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Trip Start
Mar 01, 2006
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Trip End
Dec 01, 2007
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Papeete,
French Polynesia
Friday, January 12, 2007
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I had planned to be ahead of schedule at Auckland airport so as to have time to write a few more post cards, and have a bit of food. The queue for the plane was huge and very slow, with people going to Tahiti and others just transiting there on their way to Los Angeles or New York, all of them in the same plane as me. Once I had checked in, I had to speed up through customs, while the boarding gate was making the last call, and then I ran to the gate (other end of the airport, of course), only to find that there was no hurry, I was on time...
In the plane I slept most of the time. I left Auckland at 2pm on Friday 12th january 2007, and landed in Papeete at 8pm on Thursday 11th january. From there my birthday is going to be one day later than it should be. Or something like that.
Getting out of the plane, a couple of vahines were offering flowers that everyone was taking and putting over their ear. A guitar trio was playing music from the pacific islands... so cliche, but nice.
I knew Tahiti was going to be expensive. In fact it turned out it's one of the most expensive places on earth. At the airport the information office was closed. I walked around, the atm was not giving out any notes. I went to some people who were welcoming the tourists and dispatching them to their hotels and tour operators. They told me it was unusual that there would be nobody at the tourist info office, but I found out later that it was rather unusual that there should be someone at all. Anyway, I asked them about cheap accomodation. The girls were very helpful, and indicated me the hotel in front of the airport, one of the cheapest in Papeete: 10.000 francs a night, which amounts to some 85 euros. That looked very cheap to them. I was outraged and told them I was going to sleep outside then. They were annoyed cause they did not know where to find anything cheaper! Then one of their colleagues gave me direction to a place 200m away, chez Fifi, a pension.
I walked there, and it was 2300 francs a night (20 euros). That is definitely the cheapest it can get in Papeete: dormitory, cold showers, but a nice common room and breakfast included.
Overall, it rained all the time during my stay at Tahiti and Moorea. That did not deter me from diving and having a good time meeting people, and anyway I had come here only because it was the only way to Easter Island...
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