French Polynesia Map           Tahiti Map         

 

                  

 

         

                             Map of

                           the Pacific

 

latest picture taken: October 23, 2009

• click a picture to see details

55  At the South coast of Tahiti Iti,

at Pointe Riti, a peninsula provides

shelter from the open sea –

ideal for children to take a bath

 56  Small jetty at the end of Tahiti

Iti’s South coast road at Teahupoo

57  People enjoying Sunday

afternoon at Taiharuru Beach

at the North coast road of Tahiti Iti

 

Immediately after our arrival in Tahiti, we start to work on the car permit for our next destination, the Kingdom of Tonga, because a tourist is entitled to stay in French Polynesia for three months maximum, unless having applied beforehand for an extension at the French Embassy back in the home country. Apparently, it then normally will be granted for another two additional months. In a way we do not find it fair that the Tahitians having a French European Union passport are allowed to move throughout Europe including Switzerland freely and unlimited, while we have to leave Tahiti after three months without being able to appeal. By the way the same injustice applies also to New Caledonia. Well, three months turned out to be sufficient.

58  Evangelical Church of Pueu

at the North coast of Tahiti Iti

 59  Tautira, where the North coast

road of Tahiti Iti meets the Vaitepiha

Valley, is one of ourfavorite places,

42 miles from Papeete

60  Tautira’s “end of the village sign”

marks not only the end of the hamlet,

but also the end of the North coast

road of the peninsula of Tahiti Iti

 

When the skies are blue, we pack our lunchbox – usually salami and liver pâté, different cheeses like Emmental, Raclette and Brie and for the thirst local Hinano Tahiti beer – into our “Engel”-12-volt-fridge, which we then enjoy out in the nature wherever we like it the best. A crispy fresh baguette is always easy to get on the way. We are most attracted to the still largely untouched Tahiti Iti peninsula, especially its North coast, where at the village of Tautira the road ends abruptly at the last house. In its garden stands nostalgically and a bit lost the sign marking “end of the village”. In this remote area, Capt. James Cook anchored on August 12, 1777, with his ship Endeavour.

61  An outrigger canoe is heading

towards the sea in Tautira, where

Capt. James Cook anchored on

August 12, 1777, with his ship Endeavour

 62  Playing ball at the black

Taiharuru sand beach on the

North coast of Tahiti Iti

63  This shot against-the-light highlights

the mountainous scenery of

Tahiti Nui’s (main island) North shore

 

Sitting at our own camping table (is it only a matter of habit? – because wooden picnic tables are provided) at Tautira’s black sandy beach with beautiful view to the mainland of Tahiti Nui, we suddenly hear a voice exclaiming in a familiar language: “This is simply incredible”. We see a lady studying the band with all the visited 165 countries at the side of our LandCruiser. “You have to see that” she calls to her husband. This is how we meet once more interesting people – due to the adventurous and special look of our car.

64  In the Papenoo Valley, a falling

tree is blocking the road to the

Urufaau Pass (tunnel) and Vaihiria

Lake. With our machete, we

manage to cut us a passage .....

 65   ..... and continue our climb

as steep as 20% on a narrow

concrete roller-coaster track to

the pass of 2’910ft. altitude with

the 365ft. long one-lane tunnel .....

66  ..... the higher we climb, the

more spectacular the mountain

panorama gets (Mt. Mouatamaiti

(4’826ft.), looking like the

“Swiss Matterhorn” of Tahiti

 

“I was also in 140 countries related to my job with Swiss (Swissair)” tells us the husband proudly. Recently having retired at the age of 61 years, he dreams also to set off for a longer period, but has to convince his wife who is still working. The encounter with us seems to give him an additional boost, and – who knows – we might even have been able to awake also some spirit of adventure in his spouse? They have booked a cruise through the Polynesian islands with the cruise ship “Paul Gauguin” – a 100% contrasting way and price class of our travels (a 7 days cruise costs from US$4’700 per person). No, we aren’t jealous and we wouldn’t wish to swap either!

67

 68

69

In the Papenoo Valley, dozens of waterfalls are tumbling everywhere down vertical slopes

 

Instead of sailing the luxury way through Pacific waters, we are looking forward to the mountains, to the Trans-Tahiti-Crossing that brings us into a volcanic crater, which has formed Tahiti millions of years ago. After many days of bad weather, finally a clear day dawns and we set off. On the North coast at the village of Papenoo, we branch off into the interior and follow the Papenoo-Valley with Tahiti’s biggest river. There is no traffic at all. The tranquility is marvelous. No dogs barking, no roosters crowing, no traffic noise.

70  On the top of 2’910ft.

(Urufaau Pass), 12 miles from

Papenoo on the North coast

(which is about another 12 miles

from Papeete) a 356ft. long tunnel

– cut through the mountain ridge –

leads to the Southern side at

Mataiea on the South coast (another

10 miles), where no maintenance

was done anymore on the track

 71  Between the tunnel and

Mataiea, 10 miles away on the

South coast (which is about

29 miles from Papeete), lies

between steep mountainous

slopes the small Vaihiria Lake

at an altitude of 1’552ft..

Unfortunately the last 7 miles from

the lake to Mataeia are open to

the public only from time to time

72  We park our LandCruiser

at the Northern side of the

mountain tunnel on the Urufaau

Pass that leads to the Vaihiria

Lake and on to Mataeia on

the South coast

 

Everywhere mountain peaks are popping up, waterfalls are tumbling through the dense green vegetation of the vertical slopes, and everywhere we encounter nature pure with blooming wild flowers and trees. We drive past small dams that produce 30 – 40% of Tahiti’s electricity. If we thought that the water in the huge pipes was diverted to Papeete’s water supply prone to water shortages, we are completely wrong. After powering the turbines it is dumped directly into the sea. Even Alain, who is working for the electricity company, does not understand it either.

73  Mosses and lichen

cover the tree trunks in

the clean mountain air

 74  We leave the mountain

range that separates the

North from the South

75  Tahiti’s mountain scenery: The

Papenoo Valley with its same named

river – the biggest and longest in Tahiti

 

We meet him at a fallen tree that is lying across the road and is blocking us the way. There is a kind of an emergency path that is no problem for an empty pickup to handle, but for our top heavy LandCruiser it would definitely mean turning over. But returning is neither an option. Why not try to clear a passage with our good old machete that has served us since the beginning of our journey? And indeed, after some of the major branches are cut off, we cautiously give it a try. Yes, it works! Our LandCruiser gets some minor scratches though, but nothing really to worry about.

76  Papeete, the capital of French

Polynesia, sits on a small land strip,

sandwiched between the ocean and

an impressive mountain backdrop

 77  The Chinese temple Kanti in

Mamao near Papeete with its elegant

red roofs and its water lily pond contrasts

strongly against the common architecture

78  The white tombs of the Chinese

Cemetery near Pirae/Papeete that are

perched on different levels at the slope

of a hill are visible already from far

 

The higher we climb the more spectacular it gets while driving on the narrow concrete roller-coaster track that has been completed only recently by the French army. The 4’826ft high Mt. Mouatamaiti, which – due to its shape – we baptize “Tahiti’s Matterhorn”, is particularly outstanding. Through many ascends as steep as 25%, we finally reach the Urufaau Pass at 2’910ft altitude, where a 365ft long one-lane tunnel – cut through the crest – leads us through deep water puddles to the Southern side. From there an equally steep but rougher descent continues down to Vaihiria Lake at 1’552ft altitude and further down to Mataiea on the South coast. The sector from Vaihiria Lake to Mataiea is sometimes closed.

79  Street musicians entertain the

passers-by at the Boulevard Pomare in

Papeete hoping for a small contribution

 80  Emil is getting some make up at

the TV studio of Tahiti Nui Télévision

for the talk show “Manihin” on 10/4/09

81  Robert, a retired teacher from French

Wallis & Futuna, invites us for a fabulous

couscous and all kind of other treats

 

However, the part from the crest’s tunnel to Vaihiria Lake has not been maintained for a very long time. We want to spare our LandCruiser the ordeal having to crawl through a stony, badly washed out track and therefore park it at the Southern end of the tunnel from where we continue walking. Shortly after, deep below us, we spot the small green shining ribbon of the lake meandering between high mountain slopes – a picture of total serenity. The open tourist Safari jeeps have not yet arrived. We meet them only much later on our way back, when we are picnicking peacefully at a lovely river spot down in the valley.

82  Water lilies are always worth a

picture – at the town hall of Papeete

 83  Bougainvillea are always most

fascinating in their colors and volumes

84  Those hanging yellow clycinal

flowers are growing on a tree

 

„The French have stolen our culture!“ Not only once we hear these words. Apparently, the wish to return to “the times before the French” is currently quite widespread. Tattooing, part of the Polynesian culture, is resurging too. Surprisingly, also many women go through a lot of pain for this bodily adornment as symbols of their identity. Is it possible to turn back the clock?

85  Liliana is standing in front of the

Haamaremare Rahi waterfall that belongs

to the three Tefaarumai waterfalls at the

North coast, 6 miles East of Papenoo

 86   The biggest of the three

Tefaarumai waterfalls, called

Vaimahuta, rushes through tropical

vegetation down to the valley

87  Side-by-side stand the two

other Tefaarumai waterfalls: The

Haamaremare Rahi (left) and

the Haamaremare Iti (right)

 

We doubt that anyone we see queuing up in the traffic jam already at 5am in Mahina to reach work in Papeete, 7 miles away, in time, would abandon their car and the many other qualities of life that are possible with the money flowing in from France (around 1¼ billion Euro yearly – we heard). In fact, Tahiti is self governed and autonomous, but not on all matters: E.g. defense, justice and foreign affairs are still a French issue. But Tahiti’s gross national product is US$22’000, while for example the island of Vanuatu, which became independent, is only US$2’442. Is the independency worth it?

88  Happy! At Point Outuaiai in Arue,

we toast on our 25th Anniversary

of "exploring the world"

 89  As prelude to our 25th Anniversary

we enjoy mother finch with its

insatiable youngsters

90  At our 25th Anniversary of "exploring

the world" we are invited by Elise and

Mathieu (left) and their friend Etienne

(beside Emil) for a fish lunch in Arue

 

The TV antenna overlooking the city of Papeete from an altitude of 1’441m is still on our wish list. But we have to wait for days to get a somewhat clear sight. It is a very steep and very winding gravel road that leads through a lovely forest with beautiful fern trees. We stop many times to look down to the sea where the blue and turquoise colors of the lagoon seems almost unreal, and Moorea, the sister island across, rises sharply out of the ocean. Slowly, but steadily our LandCruiser tackles bend after bend. When after about six miles we come around another curve, we are taken completely by surprise. A deep valley surrounded by beautiful mountain scenery lies in front of us with ghostly mists sliding along the rims.

91  Just another of the

beautiful tropical flowers

 92   The tomb of King Pomare V,

the last ruler of the Pomare dynasty,

sits on Point Outuaiai in Arue

93  Beautiful evangelical church

of Arue on Point Outuaiai

 

Emil is happy; mountains are his favorite world! I admit that it is a spectacular sight, but I enjoy alike the red-green ferns and different wild flowers growing on the slopes at the side of the road. Shortly after, we reach the antenna. What a disappointment: Instead of marveling at the peaks of the Northern mountain range, we are looking into a white hole filled with fog. “May be an hour earlier it would still have been clear”, comments Emil. Well, at least we were able to enjoy some of the spectacular scenery earlier, because on our way back, also this panorama is now hidden under a dense cover of clouds.

94  We are climbing through the

forest path from Faaa towards the

TV Antenna on the “Massif du

Pic Vert” that is watching over

Papeete from 4’728ft. altitude

 95  New fern sprouts grow

in abundance on the higher

altitude at the TV Antenna

96  Lush vegetation with

Spanish moos and ferns cover

the slopes on 4’500ft. altitude

 

The finches are already tweeting, when we get up on Sunday, October 18th, and are greeted by a brilliant day with a cloudless deep blue sky, the best ever since our arrival. Never before have we seen the mountains and the sister island of Moorea outlined so sharply. It is a wonderful coincidence that exactly today we have the joy to celebrate a great anniversary: Our “Silver Jubilee - 25 years of exploring the world”. Our thoughts drift back to our chaotic departure in Zurich, when by a hair’s breadth we missed the jump into a new way of life: The train to Luxembourg with an Iceland Air connection to New York.

97  A fairytale forest with tree

ferns near the TV Antenna

 98  Mist patches rise from the

“Plateau Tamanu” to the

mountains at the TV Antenna

99  Our LandCruiser looks like

an ant under the gigantic trees

near the TV Antenna

 

To swap the routine life 25 years ago back in Switzerland with the adventure of the world was the best decision of our lives. We never regretted it for a single moment! At lunch time, we are celebrating the jubilee together with a lovely young couple, Elise and Mathieu, and their friend Etienne enjoying a Polynesian meal and a platter of French cheese and red wine in their garden. Elise and Mathieu plan to leave shortly for a world tour too, thus we are their big “heroes”. Our main conversation therefore is of course traveling. Back to our bungalow, we open a bottle of sparkling champagne just for the two of us and toast to this special milestone, wishing ourselves many more accident free and happy years of traveling to come.

100  A red flower gives a colorful

dot to the forest greenery

 101  Yellow flowers are

hanging in bunches on a tree

102  Red Frangipani blossoms

rise against a deep blue sky

 

Five days later, on October 23rd, 2009, we are ready to set out to see more of the world. We store our LandCruiser in its 17th container and one day later we fly with Air New Zealand via Auckland in New Zealand to our next destination: Tonga.

Epilogue end of February 2010: Retrospectively Tahiti as country No. 165 and particularly its sister island Moorea have been a highlight of our epic journey and proved to be a worthy place to host our Silver Jubilee. Although French Polynesia has some negative sides, its nature is however simply unique. Time goes by so fast – we have the feeling it was just recently when we commemorated our 20th Jubilee on Saint Martin in the Caribbean!

103  Noor is a Polynesian

beauty already at a young age

 104  Farewell from Astrid and Marc,

our welcoming hosts from “Tahiti

Vacations” in Mahina, where

we spent two relaxed months

105  Emil is driving our LandCruiser

in its 17th container in the port of

Papeete. Thierry, the manager of the

Swire Shipping Agencies (left)

and one of his staff are watching

 

Other websites from Tahiti:

 

• Pictures from the first part of our Tahiti trip: Island of Tahiti - part 1
• Pictures from the third part of our Tahiti trip: Island of Moorea
• 25th Anniversary of "being on the road" on October 18, 2009, in Arue near Papeete/Tahiti