Back to Tahiti we went, having spent a glorious few days in Mo’ore’a. Wanting to ease ourselves into civilisation slowly, we rented a car and drove about 40km round to the East of Tahiti, near the lump on the South-East which is called Tahiti-Iti. Much of Tahiti does not have the protective coral reef that Mo’ore’a has, so the seas are much rougher, with less to see underneath. Here, in the middle of nowhere, on the main road around Tahiti, is an area called Faaone.
It rains quite a bit and is perhaps best described as 'sleepy'. It is, however,close to the botanical gardens.
Set up by an eccentric American in 1919, it has been left to the French Polynesian government and has not fared well.
It’s hard to find, and not even on the map we got when we picked up the rental car. Nonetheless we went along, found the entrance, and walked around the beautiful palm groves, lily ponds, beach front, and wetlands. So many different ecosystems within about a 2km2 area. Alongside all the imported (some turned out to be invasive….) trees and plants, our favourites had to be the native Mapé trees that had intriguing skinny buttress roots and have fruits which are roasted like chestnuts. Intel boards were few and far between and there were no staff to ask any questions of. They had an enclosure that said they had Galapagos tortoises: a gift from Ecuador. The gate was rusty and locked. We hoped the poor things hadn’t died of neglect.
The whole place was eerie but huge and very beautiful. Maybe this kind of attraction just isn't valued...
A few weeks ago, Lisa contacted a couple of triathlon clubs in Papeete, the capital of Tahiti, to see if they would have her along for some training sessions. One replied and said yes! Fei Pi triathlon club had a swim session on Tuesday night and so, although it was an hour's drive away from Faaone, she went along while Will settled down to some quiet writing time. It was an hour and a half session, and hard. Laurent, the coach, was very confused as to why a British girl was on such a long holiday, and why she wanted to train with them, but he was very kind and welcoming. It’s been 18 years since Lisa lived in France for an Erasmus year as part of her undergrad degree. While her conversational French is really quite decent, it turns out that studying undergraduate biology in France all that time ago doesn’t equip you with sufficient technical triathlon terms to get by in a swim session…
Over the course of 4 days in Papeeete, Lisa went along to 3 swim sessions and her very first velodrome session (Laurent very kindly lent her his old road bike!) It was good to be back amongst fellow triathletes again!
Another thing not to be missed in Tahiti is the waterfalls. We took a look at the map and thought to hedge our bets by visiting 'The Three Waterfalls'. Three for one. That's efficiency.
We drove to the car park, excitedly changed into our swimsuits, and then trotted along to the first one.
To be greeted by stern signs, telling us not to bathe.
Pah, we thought. Signs in these parts are advisory at best.
On we trudged.
The noise of the waterfall got louder. And louder. And then we saw it. And then we felt it. It turns out this waterfall was really not for bathing: it had its own weather system - that's how big it was!
So we thought we'd try the next of the three waterfalls. After all, this was the genius of our plan. Except the path to the other waterfalls was fenced off. In a very final-looking way. There would be no waterfall swimming today.
Instead, we satisfied ourselves with a trip just over the road to the blowhole. Which was as amusing as it sounds.
After Faaone, we decamped to an Airbnb in Papeete, in the North-West of Tahiti. With a population of 27,000 (Oxford is 162,000), it’s by far the most bustling place we have been for a long time. The apartment we rented had aircon and a little pool on the roof. Total luxury. While Tahiti is known for surfing (the 2024 French Olympic surfing is going to be held here), Papeete is known for its markets, and especially its pearls. There are shops and stalls by the hundred lining the streets. Robert Wan set up the first cultured pearl farm in French Polynesia and there is a museum which Lisa dragged Will to. Pearl Oysters are basically hung like beads on strings in sheltered lagoon waters around places like Bora Bora and people drill holes in their shells, introduce bits of grit or little beads into the squishy bit, and wait up to 18 months for the oyster to cover the grit in layer upon layer of mother of pearl. The South Pacific pearls are black. The absolutely perfect, large, round and flawless ones obviously go for huge amounts of money (a necklace in one shop cost $200,000). We both decided that the perfect ones look a bit like plastic and have no character, which was good for the bank account.
Our list of things to buy in Papeete was rather long; gifts for friends and family, and souvenirs for us. An entire day around the bustling market completely knackered us out and so we went and had a fabulous pizza and wine in a restaurant that could have been in Italy (this may seem normal but excellent pizza and decent wine have been very scarce until recently).
Our last couple of days were then spent picking up our last couple of souvenirs, and finding the finest bakery in town. (It's this one, since you're asking). Our attempts to find a decent bar were, however, thwarted. It turns out the relationship with booze in Tahiti is a delicate one, and it manifests in the frankly non-existent cafe/bar culture at the weekend. But then, we suppose not many people go to these islands for a big night out!
Come Sunday, Papeete was a ghost town. Even the shops which said 'Ouvert 7/7, 6-18h' were closed. We long ago learnt not to fixate on signs in these parts.
We caught the overnight flight from Tahiti to San Fransisco, and all of a sudden, our South Pacific adventures were at an end!