“Tahiti is not just an island – Tahiti has always been a state of mind. The bustling capital of Tahiti and her islands, Papeete is the chief port and trading center, as well as a provocative temptress luring people to her shores. Immortalized in the novel “Mutiny on the Bounty,” who could blame the men of “HMS Bounty” for abandoning their ship in favor of basking in paradise? And what would Modern Art be without Tahiti’s influence on Gauguin and Matisse? Today the island is a charming blend of Polynesian “joie de vivre” and Gallic sophistication. But venture out from Papeete and you find a landscape of rugged mountains, lush rainforests, cascading waterfalls and deserted beaches.
Contrasting with other French Polynesian ports, Papeete’s coastline initially greets you with a vista of commercial activity that graciously gives way to both black and white-sand beaches, villages, resorts and historic landmarks.” – The Princess Patter
*Note: Those of you who had seen our itinerary prior to our sailing may be wondering what happened to Honolulu, Pago Pago and Tonga. Well, you can blame it all on the weather in the North Pacific. In order to escape the storms and rough seas, the Pacific Princess headed almost due south to get across the equator as soon as possible and into the South Pacific. We still had some rough seas heading south but the seas have calmed considerably. The ports of Bora Bora and Papeete were substituted for the northern ports that were cut.
After a quick overnight cruise, the Pacific Princess docked in downtown Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia. Papeete is the administrative capitol of French Polynesia but only has a population of about 20,000 people. The island of Tahiti has about 120,000 inhabitants.
We left the ship at about 8:30 am local time (Tahiti is in the same time zone as Honolulu). This time we boarded an air conditioned bus for a tour advertised as “Highlights of Tahiti”. Our first stop was the James Norman Hall Museum. Mr. Hall was the co-author of the Bounty Trilogy and he lived in Tahiti for over 30 years. The museum is an exact replica of his house and stands a few yards from the sea overlooking Matavai Bay.
The next stop on our tour was Point Venus. Captains Wallis (The first European to stop in Tahiti), Cook and Bligh all dropped anchor here. It is named Point Venus because thirty years after Captain Wallis brought back news of Tahiti to England, Captain Cook brought his astronomical expedition to this point to measure the transit of the planet Venus across the face of the Sun. There is still a trace of fortifications that the Cook Expedition built, not to protect them from the Tahitians, but to protect their instruments.
Next we were scheduled to stop at the Faarumai Waterfalls, which are said to be spectacular, but, alas, flood damage from recent storms caused the closure of a bridge to the falls. We did get a glimpse of the falls from a distance but instead our bus went on to “One Tree Hill”. Like the rest of Tahiti, One Tree Hill is heavily forested but that is apparently not the natural state of Tahiti … or the hill. When Cook arrived in 1887, Tahiti was sparsely forested and this hill on the mountainous coast with a single large tree was a marker used by Cook as he approached looking for the northern point of the island (Point Venus). The later forestation of the island is largely due to europeans bringing trees and tropical plants from other islands and from South America. Despite the many trees that belie its name, One Tree Hill does provide a spectacular view of Matavvai Bay and Papeete.
Our final stop was the tomb of King Pomares V, the last king of Tahiti. The first King of Tahiti was installed by the Cook Expedition as a means to control the constantly warring tribes. The first king’s name was actually Tu but he had a ‘temporary nick-name’ of Pomares which translates to something like, “cries in the night”. This was in fact a reference to his baby daughter but the europeans mistook it as his actual name and crowned him King Pomares I. King Pomares III died without a successor but his adopted daughter was named Queen Pomares IV and her son became King Pomares V. Unfortunately he was a drunk and a gambler. He soon found himself deep in debt and, as a result, sold the sovereignty of Tahiti to France for a title and a pension. Appropriately, his tomb resembles a liquor bottle.
After our tour we wandered around downtown Papeete before returning to the ship. For such a small town it was easy to get lost. Frances bought a shirt and we found an internet cafe. Then we returned to the ship.
After leaving Tahiti we have six days at sea. However, there are a couple of events of note before we reach our next port. First, we will lose Saturday this week. We will go directly from Friday to Sunday as we cross the International Date Line. Second, We will have our first performance with the Pacific Princess Harmony Choir. We’ll let you know how it went in our next post …