–by ARLO
As I am writing this we are dockside at Pape’ete, Tahiti. We are back in the world of traffic, fire sirens, restaurants and grocery stores. Several weeks ago on the island of Raiatea, we were at the farthest point west we’ll reach this year, 152° West.
After several weeks in Raiatea and her sister island Taha’a, we left Raiatea bound for Mo’orea, with a one night stopover in Huahine. On the last morning of this upwind, up-sea passage, we were lucky enough to get calm winds, calm seas, and a great view, with Mo’orea’s imposing peaks on one side of us and the sun just peeking over the horizon.
Only several hours after anchoring in Cook’s Bay, we rowed ashore to the prearranged resort, and there was our Grandma Nance waiting for us!
We had an incredible week with Nancy, full of hiking in the woods, dinghy sailing, swimming with sharks and stingrays, fruit shopping, and lots of other fun activities.
It was crazy and awesome to see our Grandma Nancy in French Polynesia, and it was a nice break in the routine of our trip.
After all of the time in Mo’orea with friends and family, we sailed one day to Tahiti, and then tied up in downtown Pape’ete.
Then, the very day that Nancy left us, we met another friend of ours, Eloise, who by chance had booked a flight to Mo’orea at the same time that we happened to be there.
Contrary to what many people are expecting when they arrive, Pape’ete is just a city, and a relatively dirty, noisy one at that.
When I compare this city to to the remote Marquesas, Tuamotus, and even the Leeward Society Islands, I find that I prefer the remote islands over Pape’ete.
Although I am not especially moved by Pape’ete, we have had some fun experiences here, like eating dinner at the roulottes (food trucks), shopping for fishing gear at the marine supply stores, and getting a tour of Tom Cruise’s mega yacht, and these experiences have made our time here more enjoyable, along with the fact that we were fore warned of what to expect by our friends on other boats.
Now that we have arrived in Pape’ete, we have reached a turning point in our trip. now we will be heading back east to the Tuamotus, where we will meet our friend J.T., for the rest of the trip. From the Tuamotus, we will sail five days to the Marquesas, to get a better wind angle to leave on a two and a half week passage to Hawaii.
During our time in the Society Islands, and Tahiti in particular, we have been getting spoiled on city life. There will be some things we will miss heading back into the remote islands, but it will be a relief to get away from the hustle and bustle and overfished waters of the Tahiti, and back to the crystal clear water and plentiful seafood of the Tuamotus, and then back to the rugged scenery of the Marquesas.
I’ll leave you with a few additional pix, including some of our own sketches.
