Tahiti road trip
CuriousOyster
Steve & Trish Brown
Sun 6 Jun 2010 01:32
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Tahiti..........Probably the most evocative name in
the South Pacific....... full of history....... from the early Polynesian
explorers, the scientific voyages of Britains Captain Cook, the mutinous
Fletcher Christian on board the HMS Bounty and more recently the French
influences creating what is now known as French Polynesia and Tahiti its centre
of administration.
A commemorative plaque in honour of the
early Polynesian explorers, arguably the greatest navigators of all
time!
 For Trish and I it represented a change of pace
from the sleepy Marquesas and Tuamotus to the more frenetic lifestyle of
Papeete.
With its more cosmopolitan inhabitants, sidewalk
cafes, restaurants to suit all tastes, markets, boutiques, supermarkets
and....daily traffic jams!
Curious arrives in Papeete chased into
harbour by one of many fast ferries to the outer islands.
 We took the opportunity to hire a car along with
crew of Freestyle and see more of the island,
travelling clockwise around the main island on day
1 and then heading south to Tahiti Iti on day 2.
 The lighthouse at Venus Point marks where
Captain James Cook arrived to take his transits of Venus
 The stone commemorating the arrival of HMS
Bounty
 The stone under the Breadfruit Tree,
Captain Blighe's mission was to take Breadfruit
saplings back to the Caribbean to provide
food for the slaves.
 The roll call of HMS Bounty's ships
company
 Away from the small coastal plain the
island has big volcanic mountains, deep
cut valleys and many
waterfalls.
 Its also been great to catch up with friends made
en route.
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