Tahiti 1

Tahiti 2006!

Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006             low/high temp: 22-29C (71 - 84F)
                                                       low/high humidity: 61-94 %
Wednesday, October 4th, 2006           low/high temp: 23-29C (73 - 84F)
                                                       low/high humidity: 66-89 %
Thursday, October 5th, 2006            low/high temp: 23-29C (73 - 84F)
                                                       low/high humidity: 64-89 %

Greeted in Tahitian fashion!

We were told last year that our friend, Fred Fillastre and his family, had been stationed in Tahiti for 2 years with the French Military. We had previously visited them in Bordeaux, France in 2003. Since we were already planning a trip to Australia, we took them up on their invitation. They live on the Island of Tahiti in off-base military housing. In planning the trip, they explained that the Island of Tahiti, part of the Islands of Tahiti, is actually not the best island to visit. It is crowded, not very scenic, and still expensive. Fred graciously researched different islands trips, and explained the costs of them all. If you plan to go to Tahiti, bring a full checking account, because it is definitely expensive. He showed us several different possibilities, and we honestly chose the least expensive location, which was over $500 for the one nights lodging, ferry ride, dinner and the Tikki Village tickets. When people told us it was expensive, they weren't joking. That being said, our experience in Tahiti, and visiting our friends, was absolutely wonderful. They were awesome hosts, taking the time to show us their lives on the island, as well as helping us through the cultural shift. We also needed to exercise our French language muscles, and we both felt quite comfortable talking almost exclusively in French. Most of the shop-keepers and merchants were at least bilingual, and many were more than bilingual.

Fred found a nice place for us to stay on the Island of Moorea, which is only a 1 hour ferry ride from Papeete (pronounced 'pah-pet'), the main city of Tahiti. The airport (PPT) is situated just the next district over from Papeete, in Faa'a.

The next page has the photos of our 2 days and one night on Moorea.
The third page is our travels/visits on Tahiti after we returned from Moorea.

Eglise Evangeliqe and also A slightly windy day.. The clouds roll over the mountain tips.
Temple of Mahina

A tidy view of a cemetery. Cindy cools off with blueberry ice...

Julia is growing to be a lovely lady.    Cindy counts her rope jumps.       Julia also LOVES to be active, trying
                                                       (in French, of course)                  to pull down Adrian's 'weights'.
                                                                                                        (Yes, that's four 5 liter bottles of water)
                                                                                                        She clearly doesn't weight as much as
                                                                                                        those bottles, so needed help...

A newly erected Chinese temple in town. There was a wedding in        The Mayor's house. Actually, the
progress when we passed by, so we couldn't go in and look around.        city municipal building, called the
                                                                                                         'Mayorie' in French.

The market of Papeete. Very busy, but also you can find anything you The 'Uru', called the breadfruit tree.
may need or want, from food to jewelry to clothing to trinkets. Odd texture, but edible when cooked.

Here's the central 'cathedral' of Tahiti. By European standards, it would be a chapel, but it is their cathedral...

Fred introduces us to the Island of Tahiti after he gets off work. We drove to this spot for some photos.
From these angles, I can see why people love to come here, it is quite lovely.

We visited a small Tahitian history event, and there were lovely ladies practicing their traditional Tahitian Dances.
The absolutely stunning beauty at the front of the group, when the dancers were instructed to choose a 'dance partner' for the man's part, made a bee-line directly to me. I made an absolute fool of myself, but it was fun, nonetheless.
Yes, Cindy got some video footage of it, but you'll have to stop by to see it, the file's too large for this site.

Local musicians play the music for some of the dancing, and on the right, with the small guitar, is a co-worker of Fred's.

Here's where Cindy gets her Anniversary present
A pair of Tahitian (black) pearl earrings.
Later, I talked her into a matching pearl necklace...

This is 'Point du Venus', location of the first landing of Europeans by Memorial of the arrival of the Bounty,
Captain Cook, in 1769. So named because it is where Captain Cook yes, the same historic ship...
and his navigator, Charles Green, observed the planet Venus passed
in front of the Sun. The lighthouse was built in 1867 by Thomas
Stevenson, father of Robert Louis Stevenson.