Extreme bathing
VulcanSpirit
Richard & Alison Brunstrom
Thu 19 Jul 2012 06:12
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While I dislike Tahiti intensely we have managed a
couple of very nice walks (the whole of the interior of the island is steeply
mountainous, and unsettled by people). One was up the Fautau'a valley to a
falls.
Here is the fall, of 150m/450ft:
 There is a lovely pool at the bottom, but our
destination is the top. Hidden in the woods at the top of the fall are two
pools. They are carved into a band of columnar basalt (like the Giant's
Causeway) are are quite stunning. Here is the lower pool with me in it:
 The 5m waterslide behind me is running out of the
upper pool with is almost a cave. The stream has cut right into the rock,
resulting in a roof which almost covers the 3m deep pool, complete with
subsidiary stream falling into the pool like a shower. Fabulous.
But the really amazing thing is the view in the
other direction:
 Here is the outflow from the 3m deep lower pool.
You can see the columnar basalt behind me. It forms a side to the pool, a bit
like a bathtub or an aqueduct. On the other side is the 150m drop. You can sit
in the pool of lovely cool clear water and look straight over the edge. The
ultimate infinity pool, but not for the fainthearted.
We had the place to ourselves after a 2 hour walk
in, with the afternoon sun shining straight onto the pools. But last time Alison
went swimming in a Polynesian waterfall she ended up at hospital. And now she
has a sore throat again; we're hoping it's going to go
away.
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