(This post contains some of my favorite pictures taken while in French Polynesia)
For the past couple of months, we’ve been trying to put Tahiti in the rearview mirror. First, we had to wait for a small health issue to clear up and now, the weather is uncooperative.
Our next venture means sailing into more isolated places and will involve about 12 days at sea. It makes no sense whatsoever to take off without being in the best of health. I know I have said this before, but Tahiti has incredible healthcare that is very inexpensive. We found an awesome English-speaking doctor here and we can get an appointment on the same day, if not the next day. It is one of the things that seriously make us consider French Polynesia as a permanent retirement home.
I am pleased to say we are now both healthy and ready to go. But, the weather has different plans for us. For the past few weeks, the waves have been enormous due to systems south of us. This has caused havoc. Parts of Tahiti were flooded. The government took the very rare action of banning all pleasure boats from sailing between islands. This has now passed.
Hoping restrictions are ending soon meaning people are healthy and can get out and enjoy their island. And, we can resume getting back to finding places like this.
As we get higher still, mountains start to disappear into the clouds
Looking down on Pape’ete and the harbor. Somewhere down there is the Puffster
These ladies find a nice shady spot in a breeze and weave tote bags
Sofitel Hotel – Would you want to stay here?
Future World-Cup winners?
This looks like a good spot for lunch: Baguette, pate and Orangina
View of Mou’a Roa (880 m)
Pape’ete xmas bling – a walkway near us
Polynesians love their bright colors. And, so do I.
Smurf fish
Local drummers find a shady spot and bang out a welcome for disembarking passengers from the cruise ship.
We are treated to fabulous vistas of the atoll interior as we walk down the road – about 35 boats anchored on this particular day.
The picture travel brochures use to make people want to be here: The palm over the beach and the blue lagoon
This Orange Lined Trigger fish decides to check out the snorkel fish
Look closely at the base of the waterfall. Yep. See the house? This waterfall is in a person’s back yard (private property)
We went shopping for food and made some last-minute prep on the Puffster. Now we wait. If there is wind, it comes from the wrong direction. Or, we’ve had days on end of calm weather. We thought we had a short window to leave this weekend. But, as the forecast became closer, the predicted winds were lighter. We just paid another week for the marina. Wait and see. Sooner or later, the weather will cooperate. We’ve got time.
The ultimate picnic spot: shade, a cool breeze, and a spectacular view
As we reminisce about our 3 years in French Polynesia, we can’t help but look at the things we love about this country and what we’ll be sure to miss. First and foremost, the people. The local people here are awesome. I don’t ever recall a place where people have, for the most part, been so nice. I love the fact that people will start an impromptu conversation. Sometimes, I feel really bad my French is still so awful. Oftentimes, people strike up a conversation to practice their English – many people here are bi or tri lingual.
Just recently, I was waiting at a crosswalk when a young man next to me started to chat. Cindy and I were waiting at a bus stop and a local lady struck up a conversation. This is not a rare occurrence. It’s impossible for us to go to the market just down the street and not have vendors we frequent walk over just to say hello. We don’t see people with their faces glued to smartphones. If eye contact is made, a smile and greeting are always next. The local people are genuinely nice to one another. No one is in a hurry. Okay, there are a few crazy drivers but this is far from the norm. When getting on a bus it is normal for the bus driver to wait until you find a seat before moving again. On a crowded bus, younger people offer their seats to elderly people. People getting on the bus, greet others as they find a seat (we’ve seen this on many islands we’ve visited).
I watched a man in the grocery store pay for a big basket of groceries with loose change. He had a huge bag and pulled out handfuls of coins and proceeded to count them out to the cashier. I was next in line. There were about four people behind me. Not one of us got impatient, jumped to another line, or threw our arms up in despair. People just don’t seem to mind waiting.
A couple of days ago, I called our favorite pizza place for a pick-up. The person taking the order was trying to tell me something in French and I just couldn’t seem to grasp it. He passed the phone to Fred who is the owner and speaks fluent English. Fred told me they were out of pepperoni. So, I ordered a different pizza than our norm. Many people reading this are probably thinking, how the heck does a pizza joint run out of pepperoni? I can’t imagine the Yelp reviews if this happened in the USA.
When I arrived to collect the pizza, I asked Fred if not being able to source pepperoni was hurting his business. He said, people just order something else. I tell them the pepperoni is on the boat. Everyone understands what “on the boat” means. It is life in Tahiti.
Rarely do we go to the grocery store and get everything on our list. I’m talking about real giant grocery stores like Carrefour (equivalent to a Wal-Mart Super Center in the USA). Because everything has to arrive by ship and shipping is not an exact science, items can be delayed; sometimes for weeks. And, it’s not like you can just go to another store. The chances are, if it is out-of-stock in one store, it’s out-of-stock in all of them. This was our experience with Heinz Ketchup for about a month. Not a single bottle was anywhere on store shelves. They had some other brands, but the mainstay was gone. The stores take the secondary brands and spread them across the shelf to give the illusion nothing is sold out. No one seems to care much. It’ll be back when it arrives on the boat.
Another wow view
Tahitian people are beautiful. I mean this in a nonphysical way. They are patient, polite, helpful and caring. We have made many acquaintances even with our lack of the local language. I smile when I write this because we’ve experienced the polar opposite with other cruises (who speak English) and have parked right next to us in the marina. Some people barely manage a grunt when we said hello.
Contestants – Tū’aro Ma’ohi
It’s hard leaving Tahiti. It was been our home for a little over three years. We arrived at the onset of Covid and stayed as countries west of here all closed their borders to transient yachts. I think it’s important to point out, French Polynesia never denied entry to transient yachts during Covid. They did restrict long-stay visas from being issued meaning a non-EU Citizen could only stay for 90 days. But, they allowed them to enter.
Being here for Covid was a blessing. The government handled it with excellent communication and logical restrictions. In town, where there are more people on the sidewalks, it was required to wear a mask outside. We didn’t have the political BS of mask-wearing here like some countries. People wore masks because they genuinely cared about other people. And, should they become infected with Covid, they didn’t wish to pass it on. In town, the local police had to sometimes remind someone to wear a mask. I watched as one local said he didn’t have one. Instead of issuing a citation, the police officer offered a mask from a box he had.
Some of the restrictions during the height of the pandemic meant staying within a 2 km radius of the home. If people ventured further without a valid reason, they were fined at one of the many roadblocks the police erected. The fine was waived if the offender made a donation to the local Red Cross charity. The government was not trying to make money from this.
Your masked reporters – yes, we are smiling
French Polynesia was among the first countries in the South Pacific to have access to Covid vaccinations. This is due to being French and a part of what is undoubtedly one of the best healthcare systems in the world. The government set up massive vax-centers. Our closest was at the Presidential Building a short walk away. Everyone got a free vaccination, free boosters, and free booster boosters. I read a blog about a fellow boater who was stuck in Hawaii due to Covid and had trouble getting a vaccination. Hawaii refused to allow them access since they were from Florida and not local to Hawaii. As I read it, I couldn’t help but think about French Polynesia which made the vaccination available to anyone here. And, I mean anyone. I’m sometimes embarrassed to call the USA home when I see such idiotic government decisions. Why on earth would it make sense to have two unvaccinated people (who wish to be vaccinated) roaming about on your island? And, they’re Americans.
Yikes! He looks like he is dressed to invade the US Capital Building
Another thing I will truly miss about French Polynesia is the stunning scenery. We’ve experienced a ton of “wow” moments. Sometimes just walking to the hardware store, I’ll forget to look up. When I do, I am always taken aback by the lush green mountains serving as a backdrop to the town streets.
As we rented cars frequently, I can’t begin to tell you how many times we found ourselves on a stretch of road with crystal clear turquoise water on one side of us and huge mountains on the other side. And then, there are the flowers. Flowers are a massive part of the culture here. Leis and headbands are worn to church on Sundays. Most Polynesian ladies will wear a flower in their hair. In the park we frequently walked, all of the flowering trees had no flowers at arm’s reach. People would pick and wear them. Not to worry, there was plenty more above arms reach.
The flowers on these trees smell amazing. Polynesian women wear them in their hair and make leis from them
The road is a car and half wide at the widest spot
One of the things I found really interesting here; it seems like the local people don’t mind getting a little bit wet. For the most part, our days are filled with sunshine. I’m sure you are tired of me complaining how hot it is here. So, I won’t do that again. Even the sunniest days often have a shower or two. It goes hand in hand with flowers and lush green vegetation everywhere.
Sitting on the back of the Puffster overlooking the waterfront promenade, I’d often stop to people-watch from the comfort of our cockpit. It amazed me how if it started to rain, it didn’t seem to matter. The people walking don’t run for shelter. Most don’t carry an umbrella. They don’t hurry or quicken their gait. They just continue as if nothing is happening. This is the polar opposite of Grenadian people who hate to get wet and will run for cover after the first raindrop lands on them. French Poly people just don’t seem to mind. Go figure.
It’s hard to believe 3 years has passed since our arrival here. Wow! We had an opportunity to leave last year at the end of cyclone season (April). Fiji was opening and New Zealand was open if you committed to spending an exorbitant amount of money in their boatyards while there. There was tons of red tape attached to visiting these countries and we watched as some good friends made their way westward. Some islands had vaccination requirements. We decided to stay one more year and let the dust settle. Now all the islands west of here are open. We are back to the normal amount of red tape to arrive with a boat and we don’t have to commit to a ton of money to spend in New Zealand boatyards to stay there. Although, no doubt we will spend money once there. It’s what boat life is all about: Fixing the boat in exotic places.
The next stop for us is Bora Bora. It’ll be our last stop in French Polynesia. I can honestly say, I’m going to really miss it here. We found a little slice of paradise at the time the world blew up and have come to love the Polynesian people and their way of life. I joked with one of our local friends when he asked if he will see me again. Never say never – we still have 4 more years to make up our minds per our residency visa that would allow us to become permanent residents. I told him we both loved it here but it is in the middle of nowhere. He flashed a big Tahitian grin and said, yes it is. And, he hopes one day we’ll come and see him again in the middle of nowhere.
The end of the road
