Well, welcome to the only other island out here that you’ve probably ever actually heard of! Just because, again, we know that you’re wondering, Bora Bora is right here:
Did you know that long before Bora Bora was known as the honeymoon capital of the world its first role in the international community was to serve as Battle Fortress: South Pacific?!? Totally serious here! Due to Bora Bora’s strategic position half way between the Americas and Australia and its uniquely defensible geography, the island was chosen by the United States to be a resupply base during WW II. What do we mean by “uniquely defensible geography”? Simple, look: Continue reading “Battle Fortress: South Pacific”
Most of the guidebooks about Moorea will at least mention feeding the sting rays.
Typically, you would need to rent a boat or hire a tour guide to go do this but since our old friends on FLY AWEIGH pulled into port a few days ago they offered to give us all a lift out to the reef.
We expected to see some rays at a distance and toss them a few fish. The rays had other plans and were happy to educate us on how this whole thing actually worked. Continue reading “Feeding the Wildlife”
Papeete, Tahiti, Society Islands, French Polynesia
We have established that Papeete is a city of contrasts. A land where, quite literally, dogs and cats are living together.
One of the most striking personifications of this is the harbor.
Now on our journey through the islands of French Polynesia so far we have navigated everything from rock minefields that will spear your hull like a ripe mango to rip currents that turn your boat into a bumper bowling ball with coral reefs and desert islands playing the part of the bumpers. So we had a pretty solid feeling that, with enough preparation, we could handle just about anything this island could throw at us.
Which is of course why, in Tahiti, it’s not the island that will sink your boat. That would be too easy. The reef limits how big the protected shipping channel is but what room they have is clear from natural obstructions. See, Tahiti is a developed port. In fact it’s the only developed port in this entire county. Which means that everything, and we do mean everything, not to mention just about every one, that goes anywhere in French Polynesia comes through Papeete first. And while this town is ridiculously huge by island standards, London-sized it ain’t. Lots of people, lots of stuff, all trying to get somewhere at the same time in a small city. So while the environment has been beaten back for your navigational well-being, it’s everything else sharing your space in this very confined, busy harbor that makes life interesting. Let us elaborate: Continue reading “Mind the Jetwash”
Papeete, Tahiti, Society Islands, French Polynesia
(cont’d from previous)
Then there is the whole nudity / sexuality thing here in French Polynesia. Which, why put sex and religion in the same blog post? Because here one isn’t exclusive of the other and that’s a good thing. In America, sex seems to be at odds with the institution of God. It’s not like the French are “modest” in that respect to start with when compared to Americans but when the European explorers landed on the Polynesian islands the natives would willingly give their women over to the sailors for sex. It was considered the polite thing to do! Hippies had no concept of “free love” compared to the Polynesians. (In retrospect, considering the syphilis that decimated their population, not the best move.) Well, a few centuries and a great deal of western Christian influence later, the Polynesian people aren’t quite as promiscuous as before but they are in their younger years still rather “open to exploration.” Interesting to note that, according to what we learned talking to the local French and reading travel guides, if a young island girl gets pregnant, her entire family simply raises the child as its own. Our guess is that when your population is decimated down to the 2% level, not to mention you are adamant pro-Catholic, your cultural views on abortion change. Right along with your views on familial responsibility to the next generation.
…and their tolerance for nudity, and for referencing the naked human body, is a good deal higher than your typical American. You all probably remember the most awesome name for a bay, ever. While in Papeete we bought a ukulele playbook from a newsstand and right there on the cover was a topless woman. Also, Tiffany was looking at a book on wearing sarongs and this is what she saw (blacked out areas explained below)
Papeete, Tahiti, Society Islands, French Polynesia
We Americans are such prudes.
No, seriously we are. We’ve heard it before and really, it’s true. Puritan roots = massive prudes. You really aren’t able to appreciate the level of our prudishness until you live in another culture that is more open in their beliefs on sexuality while at the same time more strict in their interpretation of religion. The fact that this is not an oxymoron is in and of itself rather eye-opening for an American. Yes boys and girls, you can have lots of sex and still love Jesus. This is not a message that modern American Christianity has effectively distributed to the masses. To be fair, it’s hard to blame them. The Christians that is, a.k.a. “us” being as we’re on that particular team. The mass media has taken the position of “free sex with whoever you want whenever you want” so when Christianity opposes that they get cast as the people who are against sex. It isn’t true, but that’s how it’s played in the States. I think we’d get a lot more traction stressing all the awesome sex you can have as a married member of the church than just focusing on the stuff people can’t do. As an organization, we have really gone on the defensive on this particular front, letting our opponents pick the battles and cast us in the “bad guy” light and really, it hasn’t gotten us anywhere. Pretty sure we’ve actually lost a bit of ground with this strategy.
In fact, many Christian religions would really like it if their people had more sex, since we’re kind of dying off right now. It’s a numbers game people and we’re losing. Continue reading “Sex and Jesus”
Papeete, Tahiti, Society Islands, French Polynesia
As previously mentioned, music is a major part of these peoples’ lives.
Outside the market and along the main drag of the city is a bank that more importantly serves as the unofficial gathering place for the Papeete street band. Guitars, ukuleles, a guy with a plastic garbage can bass and a bottle cap maracas. We already knew Polynesians had a knack for musical adaptation and the Tahitians did not disappoint. This informal gathering of street performers have been playing daily long enough to be in most of the tourist and travel books as a recommended destination. They’re really that good.
Listening to these guys inspired us to learn more about their version of the ukulele. As we mentioned before in our virtual ukulele Christmas card there are 2 kinds of ukulele: the Hawaiian and the Tahitian.
The ukulele Greg carries around is the “tiny guitar” that most Americans think of when they picture island music. It is thicker and produces a lower note. Most Polynesians refer to it as a “Kamika” due to the fact that a popular brand of Hawaiian ukulele is made by that brand. It’s like calling a cotton ear swab a “Q-tip.”
While in Tahiti we picked up a Tahitian ukulele for Tiffany. This ukulele is longer than the Hawaiian and much thinner. It is made out of solid wood and though both have 4 stringed notes and both are tuned to the same notes, Continue reading “Ukulele 101”
Papeete, Tahiti, Society Islands, French Polynesia
We’re going to tackle the rest of this town in three parts: food, music and sexuality/spirituality.
Let’s start with food. Because really, that last one will probably have you checking back at least to see what we have to say.
The center of Papeete is the 2 story market. The bottom floor is occupied by fresh fish and produce booths, while the top floor & outside block are comprised of souvenir shops. Though we rarely like touristy stuff, we thought it was neat that this place puts locals and visitors into the same place.
Papeete, Tahiti, Society Islands, French Polynesia
Alright, well, before Tiffany’s mom arrives and we do the bungalows / hi-life thing, we have a few days to stretch our legs and explore Papeete on our own. It’s been quite some time since our last big city experience, so we were interested in what there was to do in Papeete. First thing: there are no mid-range hotels in this city, at least not any that we could find. You are either rolling big or living in a hostel. Being as we were going to spend time in the 5 star secluded resorts when Tiffany’s mom gets here, we decided to spend our days “in the city.”
After a night’s rest and a typical French Polynesian breakfast of half a fresh baguette (heaven!) jam, tea and orange juice, off we went to see what we could find out.
Oh hey, see that giant gouge on Greg’s left thumb? Important note: Boats bite. Watch your digits.
Papeete, Tahiti, Society Islands, French Polynesia
Located in the Society Island chain, Tahiti is the best known and main island of French Polynesia. With a massive population of 131,695, Papeete is the capital of both the island and the colony. Scoffing at that number? In case you haven’t been keeping track, about 49% of the entirety of the population of French Polynesia lives in this city. Not this island, this city. The next largest town we’ve encountered consisted of about 1700 people. The only university in French Polynesia is here along with actual shopping malls, supermarkets, (…finally!) restaurants that don’t double as family rooms and all the modern conveniences. Welcome to the big city.
