Relaxing in Tahiti
Trip Start
Jan 10, 2008
1
19
22
Trip End
Jan 20, 2009
Papeete,
Society Islands,
French Polynesia
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
At last we can stand up straight for as long as we want, stretch out our arms without windows denying us & be untidy & still find what we are looking for. The all too frequent moments of weakness when torching Kodos & upgrading to 5 star luxury have subsided & no longer does the sound of one another's breathing motivate us to reach for a pillow!
You might read this & think that we haven't had a great time - but we have, just platowed. I also know for sure, that I suffer from 'Cabin Fever', it's only cure, a 5AM wake up, scraping the ice from Kodos & tramping 18.5 k's along the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. Advertised as "NZ's best one day alpine hike" & we have to agree. We'll let the pictures to the talking.
We've occupied ourselves;
- Zorbing. Basically a giant sized, see through golf ball thing, with me & warm water inside, set free from the top of a very steep hill along a zig-zag course. Why did I do this - I don't know! It's lead me to the conclusion that the Kiwi's are excellent marketeers.
- Fly fishing on the "Wai Punga", east of Lake Taupo with nymphs (a type of replicated water insect for the non-fisher's amongst us). Fantastic. Michael takes credit for catching a very nice looking rainbow trout, about 50-cm's long. I take credit for frying the fillets up, butter, salt & pepper with a big squeeze of fresh lemon - yummy. There is also nothing more bonding for the men of a campsite than filleting a trout.
- Michael has been diving at the 'Poor Knights', which was well worth surfacing with chattering teeth & blue, unfunctioning hands.
Blue Lakes Tarongiro
I went snorkelling, lost the ability to breath for the first few minutes due to the cold & freaked out at snorkelling in what I can best be described as a 'sea of thick jelly'. Zillions of plankton blooms. I made a hasty retreat back to the boat with a load of them left in my hair - deck reading for me only from now on.- We've educated ourselves about Maori culture at Te Papa museum in "windy" Wellington. Gail force is more accurate. I watched Michael chase his cap down the street for 5 minutes.
- I've taken a helicopter ride over to White Island - a marine volcano. A living, breathing, untamed, geological giant. One of the best trips I have ever done. We landed in the crater, surrounded by towering steam columns, the Earth's heat could easily be felt through my trainers, violent bubbling mud pools, a simmering acid lake, the colour of 'coldgate' gel tooth paste, deep red trails of iron leached from the ground, sulphuric rocks lay around, canary yellow in colour. The smell of rotten eggs was so over powering at times I donned my gas mask & the sulphuric acid droplets in the air stung my face like millions of tiny pin pricks. Thankfully, it's obviously somewhere the "Health & Safety" men haven't got to yet!
We've also, relaxed in 40 degree geothermal hot pools, visited geysers, champagne pools, starred up in wonder at millions of brightly shining glowworms at Waitomo, seen Kiwi's at a bird park, sampled the "best fish & chips in the World" at Mangonui, so good in fact we made a detour on the way back to sample them again.
Champagne Pools, Rotorua
Michael has dived the "Rainbow Warrior" whilst I caught a very handsome, decent sized snapper in the pouring rain all by myself. And finally a big thank you to Tony & Chez for their hospitality & run of their home as we reacclimatised to the everyday luxuries that homes & houses provide. And that about does it for NZ.And now, I'm gently swinging in a hammock at the Intercontinental in Tahiti. Surrounded by the calm, crystal clear lagoon, white breakers at it's edge, crashing in the distance, blue skies, coconut trees & sunshine with only Jeremy Clarkson, SPF 30, sunglasses, bikini, a pen & a few fat Americans as company. And Michael? He's gone diving for black tip, white tip & grey reek sharks. I must point out that we are not staying at the Intercontinental just taking full advantage of the vast infinity pool, raked white sands, the men that exchange your towels the minute you sweat & a golf car that chauffeurs you around. And how do we do this? With fingers crossed, a great big smile & a "bonjour" when we stroll confidently through the open air reception. But there is one minor draw back - a can of cold, local beer & a fresh tropical juice, which I'm hoping is "organic, fair trade" for the price, costs a staggering £14.80 again £14.80! Today we have visited the supermarket.
But before all this, we crossed the International date line. Taking off in Auckland Saturday 8th at 9 a.m, landing in Tahiti 5 hours later on Friday 7th at 3 p.m. I also became a 'millionaire' during the flight thanks to Chris Tarrant & Michael with the answer to the million pound question. I almost have the confidence to say, dust off the Genius 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 skillfully hanging from her mouth. The fish market revealed blue parrot fish, unicorn fish & massive tuna, marlin steaks. It also revealed Tahiti style 'ladyboys'! Apparently families who have a 4th boy are so disappointed they raise him as a girl anyway! I have to say, they are far better at detail than the Thai's. Shell accessories, Sunday best hats, hibiscus necklaces but it's always the size 12 feet that give it away!
Lots of love
Still swinging in hammocks!
Suzy and Michaelxxxx
