Tahiti

Our passage from the Tuamotus to Tahiti was a quick one. We went through the Fakarava pass at 3.15pm on Monday, a bit after slack water. There was a little turbulence and we used the engine as well as sail just to ensure we stayed clear of the reef. The south easterly breeze was 20-30 knots and we were all (Good2Go, Slick & Gypsea Heart were also out there with us) reefing sail to both stay under control and slow down so we didn’t reach Tahiti in darkness. We tried to have a game of Scrabble during the day, but gave up as the sea was just too lumpy. We motored into Papeete Harbour at about 7.30am Thursday.

We are tied up at the Town Quay on a floating dock with quite a few other cruisers. It’s a very convenient place to be as we are less than 5 minutes walk along the waterfront from the centre of town. I, Louise, have been in ice-cream and shopping heaven since we arrived. The clothing stores are having sales in the lead up to Bastille Day (July 14) so it has also been a great opportunity to replace some of my fetid banana stained tops and shorts. It takes a cruise like this to discover just how badly banana sap stains clothes!

Just near the Town Quay is the area where the ‘roulottes’ set up each evening. These are vans from which you can buy your dinner and sit at the plastic tables they also provide. The food is reasonably cheap, good and plentiful and we have eaten there a few times, enjoying the Chinese food and crepes with ice-cream. It’s nice to dine out in the mild evening and take in the sights and sounds. Speaking of which, each night we hear drumming or singing or music. We think it is the local people practising for the Heiva which is a major cultural event for French Polynesia and goes from about now to Bastille Day.

It’s really nice to see how the traditional culture is also everyday eg. Men and women wearing flowers behind their ears, vibrantly coloured pareus (sarongs) and amazing shell and bone jewellery.

Moorea

We spent last weekend at the neighbouring island of Moorea. There is a mob here who put on events for the Puddlejumpers (us mob who are crossing the Pacific by sailboat). They organised a great weekend which started on the Friday night with cocktails, dancing and fire sticks. On the Saturday morning about 30 yachts sailed over to Moorea – they kept calling it a rally, not a race, but everyone looked like they were racing to me! We left Brio on the Quay and went over with and spent the weekend aboard ‘Watermusick’. The Musick family, Bill, Becky and kids Joseph, Raymond and Melody were very kind to let us ‘invade’ their space for the couple of days. But honestly it feels like such a big boat compared to ours, we never felt like we were in anybody’s way.

Team Water Musick

We did pretty well in the ‘not-race’, coming in at 7^th place. The anchorage at Moorea is beautifully clear and has a stunning mountain backdrop. On the Sunday, we had a day of cultural sports and other activities, including outrigger races, tie-dying a pareo, banana carrying races, tug-of-war and dancing lessons. I just can’t seem to manage bending my knees one way while swivelling my hips the other way. The Polynesian women look so much more graceful and gorgeous when they do it.

Love that colour and movement!

Ivan's team won the outrigger races - Happy chappies!

Louise makes a pareo

Today is a public holiday in Tahiti for Independence or something like that. They call it the day of internal autonomy - sounds more like a surgical procedure to me. There are outrigger races going on just next to where we are on the Quay. People seem to have come from all over French Polynesia to participate and it is wonderful to see all the ‘colour and movement’ (as Dame Edna would say). The bodies, the costumes and the spectacular backdrop of Moorea island are all gorgeous.

Boys lining up for their race

Gorgeous girls - tres jolie



Tres jolie aussie