a large and busy harbour.

A highlight was the local market, and we were told to go early in the morning when the locals would be out to do their shopping for the day.

The building had two floors:  the first featured fresh flowers, produce and seafood.

 

The second floor presented all the expensive jewellery and souvenir shops to catch unwary tourists.

 

The whole place was pulsing with people.

Nearby, a park contained a replica of the long-distance canoes used by the Polynesians, enabling them to travel great distances.

 

We often heard reference to the Polynesian Triangle, describing an area marked by Easter Island, Hawaii and New Zealand, linking the culture of all three points and the area within.

We had been told to go to the Pearl Museum, which was a few more blocks away.  It was well worth it.

Black Cultured Pearls

French Polynesia is known for its black cultured cultivated pearls, especially those around Tahiti.  Although they range in colour from white to black, the darker shades are the most valuable.  Since the source oyster is large, these gems can range in size from 8 to 18 millimetres, and you could purchase ropes of pearls as well as single or a few pearls featured in earrings, necklaces, bracelets…  It is well worth googling Tahitian Pearls to get an idea of their colours, shapes, and diversity.  The museum had an informative video on pearl culture, many pictures of pearl-studded famous jewellery (eg crowns) and different kinds of pearls everywhere.

Most of the good jewellery was well beyond my touch, but our hotel featured a “free pearl” to guests.  I put a pair of wooden tongs into a hole in a box and pulled out one that was nice.  It did have imperfections on the surface, but the size and lustre were decent.  At a subsequent stop at one of the islands I was able to buy a pair of earrings with more imperfect pearls, but they showed some of variation on the colours.  My Scottish grandmother would have approved of my strategy.

Getting back home reinforced this move.  Costco had a very nice pair of Tahitian pearl pieced earrings--only $500 for the two pearls.

Downtown had crowded streets, small stores, and lots of things to look at.

That evening featured Polynesian entertainment at a buffet dinner highlighting some of the Tahitian favourite foods.  Barbequed pork is considered fit for a celebration; this was served with a vanilla sauce that was to die for.  (Who’d have thunk?)  I’ve looked for recipes back home, and now realize that a generous tot of rum in the sauce helped its flavour considerably.  Vanilla sauce is also served with seafood, chicken and beef, just in case you want to try.

The evening entertainment was a Fire Haka.  Māori’s (which are of Polynesian origin) had war dances called Hakas, and their rugby team, the All Blacks, does a resounding haka before each game.  Little did I know that we would get them here.

Here are the men, dressed in their finery.

They chant, slap their arms and legs, growl, and generally make themselves look as menacing as possible.

(By the way, in their culture, a tattooed area is considered "dressed", so that there was considerable blue real estate on their bodies.)

The women get involved as well, and seduction is definitely not the name of the game when they are carrying lit torches.

This is my idea of a real man.  (Notice how well-dressed he is!)

Once the show was done, the entertainers tried to get the crowd involved, and the results were hilarious.

Still pictures don’t do this justice, so google Polynesian war dances to have fun!

 

The Aranui 5

On January 21, we embarked on our cruise/freight ship, the Aranui 5.  You can google that to get an idea of our vessel without you me boring you to pieces.  It was built in 2014-2015, in Shidao China.  It has 108 passenger cabins with a total capacity of 295 guests.  Our group consisted of about 120 people from at least 8 countries:  60 French-speaking, 40 English speaking, and 20 German-speaking.  With a smaller complement of passengers, it was a nice size group that was easily accommodated without crowding on board or on excursions.

The bow of the boat was entirely dedicated to freight while the stern was dedicated to passenger and crew cabins.

We got another lei and another Haka to get us into the spirit of things.

Our cabin was more than adequate with a sleeping area, a sitting area, and a private balcony looking over the ocean.

Later that day, we started our sail to the Marquesas Islands, one of the most remote island groups in the world.  It is almost 1400 km northeast of Tahiti and 4800 km west of Mexico (the closest continental land mass.)  The islands are volcanic in origin and the people have embarked on a mission to have the area designated as an UNESCO World Heritage Site; the file will be presented for consideration in 2024.

As might be expected, the ship flew the French flag.

January 22:  Fakarava

          Our first stop was an atoll called Fakarava (24 km in length and 18 km in width).  This ring-shaped wreath of coral had two entry ways.  Our ship passed through one opening and docked inside at the Rotoava wharf.  The small population here is known for its cultured pearl farming, harvesting of mother-of-pearl, and copra mining.  Copra is the name for dried coconut nuts:  the fruit is subsequently pressed into oil used for several purposes.

We learned a major mantra:  Beware of Coconuts Falling!  This was far more serious that we realized, but was made clearer when a coconut fell behind us with a noticeable thump.

January 23:  At Sea

                    In our voyage, we had two days at sea, one near the beginning and one near the end, necessary to cover the distance to and from the Marquesas.     

The ships’ crew made sure we were not bored.  First, we got a presentation on how to prepare breadfruit.  This is a staple in the Polynesian diet, and essentially can be prepared like potatoes: mashed, in fries, as chips, and so on.  The breadfruit must be cooked first before further preparation.

This is a picture of a breadfruit tree; the fruits are almost the size of footballs.  You can see a couple of green ones on the left side of the tree.

The fruits are almost football size, but falling breadfruit are less dangerous than falling coconuts.

          In the meantime, some instructional events started on board, such as Polynesian dancing and ukelele lessons. A couple of keen passengers even brought their own ukuleles while new afficionadoes ended up buying ones at an island stop.

We started to get some education on the history of Polynesia. France’s official relationship with these islands began in 1842 when France declared Tahiti and the Marquesas as a French Protectorate.  With the arrival of the French priests, Polynesian culture was ruthlessly submerged.  Their traditions such as speaking Polynesian, dancing and tattooing were forbidden completely.  (Sound familiar to Canadians?)

This continued until 1980, when Polynesian was finally recognized as a second official language.  Like our aboriginal people, traditions were passed orally, and a lot has been lost.  Nonetheless, people are reembracing their culture with enthusiasm, and we were fortunate to see a lot of in evidence as we sailed from island to island.

An important part of the ship’s schedule was Happy Hour, featured every day between 6 and 7 pm.  The bar highlighted 3 different cocktails, and 2 different mocktails, changing daily.

 At the bar you could find amazing floral arrangements, typical of Polynesia.

You could sit outside, or on an outside deck, enjoying the warm evenings.

                                   

Everybody asks about the quality of the food!  Breakfast was a buffet with a chef cooking things like pancakes or eggs in the line.  Lunch and dinner were three-course meals, each with wine served.  All wines were French, of course.  Tables were set with linen and nice plates and cutlery.  Serving staff worked hard and were thoughtful of our every need.

The chefs prided themselves on desserts, and there was even a question in the satisfaction survey regarding this.  I believe you could measure the success of the kitchens by the weight gain achieved on the voyage.

The Seas

For 95% of the voyage we were blessed with calm seas.  Today featured a few whitecaps on the ocean, leading to tsunamis in the ship swimming pool.  First to the left...and then to the right...

      ....and in no time at all there was less than 1/3 of the water left in the pool.

January 24:  Nuku Hiva

          We disembarked on Nuku Hiva (1400 km away from Tahiti), the small administrative capitol of the Marquesas, on the northern group of the Marquesas archipelago.

          There were 2951 inhabitants at the 2017 census.

          (We were warned about mosquitoes and nonos ie sandflies, but we met scarcely a bug.)

          Groups of 4 of us in AWD cars travelled to the Cathedral of Taiohae, to the village of Taipival (handicrafts), then to Hatiheau for an archeological site “Tohua of Kamuihei” with its banyans and petroglyphs.

One particular banyan tree was huge.

Banyan trees have multiple "trunks".

The petroglyphs featured outlines of people or emblems of spears.

          Lunch was at restaurant “Chez Yvonne” featuring traditional Marquesan cuisine.  The specialty is the “umu” or underground oven, where food is cooked for hours.  Red bananas, breadfruit and pork were featured from the pit, while a local form of seviche including raw tuna, chopped cucumbers and tomatoes, and coconut milk were offered as an accompaniment.

January 25:  Ua Poa

          Today’s island was Ua Pou, third largest island of the archipelago, remarkable for the basaltic peaks which dominate the Bay of Hakahua.

          Here you can find Ke’Pua Flower Stone (ie phonolite garnets): one of the few places in the world where it is found.

          The morning featured a walk up to viewpoint/cross.  Here was a classic picture of old and new—the staff person appointed to monitor the stop was on her cell phone the whole time.

From here we had an excellent view of the harbour.

          On the way down, we were adopted by a local dog who felt we needed herding.  She made sure we made it back safely the entire way.  I got down to take a picture of her, only to have her immediately lick the camera lens.  Not only was the picture blurry, but I didn’t realize the impact for another couple of days.  Thus, I give you apologies for some of the future images.

There was strong evidence of drought on island; they had not had much moisture for 3 years.  Although surrounded by ocean everywhere, potable water was of critical importance.  In the rainy season, residents gathered rainwater in large cisterns, and potable water was imported by the pallet load.  Few of these villages were large enough to merit a desalination plant.

If the dried out vegetation didn'd convince us of drought, the luxurious Opuntia Cacti shrubs reinforced the concept.

          After walking to the cross, we proceeded to the Cultural Center in the village where we were given leaf “plates” of various fruits to try.

 

          Naturally we got another Marquesan dance show later in day with another fierce Haka.  

I couldn't help myself--I fell in love again.

Brian was now definitely getting suspicious.

          A local restaurant served us lunch where they featured more local specialties.  The band playing music featured a musician who was extremely adept at playing spoons.  He didn’t appear to be French Canadian, so perhaps this is a hidden aspect of French culture brought over to Polynesia as well.

A Standard Island Visit

          To prevent myself from repeating this each time, I will explain a standard island visit.  The arrival of the ship is extremely important to the community.  It brings much needed supplies and takes away important exports.  To get us nuisance passengers away from the docks and the accompanying hive of activity, we were put on shore at the village closest to the docks.  All villages featured what we would call a village square or gathering spot, and we were inevitably drawn there to see handicrafts for sale.  Larger villages would have a post office, a bank with an ATM and an Internet Café.  The last two points were extremely important to ship passengers.  All sales were cash only.  (The ship did do exchange for us but ran out before the end.)  The ship also had internet but it was expensive and slow, so a lot of people were determined to get their technology fix as soon as they landed. 

          In the meantime, it seemed that the whole island turned out to welcome us, sometimes heralded by criers and blowers of horns. 

Handicrafts were an important source of cash for the islanders, so there would be at least 10-20 tables set up to display wares.  Artisans hovered over their tables offering to sell shell, pearl, rock  and seed jewellery, wooden carvings, pareo’s (a kind of sarong made of a single straight piece of printed cotton cloth, worn by Polynesians), tapa prints...  Artists never gave a hard sell.  Instead they would admire your choice, point out other options with slightly different features, thank you graciously if you bought something and smile as you left even without a purchase.

Because all of the islands were volcanic, the closest town was in a valley nearest to the best harbour.  Leaving town led to a steep hike up whereever you went. 

The colour of the beach sand was dependent on the composition of the volcanic rock: black basalt, yellow rock coloured by sulphur, and red/brown rock coloured by iron oxide.  We saw all kinds.

January 26:  Ua Huka     

This little island has only 674 inhabitants according to the last census.  In contrast to the lush, larger islands of the Marquesas, Ua Huka gives a rather arid and forbidding impression. The vegetation is sparse. Much of the island's native plant cover, which outside the valleys consists primarily of dryland scrub, has been devastated by herds of feral goats and horses, which are estimated to number upwards of 3,000.

Spanish conquerors had arrived in the Marquesas in 1595, and were likely a source of these horses.

This island has also suffered drought, witnessed by the fact that we were given seed rather than flower lei's upon arrival.

 This little island is famous for its arboretum, which was not in its glory due to the dryness.

Still, our guide found us grapefruits to eat.

Vanilla plants grew in a special enclosure.

The island also hosted not one but three museums!  You could visit the Te Tumu Museum/Cultural center, Hokatu Museum/Petroglyph Museum and the  Hane Sea Museum.  All of these were tiny but quite informative.

Ua Huka is the only island free of the black rat in the Marquesas archipelago, and that effort has been sustained by a new law enforcement hero, Tip the Rat Dog.

Docking here was done in an extremely narrow bay, achieved only by backing the ship into the bay.  Our captain deserved tremendous credit for his manoeverings.

The Wearing Of Flowers

I mentioned the abundance of flowers--they were used for decorating anything and everything.  Beautiful arrangements could been seen anywhere (as you saw in the bar).

Women wore flower crowns for special occasions.  For a longer-lasting headpiece, we saw ones made of ribbons and even dried plaited grasses.  Flowers put a smile on their faces, for sure.

When we were driven around islands on AWD trucks, even the trucks would be decorated with leaves and flowers.

Both men and women wore flowers behind their ears (hibiscus flowers were popular for this), and here they provided excellent social signals.  If an individual wore a flower behind their right ear, that meant they were available.  If the flower was behind their left ear, that meant they were taken.  Doesn't that make life much simpler?

As I mentioned earlier, there were lots of flowers to choose from.

January 27:  Hiva Oa

Hiva Oa is the second largest island in archipelago, with 2243 inhabitants.

Today's activity was a hike to a cemetary, noted for the graves of two artists:   Paul Gauguin was a painter featuring Polynesian people and Jacques Brel was a singer.  Each of these notables had a museum dedicated to their interests, but we were over-museumed at this point.  As usual, the roads could be steep in places, and at times they rubbed it in with noticing the slope in paint.

Polynesian Houses

 Now would be a good time to have a quick look at Polynesian houses.  These did not need to be complicated affairs, needing only to shelter the inhabitants from sun and the rain in the rainy season, which was not cold.

This was a house under construction.  Cement floors were the norm.

The buildings were not large, and the landscaping ranged from nil to nice shrubs.

       

 Was that really a reindeer on the left?

All homes had water cisterns to collect rainwater.  Yards were left stark if you didn't have enough water to irrigate.

Garbage collection was interesting:  garbage was left on 6 foot raised platforms, probably to avoid messes made by feral whatevers.

January 28:  Hiva Oa

Cultural jostling on board:  I mentioned there were about 60 French on board (from continental Europe), 40 English speaking passengers (from Australia, New Zealand, UK, South Africa, US, Israel and us two Canadians) and 20 passengers from Germany.  The Germans were most likely to speak some French and English.  Other than us, the English speaking had no idea of the French language.  The French generally insisted on speaking only French (which was why Polynesia was ideal for them) and appeared to understand English only when you were talking about them to their detriment.  My personal theory is that this is a leftover from the Napoleonic wars when the French and English despised one another.

Still, the French were very aggressive about asserting their rights, cutting in front or behind you in line when they felt they needed something more quickly than you would allow.  I only add this as a humorous comment, because this behaviour was greatly to our benefit today. 

According to our guide, the French passengers felt we had been given an unfair advantage by being the first to disembark.  Today, they were the first let off on shore.

I loved it!  We had an extra half hour to linger over coffee and breakfast, and then made our way to shore.  No activity started until all had gathered, so I was grateful for the extra leisure.

We made 2 stops on the island, one at Autona and the other at Puamau where there was another archeological site called Te I'lPona.

Te I'lPona featured a number of tikis, which I will explain.

The first stone sculpture representing a Tiki dates back to the 13th century. Originating from the Marquesas Islands, Tikis are also present in most islands of the Polynesian triangle. The most famous are probably the “Moai”, the monumental statues of Easter Island.

Half-man, half-god, the Tiki symbolizes a mythical character who created human beings. Polynesians used to worship and fear it. Rather stocky, its arms are usually resting on its stomach, its his head is often out of proportion compared to the rest of the body, its face is so expressive that the large eyes give the impression that its is looking at you while observing what is happening around. The mouth is usually open and lets you it’s shouting. There is in a way a certain similarity between the Tikis and the poses of the Polynesian war dances.

The Tiki has preserved this spiritual and mystical value and the privileged place it was granted in the past. It still occupies an important position in society, especially in the Marquesas. Even today, a Tiki evokes the respect of Polynesians. It is considered that a Tiki placed outside a house protects people and keeps bad energies away. Even though it is considered a guardian, a large part of the local population thinks that it should not be harmed. It is said that each Tiki has its personality, and that it can be benevolent for some, but also harmful to those who harm.

The unusual shape of the tikis lent itself to a number of theories regarding aliens landing in French Polynesia--what can I say?

Aranui 5 Freight Operations

For those who think travelling on a freighter was weird, I have to tell you that it added considerable interest to the voyage.

Once the passengers were moved out of danger, a complicated ballet started taking place.  The dock and adjoining roads were full of vehicles ready to pick up or deliver freight.

Cargo was mostly loaded into sea cans or special refrigerated containers for produce.

Two industrial cranes were constantly in motion.

Crew members would "snap" the containers into place and plug in those requiring refrigeration.

Loads were hugely varied.  The white bags below being loaded into sea cans actually contained crushed plastic bottles.  There was a lot of them.

At one point, I saw a stallion, mare and foal being led into one of the red sea cans.  The mare and foal were more than happy to cooperate, but the stallion resisted with all his might.

Another load was a helicopter!

To my surprise, gravel was a common load.

Fuel was another important load.

Then there were building supplies as well as other odds and sods.

Sometime the local harbour was so restricted in size that freight had to be loaded on and off barges which was a challenge in itself, often featuring another array of vehicles being put to this use.

By the way, the absolutely standard vehicle for the islanders, whether it be for freight, local travel, or ferrying tourists was the white Toyota pickup truck.

This one was new, but many looked ancient and battered.

We can only imagine the fuel costs for these vehicles.

Children also enjoyed the arrival of the ship because it gave them a whole new set of playground equipment.

Often, paddling lessons were underway in the harbour as well.

January 29:  Fatu Hiva

Fatu Hiva is the southernmost, most isolated island of the Marquesas.

Our feature activity of the day was an opportunity to go on a 10 mile hike with 650 meters in elevation to a high point on the island.  There you were served a picnic.  Not for us old farts!

We sidled into the village where we were eventually joined by the keeners.

This island is noted for its Tapa (transformation of plant fibers into fabrics, whose designs are often inspired by ancient Marquesan tattoos).  Their making is traditionally done by women.

A woman demonstrat cutting out the inner bark of a branch and then pounding it relentlessly, folding it often into smaller and smaller pieces until it became a fairly thin layer which was then dried and painted.

The tapa demonstration was followed by a demonstration of make Ume Hei, a gathering of fragrant leaves and flowers and fruits, and coconut oil.  Leaves included those of mint and basil.

I didn't get quite why they were making such a big deal of this until we got back home.  Uma Hei is considered an aphrodisiac and the women wear the resultant oil to enflame men with passion!

In the afternoon we got a much tamer demonstration of the making of Aue pipi which turned out to be a spa-type hair balm made from grated coconut, fragrant leaves and coconut oil.  A couple of the ship's crew members were delighted to benefit from the demonstration.

Coconut oil was available for sale at every stop, and was touted to cure a myriad of problems.

 Outside of town, you could see drying racks full of copra being prepared to press into oil.

 

Religion and Culture in French Polynesia

As in most colonized areas, local culture was frowned upon and eradicated by the church, especially the Catholic church.  Priests considered the natives to be savages who practiced cannibalism and infant sacrifice.

There is an extremely important Polynesian concept regarding "mana".  Mana is a supernatural force that permeates the universe. Anyone or anything can have mana. They believed it to be a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being a source of power. It is an intentional force.

To have mana implies influence, authority and efficacy:  the ability to perform in a given situation. The quality of mana is not limited to individuals; peoples, governments, places and inanimate objects may also possess mana, and its possessors are accorded respect. Mana protects its protectors and they depend on each other for growth both positive and negative. It depends on the person where he takes his mana.

Tribal wars were a normal part of life in Polynesia and the Hakas were an indication of that.  If you killed the chieftain of an opposing tribe, that was considered a great coup.  The body was burnt, and the ashes of the brain were added to liquid which was then drunk by the conquerer.  In essence, he was getting his foe's Mana, which was a powerful additive.  Cannibalism?  Culturally significant?

Being a Darwinian type of biologist, I wondered about how many infants were born deformed or unlikely to live.  If they were sacrified, did that youthful vigorous mana then benefit another member of the tribe?

It was interesting to hear our native guides give us seemingly matter-of-fact interpretations of their normal activity and then hear it judged by the standards of another culture.

January 30:  At Sea

This is an excellent opportunity to talk about tattoos.

In the traditional Polynesian society, tattooing is a clothing, a language, a symbol of power and a claim to fame. The social mark registered in the skin served as a kind of map identity to the individual. So wearing a tattoo is a way to show a distinction between the Polynesians, marking their rank and social importance.

A fundamental aspect of tattooing in Polynesia is its sacredness. The indelible work, unalterably written into their skin, testifies of their origin, their rank and their heroism. The image of the tattoo is a social passport, a barrier against evil and an admission into the world beyond.

Marquesan art and architecture were highly developed and Marquesan tattoo designs, which often covered the whole body, were the most elaborate in Polynesia.  Marquesan patterns have a style particularly geometric. To distinguish the Marquesan tattoo from the Tahitian tattoo, the face is never tattooed. The most common forms of Marquesan tattoo are abstract geometric (circles, crescents, rectangles) and figurative (animals, plants) tattooed on their arms, legs and shoulders. The buttocks can be completely covered with ink during the rite passage of the adolescent to adult.

Meet Moana.

Moana was a member of the ship's crew serving in the dining room.  Despite his fierce appearance, he was a soft-spoken and thoughtful gentleman.  He was also the ship's resident tattoo artist.

Brian and I had kidded each other about tattoos for years, with nothing ever done about it.  Polynesia inspired us, and we agreed to use Moana's services.  

I had asked for something featuring a sea turtle, and representations of mana on the shell.

Brian mentioned how he loved the Marquesas and wanted something with a tiki.

In each case, Moana drew only the most general of outlines and then went to work.

As usual, Helen went first.

We thought the results were wonderful!

The process was not really painful for either of us.  It felt more like an annoying series of mosquito attempts than being really hurtful.  To improve the healing we were given (of course) cocnut oil.

January 31:  Rangiroa

          Rangiroa is an atoll that is 77 km long and 75 km wide, largest atoll of French Polynesia and second largest in world.  Here, the beaches are more the traditional “white sand”  which is actually pulverized coral.  We went beachcombing, much to my delight.

Along with the fine “sand” we experienced outcrops of volcanic basalt and coral, and areas of unpulverized coral.

For the first time, it was possible see crab holes and to pick up sea urchin spines and small shells from the beach.

The crabs were about the size of a hand, including the legs, as per this skeleton.

You could see their tracks as they scuttled to and fro.

I tried picking up a couple of sea shells, and much to my surprise they had legs!  Ah hah!  All of these “accommodations” were occupied by hermit crabs. 

This also explained what seemed to be snake tracks on the beach.  It was these guys carrying their shells along.

Once I knew what to look for, it seemed half the beach was on the move.  These guys are pretty funny, because they continuously outgrow their shells and try to move to bigger ones, often against some competition, so their real estate market is always active.

February 1

Unfortunate, all good cruises must come to an end.  We arrived back at Tahiti at 7 am (yikes) and were transferred by car and ferry to our final hotel, the Hotel Sofitel Kia Ora Moorea Beach Resort.  We received lei's made of little white sea shells this time. The hotel was very much a honeymoon destination, for the resort even had its own chapel.  One of the biggest lures was their cabins over the water.

The area was protected by a carol reef, thus giving us clear quiet waters that were teeming with fish. One morning we looked down to see over 20 different kinds in just a few minutes.  Apparently nurse sharks were commonly found here.   As you can see, each cabin had a little ladder to take you down to the water which was just around head/shoulder level for us.  The black spots are coral outcrops.  Inside, there was even a glass section in the floor where you could down into the depths.  Oddly enough, we stepped around every time we crossed the room.

Walkways led to the main complex which also had land cabins, a restuarant, several bars, a dive shop, a swimming pool and a beach.

We enjoyed another 3 leisurely days of eating, sleeping and swimming before making our way on the long flight back home.  The concept was lovely, and this was certainly a novelty, but really not worth the considerable expense for the cabin.  Save your money for pearls.

Conclusion:  French Polynesia was fascinating to visit, and we'd go back in a heartbeat.  Things are expensive there because everything has to be shipped in from somewhere except local fruit.  We travelled with carry-on luggage only to avoid trouble, and ended by buying a tube of sunscreen and a bottle of moisturizer which would not have passed the security limit on liquids.  The price was $60 Canadian.

The people were lovely, the culture fascinating, and the temperatures beautiful for a getaway from Canadian wintertime.  As for freighter travel, we are now keen to try more.

Cheers!

Helen and Brian