Surfing Tahiti

Journeys of Aardvarc
Ed
Mon 28 Apr 2008 01:24

Today's guest author is Sam:
 

We arrived in Tahiti on the 22nd after a benign sail from the Tuamotu islands. After the crystal blue waters that we enjoyed and solitude in the Tuamotus to arrive into Papeete was a little shock. The last time we had seen cars was a month ago, and to travel in one, well I hadn’t been in one since the Galapagos Islands nearly 2 months previously. So to lie in my bunk at night and be kept awake by of the light of the moon, the light from a 200watt street light took its place.

 

Most mornings since our arrival you could find us touring the industrial estates of Papeete. This is the capital of Tahitis tourist and industrial industry. It has everything you could ever want but at the price you would never want to pay. They say in French Polynesia the French have the money, the Polynesians have the land and the Chinese own the shops. There is a big population of Chinese people here. They run everything from the music shops to the plumbers’ merchants… but I haven’t seen a Chinese restaurant yet…

 

Yesterday (26th) we hired a car and went on an into the blue magical mystery tour of Tahiti… now, there is only one road on the island that goes around the edge so as long as you keep the sea on your right you can’t get lost… There has been a lot of swell from the southern ocean due to it being autumn down here, and the big lows of the roaring forties send up massive swells north right up to a little bay they call in Tahiti, Teahupoo. This place to surfers is considered one of the most heavy waves in the world that has clamed lives over its short history of people surfing this wave… we are very fortunate to be here at the same time as the Billabong Tahiti pro competition is on. This is one of the world championship venues.

 

Teahupoo is a little place with an awesome view. In the background are the hills that form the volcano on the island of Tahiti iti, and in the ocean the wave goes over a coral reef 700 meters out to sea. The waver breaks on 6 foot of water and so causes the wave to have a face of 20foot and the back to only be 4 foot. There were heats for the competition going on, so there were a lot of activity in the water; we were one of 20 boats hovering around the edge of the shoulder of the wave. When the first big ‘set’ came in the place erupted with shouting and wooing as the big beast showed us why this place is so renowned.

 

All in all a good day out, and cheap, which is saying something here. The most expensive place in the world. To go out on a Saturday night you have to go and chat to the bank manager, or if that fails do the lottery, but the winners of the lottery can only just afford to live here in this paradise.

 

Sam.

JPEG image

JPEG image

JPEG image

JPEG image

JPEG image

JPEG image