Tahiti Tourist

Farr Gone Blog
Stuart Cannon
Wed 25 May 2011 23:52
Tahiti is not big. It has few attractions. The climate is good, just like many other places. The attractions that are great though are very strong. The landscape, reef and people are it. The power of these make you realise that the other stuff doesn't matter.
The landscape is best described as muscular volcanic.
Large ridges run to the shore with narrow deep valleys between. At the coast this makes for a multitude of small coves many pounded by surf and others protected by the reef.
Waterfalls are common and everything is growing as fast as it can to ensure it doesn't get smothered. The architecture, however, is not something the French should be proud of.  A shame that such a beautiful place has to display such ignorance of the beauty of what was already there. Polynesian, or more correctly, Pacific architecture is one of my favourites. I love the Palapas of Mexico and these are very similar to the Polynesian structures. Even Bali has the same style so it should be called Pacific. There, I've solved that argument with myself. The structures here are basically Gold Coast 70's which is not a proud part of our heritage. Low ceiling brick and tile in poor taste colours. Tahiti's reputation as expensive has knocked the tourist trade on the head. This has had the effect of locking development here into a time warp. I'm sure when the politics are cleaned up (maybe never) it will feel the developers bulldozers again but it will take a while. There are some very nice properties here for sale around 300k including an archipelago but it is about position and this feels a long way from anywhere else. Still, I can see myself on the verandah by the waters edge not doing alot. Trouble is that's a picture, not a movie and the reality is life is more of a movie where we can get bored and need more, or ... here we go again, another argument. Might be the solo sailing thing that has me disagreeing with myself the whole time. It does pass the time I guess.
The army are pulling out of Tahiti next year and this will have a greater effect than the locals realise on the economy. Strange thing is I think in many ways they were better off the way they were. Their social structure was better suited to the way of life based around the reef. Trouble is they cant really go back and there are going to be difficulties in the future. The French are staying on mainly because of the politics associated with Mururoa.  They are monitoring the archipelago as there is a serious danger that the reef could collapse which could cause a Tsunami that would wipe out neighbouring islands. I think they have a serious pile of merde there. Wouldn't take much more than a good tremor to get it started. Lets not sail down that way.
The beaches of Tahiti are ordinary, either black gravel or water to the edge of land. There was one patch of white sand where the SS France comes in. It is too big to go into Papeete so it comes to this spot down the coast where they have installed large bollards for it. The white sand is imported.
Teahupoo deserves special mention, certainly my favourite of the day. Teahupoo is on Tahiti Iti or the south volcano. It is at the end of the road. From there the coast can only be accessed by water or foot. The locals along this thirty kilometre stretch of coast have fought to keep cars out and have won.
The kids go to school by school boat (pictured ) and most locals travel by outboard power. Polynesians are kind to each other and there is always a ride going. I've been asked to sail down to this area and stay a couple of nights and I'm consulting charts to check the safety of that. Could be good. Back to Teahupoo, famed for its reef break. You will have seen it on the TV. It was only small so it was unrideable. The wave height was only 2 to 3 metres and so it broke too close to the reef to ride. The break on the other side was working and there was no way I would have contemplated going near these waves. They are extremely powerful. The area is delightful and very laid back with the only problem being a rivalry between Hawaiian and Australian surfers, apparently they don't get on at all and their houses are only a few hundred metres apart so its a bit like good ol midwest feudin' Damn shame. It's a great pity that surfing has become so territorial and physical in so many places. Its not what the sports about.
Today was an early start to pick up the gas bottle while I still had the rental car and get the car back by 8.00am after getting the gas back to the boat. My schedule was great but I didn't allow for the tropical storm that started around six and made sure my every move had a squelch sound attached. I was glad I wasn't sailing through that one but the dinghy ride was ample excitement. Of course while you are gone and the dinghy is tied at the dock it gradually fills with rain water. When I returned from dropping the car off I had a dinghy with a foot of water in it. The easiest way to empty the dinghy is to open the bung at the back and keep the boat moving fast enough for the water to drain out. This I did and it was draining well until another cloud decided to drop its contents on me so the speed of the dinghy was going down and I couldn't go so fast because I couldn't see. By the time we got back to the boat I had only just managed to keep my phone and wallet dry. Everything else sodden. That's tropical weather for you.



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