Thursday March 9th, 2017
Tahiti comprises two islands joined by an isthmus. The larger of the two, Tahiti Nui, has a good road all along its coast, with the mountains rising from the coast to around 2,240 m and generally shrouded in cloud. The smaller, Tahiti Iti, is less developed and has poor roads.
We’d booked into a half-day guided tour around Tahiti Nui. This proved to be a fascinating tour … and the van was air-conditioned!
Our guide, Dave, was an ex Hawaiian who came to Tahiti as a young man, met an Island girl and is still here. The rest of our group were three more Aussies, a couple of Asian women and an American. We made several stops around the island: a restored marae or traditional temple, a natural grotto and healing pool, a garden with a waterfall and many varieties of ginger, a twin waterfall, a blowhole, and Point Venus. We travelled counter clockwise from and back to Papeete.
Dave explained some of the process that lead to Tahiti becoming a Protestant society. It appears the early missionaries had a long term vision and courted one of the stronger Tahitian chiefs by providing him with military support (muskets) while teaching him the Gospels. When he’d conquered his rivals and Tahiti was governed by a single leader sympathetic to the missionary’s cause, their task was a lot easier, especially as his son and heir had converted to Christianity! In the 1820’s, the entire population was converted, and the traditional marae and tiki were destroyed.
Our first stop was at one of these traditional “marae” that had been restored in 1953: Marae Arahurahu. Marae are structures used by Polynesians for ceremonial gatherings and religious rituals. At the entrance to the site are a pair of large “tiki”. These stone guardians are replicas of tiki from elsewhere. The central “ahu” is a stone structure or platform, and is adorned with carved wooden “unu” representing the ancestors of influential local families. Dave also explained that people right across Polynesia share a traditional language, and a local travelled with Cook to New Zealand and was able to converse with the Maori. The Marae Arahurahu was very picturesque, and since its restoration it has taken on a life of its own with, hosting and festivals, and many visitors. However, these events have little connection with the original purpose of the structure.
The Marae Arahurahu and its unu
Our next stop was the Grotte de Maraa. This is a large cave in the basaltic rock of the coastal hills with a beautiful clear pool under the overhang. Water constantly drips from its roof, fed by percolation through porosities in the rock. The outer roof is sheathed by fish-ferns, and the surrounds are lush and moist. We were told that the water was traditionally regarded as having healing properties. However, Paul Gaugin used to swim in it in an attempt to cure his syphilis. After that, the locals avoided it!
Grotte de Maraa, with a curtain of ferns across its entrance, and perpetual internal rain
Further round, on the south coast of Tahiti Nui, we stopped at the Vaipahi Gardens. These had a remarkable array of local plants that were totally alien to us cool-temperate creatures! In particular there were many different ginger plants, all with remarkable flowers. It was a gorgeous garden, with deep shade, open lawns, and ponds filled with water lily and lotus plants. There was also a small intimate waterfall, flanked by hanging vines.
In the Vaipahi Gardens, ginger flowers, and waterfall
From here we crossed the isthmus and turned north up the east coast of Tahiti Nui. Tahiti Iti, was largely shrouded with clouds and seemed a place of mystery. We stopped at another waterfall that Dave called the Twin Falls. Above a cliff of dark lava the stream must have divided as two streams of water came down the lava and then re-joined to flow into the sea just 100 m away. Although we could walk right up to the falls, my favourite view was through the vines and lush vegetation hanging from trees near the pool at the base of the falls.
Tahiti is mostly surrounded by reefs so the water we had been seeing was blue and calm. However, up the east and north east coast that protective reef had sunk and the coast was craggy and wild, with surf and surfers. We stopped at a little bay with a black sandy beach to see the Arahoho Blowhole. Wave action in a cave or lava tube with a small opening near the base of the coastal cliff creates this blowhole. The swell fills the sea cave, compresses the air in the cave which then rushes out through this hole with a tremendous roar and almost enough force to blow you over. Given the right conditions – which we didn’t have – water is also forced out like a fireman’s hose! We had to be content with the water being forced back out of the tube seawards like a geyser.
The Arahoho Blowhole blowing, and the coastal view to the south
Our final stop was Point Venus. This is the location from which James Cook observed the transit of Venus on June 3rd, 1769, on his first voyage around the world. Following his observation of the transit, he opened his secret instructions: to search for the Terra Australis.
Venus Point also features Tahiti’s only lighthouse. Its design was attributed to the Scottish lighthouse engineer Thomas Stevenson by his son Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island, but is typical of French lighthouses designed by a Leonce Reynaud, and bears no resemblance to Stevenson’s Scottish lighthouses. But why let a few facts get in the way of a good story?
Point Venus is a very popular, black-sand beach area, backed by some stunning casuarina trees, and outrigger canoes on stands. It’s interesting how little things can throw one off: the black sand, although clean, made me feel the beach was dirty! There were masses of people swimming and surfing, with views up to the cloud shrouded mountains of Tahiti Nui, and across to a storm on Moorea. We didn’t have time for a swim, but I did wade: the water was like a tepid bath, and would have been singularly unrefreshing for a swim!
Images from Venus Point
Dave dropped us off near Tahiti Appartement and agreed to return later to give us a lift to the airport. This was much appreciated by us as our attempted arrangements with the local taxis had seemed destined for a catastrophe! We watched the sunset for one last time, showered, ate some leftovers, packed, and then Dave was back to take us to the airport.
We were now really on our way home! We’d been on our way home since we’d crossed the Antarctic Circle on February 23rd, but this time there are no further adventures expected ahead!
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Keep dropping back to this site as I will add more material … about Antarctica and Easter Island.
This makes me want to go to Tahiti Pete! Great photos and explanations xx Chaise
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