Out and About in Papeete
Lynn & Mike ..around the world
Mike Drinkrow & Lynn v/d Hoven
Mon 20 May 2013 21:57
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Out and about in Papeete,
Tahiti:
We have been on the town docks in Papeete
for a week now and have done most of the touristy things on the island. Papeete
is the capital city of French Polynesia and fairly sophisticated in island
terms. The country has no income tax, so is funded by import duties and
VAT - so as long as you work here, goods are affordable as you get the tax
break. It is a bit more expensive for tourists!
The local produce market is interesting,
with lots of fruit & veg, flowers, fish and prepared foods.
In contrast there is also a giant Carrefour hypermarket just outside
the city, where you can get just about anything. We were very happy to get
our hands on some New Zealand lamb!
In the evenings there is a square on the
waters edge that becomes an outdoor eating market. Mini vans (with
kitchens inside) pull up and unload tables and chairs, and start cooking.
They are called Roulottes, and serve pretty good food with many
options to the core dishes of grilled fish, Chinese Chow Mein and
French Steak & chips pr Crepes. Sadly there is no alcohol allowed
in the square. Booze is shockingly expensive here e.g. very ordinary bottle
of Vodka is US$50 or a bottle of wine $30, from a supermarket!
Tahiti is not nearly as "romantic" as you
may imagine - the city is full of traffic and quite dirty and the rest of the
island is pretty basic, with very few hotels. There are beautiful tall
mountains and lush vegetation, but no decent beaches - all of them are
black! The black beaches are due to the volcanic origin of the island. I
suspect all the "beachy postcards" come from the outer Society islands, where we
will head next.
Tahiti is like a figure 8 - a big island
and a smaller one, joined by a flat section of land. We took a tour on the
coastal (only) road around the island with new friends, Will,
Gai & their daughter Sarah - who are from Tasmania.
Some pics from
Tahiti:
  Roulottes in downtown
Papeete Diet
Coke with dinner!
  Waterfall in the north east of
Tahiti Sarah
finds a giant leaf
 Black beach at Mount Venus -
where Captain Cook watched and measured the transit of the planet Venus in
1769
  Weird fish for sale ... the
aptly named Unicorn Fish and the unusual Saumon des Dieux - which Mike is
enjoying above
  Flower sellers making floral
crowns for
tourists A
core starch - TARO
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