Its taken five days to traverse the 2365 nautical miles between Honolulu and Papeete, Tahiti. And as we tipped over the equator, back into the Southern Hemisphere, the days became muggier and the howling winds rather than abating appeared to howl louder.
With day after day of nothing but endless blue ocean visible from our cabin’s balcony, the vastness and emptiness of the Pacific Ocean are made well clear. A point highlighted when I find myself excitingly yelling to Darryl on day four – “look a bird”.
A passenger has unfortunately suffered a stroke whilst playing table tennis – with such an elderly clientele this is not surprising. Occurring too far from America, New Zealand or Australia to send a helicopter, our captain steps on the pedal and we arrive in Tahiti in the small hours of day six.
Standing on my balcony I drink in the welcoming island sights. Catamarans and sailing vessels rocking in the azure blue harbour. Sharp mountain ridges as tall as the floating cumulus clouds. Palm trees attempting to hide the unfortunately ugly looking conglomerate of buildings.
Not having booked a tour here our Tahitian visit is confined to Papeete – Tahiti’s vibrant capital. Established in circa 1820, visited by Gaugin, Somerset Maughan and Rupert Brooke today Papeete is Tahiti’s main port and by island standards, a thriving place.
Like a scene from a movie (maybe South Pacific which was partially filmed on the nearby island of Moorea) the sight that welcomes us as we step ashore is that of brightly festooned musicians strumming their assortment of musical instruments. Accompanying them are swaying island ladies offering their jaded visitors fragrant frangipani flowers. Requiring my hands to be free for souvenir shopping, I tuck my flower into Darryl’s shirt pocket.
In 1843, Tahiti was claimed by the French and has remained in their hands ever since. This means that the main language here, the currency, the food and the street names are all French. It does feel slightly incongruous, that this dot of a place that’s taken us so long to travel too, so far from France, is so French.
With wi-fi hunting and souvenir gathering once again at the top of our agenda and with an incompressible map clutched in our hands, we go in search of such. It doesn’t take long to establish that the prices here – as we had been forewarned, are pretty steep. Astronomical really. Souvenir t-shirts 50 Australian dollars. Small nick-knacks – $10 plus. Three beers $30.
We also discover that the wi-fi is pretty tightly guarded. With non-existent free wi-fi, some bars and cafes do provide this essential service but will insist that they input the password themselves.
Apart from the busy roads, the bustling streets, the colourful marketplace and the muggy weather what stands out most about Papeete is the abundance of black pearls. At every second market or street stall, at every souvenir shop, at the Black Pearl museum – black pearls are predominant. Whilst they look lovely the decision has to be made “do I really need some black pearls?” – unfortunately, the answer is no.
Knowing that we now have another four sea days ahead of us, we are slightly reluctant to leave dry land, but visions of air-conditioning and bountiful buffets draw us back on board. In all, Tahiti has been more a respite from ocean travel than a place I would return too.
Last night – Tuesday the 11th of February we went to bed. This morning – Thursday 13th February, we awoke. How incredible! We time travelled and in so doing so, missed out on Wednesday 12th February entirely. And after continuously being behind Australian time for the past four months – we are now two hours ahead!
Tomorrow we arrive in Tauranga New Zealand. Home is certainly getting closer.
Fun Facts – the Pacific Ocean is larger than all the worlds land masses put together.
It’s incredible how far flying fish can actually fly.
