Pension Ahitea Lodge Papeete

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Our visit would not be complete without a tour of the local markets. Here we were treated to a fresh produce market and a flower market. You are greeted at the airport with a Lei, a garland of beautiful fragrant flowers. Garlands are also made for the women to wear on their heads.Someone has to make these beautiful ...

... at times, though what no-one had explained is that heavy rain is not good for the Tahitian waste water system. The water levels mean it becomes impossible to flush the toilet for days upon end and we were once again in the position of having to run between a variety of bungalows looking for a toilet which a civilised person would be willing to use. They donīt tell you about this in the holiday brochures!



One thing we can say about ...

... which was great - at one point a family entered and the girl, who probably was between 1 and 2, just had a diaper on - gotta love the tropics!

Interesting fact: the feet of Polynesians are amazing - the older people's feet are like tires - they are very flat, wide, and look they have seen some miles. Perhaps the result of years of walking barefoot, or only wearing flip flops their entire lives - or just simply genetics - who knows? Pedicures are not a big thing here....

... making stops along the way. Beautiful island but we both agree probably not a vacation destination in the future. Once we were done we headed to the local outdoor market to wander around. Found a few souvenirs and then walked back to the ship for some swimming before heading off to sea again. Lessons Learned: - Humidity in the tropics can be a bugger. - Never trust a guy when he insists he is the best driver. - Round abouts are dangerous places.

... with our German dinner companion (Willie) and enjoyed the night. Went for a walk afterwards through the park, many families with their children outside playing. The ship docks right in the middle of town, which makes access easy. Headed back to the ship and sat out on the deck for awhile before turning in for the night!

... 10 minutes of waiting he duly drove up in the open top truck that was to be our mode of transport for the afternoon, and so our adventure began. We headed out along the coast of Tahiti stopping at some vantage points to enjoy the scenery and take a few photographs before turning off the main road and heading onto a dirt track. The guide would stop periodically and give us some information about the flora and fauna that grow on the island - he showed us tapioca plants ...

... Trivial Pursuit, Back family! Tahiti makes me feel 'eyes wide open'. It's colourful, vibrant & upbeat. Women stroll around with cerise pink hibiscus tucked behind their ears, Hawaiian shirted men play bass on up turned black dustbins, the chef plays the spoons, french sticks are filled full with anything & everything - fried chicken & chips, chow mein, occasionally ham. The tides are "solar" tides. The local bus driver takes your money with 5 cm of cigarette ash ...

I left again a Paradise to find this time not a Paradise but a Island with a big city. As Papeete is the main Island of French Polynesia, she had also a big part of the population and the construction. In other words, Papeete is not really beautiful: it s nice to get a starting point but I should not advise to stay there too long. Hopefully for me, I was meeting some friend there and they bring me to a bar to take a cocktail ...

Moorea is a very small island, without a decent public transport system. A bus occasionally meets the ferry to take people to their hotels, and although I could find a bus, there were no drivers. I got talking to two Canadian couples who had just finished a cruise around several of the islands, and they decided to take a Taxi down to their resort and were kind enough to drop me at my pension on the way. This pension was nice but really odd ...

... things and had decided to find a restaurant when we walked out of the place, turned the corner, and there was the supermarket, on a back street and facing away from all the activity and certainly not centralized at all to the main part of the city. I don't know how they expected anybody to find that thing. Whatever. We bought our picnic - apples, cheese (Rachel is something of a cheese connoisseur, listen to me using words like that in a French country), baguettes ...