2 days of sailing from Toau and we arrived safely back in Papeete. We decided to head to the downtown marina this time for a change of scenery. We met up again with our friends on Sangvind, so the kids were happy as they some other kids to hang out with after a month of it just being us. The kids were also happy to have some time playing in the park next to the marina and get in lots of scootering and skateboarding time.
We also were back in the land of wifi, I think that I took it for granted in Australia as its so good and almost everywhere, but here you're lucky to get 3G and even then it can be pretty slow. I suppose we are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, so sacrifices have to be made! I took the opportunity to catch up with a couple of family and friends via FaceTime which was a super treat as its hard to get the timing right, given everyones busy lives and the time difference.
Over the next 12 days we visited the Tahiti Museum, the Pearl Museum, hired a car and drove round the island, stocked up the boat with more canned food to last a couple of months (from the Carrefour supermarket - I have spent enough there to own shares in), enjoyed the local markets, spent J’s birthday money, topped up gas bottles, replaced broken halyards etc. etc. and just enjoyed being a short walk to to all amenities.
A fun thing to do is eat out at the roulottes, or food trucks that assemble every night right near the town marina. You can have many different cuisines, chinese was our favourite, along with ice cream and waffles. The kids also enjoyed a maccas brekky of big macs, nuggets and fries, as we found out there are no mcmuffins and hash browns here.
On our car trip around the island we stopped at a sacred Marae site, which is where the ancient Polynesians gathered to communicate with the gods, and was also a place for ceremonies like weddings and even sporting events.
We then drove further along and visited the Grottos, 3 open caves of varying sizes. We ventured to Teahoopoo, a famous surf break in Tahiti where surfing competitions are held, then we headed to the lookout at Taravao. The rain poured down as our Suzuki APV trudged slowly up the steep incline to the top. When we got there our view was great on one side of the isthmus that joins Tahiti Iti and Tahiti Nui, but the other side was covered in the clouds that had just showered us with rain. The rain is amazing in the tropics, it comes down harder than anywhere else I've ever been, and then half an hour later, it’s sunshine again.
After Taravao, we drove up the east side of the island stopping at waterfalls and a blowhole, then on to Point Venus to watch the sun setting. A fabulous day, and very strange to drive on the right hand side of the road.
So, after almost 2 weeks of being in the marina, we untied our dock lines to sail across to Moorea and continue our way through the Society Islands. Very nice of the Queen Victoria to come and see us off.
H was jealous that they had their own basketball court. On our next boat..
