My last two days in French Polynesia were devoted to driving all the way around the north island and visiting the Paris 2024 Olympic Surfing Event beach half way down the south island, which is connected, to the north island around the town of Taravao.
I started the day with a 10km run in Papeete, which took me towards the eastern side of the city. After a pleasant shower it was only a 5min walk to the Tahiti Rent car hire yard. This is why I grabbed this booking.com apartment in the centre of the city – I could walk everywhere.
By 930am I was cruising in my red Hyundai i10 Grande headed clockwise around the north island. Tahiti North Island is not as scenic as Moorea. It still has great beaches with multi-coloured clear waters of light green, aqua-green, aqua and deep blue where the surf comes crashing down on the outer fringe of the coral reef. I made several stops focusing of course on scenery including some shots of the rugged inland mountains and ridges, which were mostly immersed in cloud.
I visited the following places on the north island: Tombeau du roi Pomare, Temple de Fetia, Plage Lafayette, Tahara'a Viewpoint, Temple de Getsemane (Pink Church), Pointe Venus (Landing site of Bounty in 1777, Cook Memorial, Mission Memorial), Tapahi Cape, Tevaihopu Seaside Church, Anapu Cape, Bougainville Beach & Bay, Temple Te Terona o te Aroha Mau, Teruae Bay, Taravao Town. My favourite north island spot was Point Venus since this is the place the infamous Bounty Ship landed in 1777 before the infamous mutiny after it left !!!
The highlight of the day and indeed my two days in Tahiti was Teahupo'o Village & Beach & Bay – the site of the Paris 2024 Olympic Surfing Event. I could see the surf about 1.5km out and it was not gigantic today given the big swells will be coming in July to fuel the Olympic Event. I sent the drone out to get a better perspective of the set up. There is a flat part in the water where the waves do not break – this is where the media will be camped on several boats. There is also a makeshift watchtower in front of the wave break where the judges will sit – you can both in the pictures below. The town was already painted in Olympic posters and the centre near the surf was being expanded and renovated.
The Aranui 5 Cruise Ship sets sail for the Marquesas every two weeks (25 cruises per year) but this year it will be down one cruise because it is being used as the “Olympic Village” for the Paris Olympics 2024 Surfing Event. Amazing.
On my way down the south island to Teahupo'o, I also visited: Vaihi Bay, Pahotu Cape, Maui Beach, Poti Cape.
The following day (28JUN) I set out at 730am for the Taina Marina for my 4-hour snorkelling trip off the coast of Papeete. It was a small inflatable boat equipped with a 250HP outboard and seating up to 12. Lucky for me there were only 7 of us making it a very comfortable trip. Our first stop was the site of 3 wrecks – two ships and a Cessna aircraft !!! The ships went down in a freak storm 60 years ago whilst the Cessna missed the runway on a training flight in 1995 – no lives were lost in any of the sinkings but I imagine that trainee pilot never got his or her wings !!! It is always spooky diving or snorkelling wrecks – they are always deep (in this case 10m down) and they look haunted. All 3 wrecks had coral growing on them and surrounded by fish. We climbed aboard to a pleasant surprise !!! Humpback Whales had been spotted near to us. A mother and calf. The Captain and First Hand on board were thrilled since Humpbacks normally first visit in early August !!! We were lucky to see them, albeit 500m away since we are not allowed to approach them as they are supposed to be investigating the area for August and if we frighten them that might be the end of the whale watching season for Papeete !!! After the whales came several Spinner Dolphins in another area but much closer this time – up to 20m from our boat. Terrific. The next spot was another snorkel to see Manta Rays and coral. I did not film any since they were very deep and I got next to them in Bora Bora – cannot beat that !!! The coral was similar to Bora Bora being in clumps like a garden. This area is also called the Aquarium. Our fourth spot was to snorkel Green Turtles. I have seen many before and the best experience was with Antonia in Guatemala that let you get next to them. Here they are scaredy cats because the guides are overly cautious and green. I managed to get next to one but got an earful later on – tough – I need a good shot. The fifth and last stop was to snorkel Eagle Rays, which look like giant bats from afar. There was a whole tribe of them but very deep. I dived many times to get the photo you see below. This was a great snorkel trip but I felt the first mate was overly cautious compared to tens of others I have done.
I was back behind the wheel after midday from the Marina to drive anti-clockwise down the western side of the north island of Tahiti. Not as nice as the east side but it does have some great beach spots close to Taravao where the north and south island connect. I visited the following sites along the west before turning around to head back the same way to Papeete: Toaroto Beach, Marae Ta'ata (Archeological Site), St Francois Xavier Church, Vaipoiri Cave, Marae Maha'iatea, Vaima Bay.
It was a photo finish to get the car back to the yard at 4pm. I had to drive 50km back the way I came, fly my drone near a footy field in Papeete, visit the supermarket, fill-up with petrol and then return the car. I made it with 10min to spare !!! I was glad to be back in my apartment by 430pm and packed by 530pm. I settled to chilled Rose and the last of my cheese and olives and even a dash of ham to celebrate. Dinner was typically Polynesian with two trays of raw fish – one being tuna in soy and sesame and the other ceviche style with cucumber, onion and cappers in a light mayonnaise style sauce. Delicious and tasted even better at only $15AUD per tray enough to feed 4 people !!!
I retired at 830pm so I could get at least 8hrs sleep before my trip to the Cook Islands the next day.
French Polynesia turned out exactly as I expected. Wild, rugged, tropical, isolated and full of friendly faces that are impervious to the politically correct exploits of the rest of the planet. They enjoy eating off their land and evey time is a good time on island time. I salute the people of French Polynesia and invite you see the last of the great sites it has to offer…
TAHITI STATS:
Land Size compared to Sydney: 8.5% (45km by 23km)
Coastline: 216km
Population: 311,383
Highest Peak: 2,241m
Claim to Fame: Huge Surf (Paris 2024 Olympic Surfing) & Vanilla Beans
TAHITI WESTERN NORTH ISLAND AND SOUTH ISLAND PHOTOS:
TAHITI SNORKELLING AND EASTERN ISLAND PHOTOS:
THANK YOU ARANUI 5 CRUISE:
FAREWELL FRENCH POLYNESIA:
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