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You might have read about or heard of the miraculous qualities of the Noni fruit. In Germany there are people who claim it might heal cancer. This is just over the top for me, and I also doubt other claims. It might have some health benefits, for example it helps to boost your immune system, better digest food. Perhaps you even get better skin and age more slowly.

Anyway. You can get Noni Juice everywhere in the South Pacific islands, there is a trademark registered for Noni Juice from the Cook Islands, and I have seen people sell it – filled in Coca Cola bottles – on the produce and handicraft market in Vava’u (Tonga).

In the USA and Germany the Tahitian Noni – sweetened in Provo (Utah) – is big and costs an awful lot of money. All claims, however, are more pseudo-scientific than scientific. The distribution system is network-like, so the early Noni juice sellers earn an awful lot of money.

In Germany and other European countries the juice is sold as a novel food. The producer is not allowed to advertise health benefits. The company only had to prove that the juice has no adverse health effects. However, when you go to word-of-mouth meetings of Noni users you hear people talk about all those medicinial miracles. On the other hand there are even some rare cases where Noni is suspected to have caused hepatitis.

You can see the fruit grow on trees in most gardens. Its Latin name is Morinda citrifolia. In English it is called Indian Mulberry. The name Noni came up in Hawaii. The origins of the tree could be in Queensland, Australia’s tropical north.

Without processing the juice tastes rather horrible, more like rotten cheese or mouldy I-don’t-know-what than a fruit juice.

If you believe in Noni or not, it has been used by Polynesian healers, and the trees look rather lush and attractive ;-)

On photos 2 to 4 you can see the noni fruit in various stages, including closed and open flower, and the huge leaves of the shrub.

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Tahaa is the vanilla island. And you can buy vanilla products everywhere in French Polynesia – and also visit vanilla plantations in Tahaa and see how labour-intensive it is to produce this wonderful spice harvested from the pods of a climbing orchid.

Originally from Mexico, today there are three major cultivars of vanilla grown globally, all derived from a species originally found in Latinamerica, including Mexico.The majority of the world’s vanilla is the Vanilla planifolia or fragrans, grown on Madagascar, Réunion and other tropical areas along the Indian Ocean – which is my favourite one and also known as Bourbon-Vanilla. The Vanilla pompona is found in the West Indies, Central and South America. And on Tahaa you find, as you can guess, Vanilla tahitensis.

What makes vanilla so expensive is the fact that it has to be hand-pollinated. Originally a bee named Melipone bee (mountain bee) did this job. The French were the first to transplant the vines to their overseas colonies (from the Philippines). Of course, they did not succeed to make the orchids flower without the bees, and relocating the bees did not work. So hand pollination was the way to go. The flower will then produce a fruit. The vanilla flower often lasts less than a day, so growers have to inspect their plantations every day for open flowers.

The fruit, a seed capsule, if left on the plant, will ripen and open at the end; as it dries, the phenolic compounds crystallize, giving the beans a diamond-dusted shape. This releases the typical vanilla smell. The fruit contains tiny, flavourless seeds. In dishes prepared with whole natural vanilla, these seeds are recognizable as black specks. In Germany Bourbon-vanilla sugar is sold in small sachets, they contain this black vanilla dust.

But back to Tahaa’s vanilla and tourism. In shops around the islands you can buy pure vanilla and vanilla-infused souvenirs, like vanilla essence oils for aroma therapy, vanilla soaps, vanilla pods, vanilla perfume, vanilla tea, vanilla… vanilla… It was really a fabulous selection. Just be careful not to take vanilla honey to New Zealand, they will confiscate it at Customs with absolute certainty, as it is not allowed to import honey into NZ for the protection of the native bees and honey production. Obviously there can be mites in the honey, and if they spread, this can ruin the whole industry.

In return, I think, the Polynesians would be happy not to have any honey imported into their islands… ;-)

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They are the most advertised, and probably also most loved souvenirs you can buy on the islands, and also an important factor of French Polynesia’s economy.

Some black pearls are even black. Let’s say, more anthracite than black. The better term for the pearls you get in (French) Polynesia would be Tahitian Pearl (Perle de Tahiti) or South Sea Pearl. The name Black Pearl derives from the black lips of the Cumingi oyster variety in which those unique pearls grow. (They have black-lipped oysters, as we have green-lipped mussels in New Zealand.) Those oysters’ name is Pinctada Margaritifera.

The Black Pearls have been registered as a trademark by the World Jewelery Federation CIBJO in 1986. The shapes and colours vary dramatically. The colours vary from deep lagoon green to bright sunset red, but also from pale grey to anthracite black. Some rare pearls have up to four different colours.

Most of these pearls are cultivated in the Tuamotu and Gambier Islands but also off Raiatea, Moorea, and Tahiti. A pearl reaches maturity in two years. You can spot pearl farms when driving around the islands. Often buildings which look like overwater bungalows are pearl farms. They have open floors. The oysters are attached to ropes, and the ropes are attached to floor bars, and so hang in the water. Only 20 per cent of the oysters produce a pearl.

The pearls consist of thick pearly layers containing organic substances and calcium carbonate in the form of aragonite. They must have a continuous pearly layer over at least 80% of their surface and not reveal either the nucleus nor the seed of the nucleus.

Several factors decide on the quality of a pearl: Diameter, shape, nacre thickness, lustre, and surface.

Pearls are classified from millimeter to millimeter and measured by the shortest diameter. The normal range is 8 to 14mm. The measuring process is easy: The pearls are passed through sieves. Some pearls reach 16 or even 18mm. To date the record is 21 mm.

The four basic shapes are:
1. round (diametre variation less than 2%) and semi-round (variation 2 to 5%)
2. semi-baroque (at least one axis of rotation; the shapes are drop, button, pear and oval),
3. ringed (regular streaks, rings or grooves that are perpendicular to an axis of rotation )
4. baroque (no axis of rotation)

I read that black pearl experts like drop and baroque shapes most. So I seem to have all it needs to be an expert although I am none ;-)

You should choose a pearl with a thick nacre (= mother-of-pearl) because the material is soft and will wear off over the years, and only the nucleus will remain. The more lustre (= shiny, reflecting the light) the better, or the pearl is described as dull. Lustre is the main difference between cultivated and the naturally grown pearls which have a more mat finish.

Finally, the less spots or impurities a pearl has, the more precious it is. This quality is defined as surface.

Regarding the colour, the darker the colour the more valuable it is.

This is a very good website about Black Pearls:

http://www.papeete.com/retail/pearls/choose.html#diameter

In Papeete you can learn a lot about Black Pearls in the Robert Wan Pearl Museum, located on Boulevard Pomare, near Bougainville Park.

The colours of the Black Pearls remind me a lot of the Paua shells we have in New Zealand.

If you do not consider the purchase of a or more black pearls as an investment, choose the colour which suits you best.

The above mentioned website also has good advice on how to find out if a black pearl is genuine or fake.

The best advice to purchase it in a certified shop or pearl centre, or at a Polynesian Bureau of Expertise (O.P.E.C.). They X-ray the pearls. Infrared photography can also detect fakes. As you know, certificates can be falsified easily nowadays, so never buy pearls from dubious sources.

As competition is stiff in Papeete, it surely is a good place to purchase the pearls there. However, pearls will never be cheap.

Pearl purists might scream, but my favourite jewellery were arty necklaces which only incorporated pearls. But I have to say that I am no real pearl person…

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After having read about fierce mosquito attacks on all islands you can be sure that we had insect repellent in our luggage and took it on all our trips on land, as have those annoying sandflies in New Zealand. But believe it or not, we did not need the repellent a single time, be it in French Polynesia or any other island during our South Pacific cruise.

My husband was bitten by some few mosquitoes in Samoa, I think, and treated his bites with Tiger Balm, I did not suffer a single bite. Well, hubby is the best insect repellent you can imagine ;-)

Anyway. It hugely depends on the season and the weather if you need repellent or not. When it is hot and humid, especially during the rain season, the mosquitoes become active and can make life hell. But we travelled in June, the weather was good and not too humid, so we were fine.

The locals protect themselves by lighting fires in the gardens – often in bin barrels, but also a kind of picnic fires – in the late afternoon and early evening to chase the mosquitoes away. Also hotel resorts do it. This, of course, creates another nuisance. It is not very nice to get enveloped in the thick and stinky smoke when you travel on a scooter or bicycle, or have to close the windows of a car in nice temperatures when you would not need aircondition. Well, and sure, it is not great when the smoke spoils your photos ;-)

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The official language in the islands is French but most people speak Tahitian, also called Reo Ma’ohi (similar to Te Reo Maori in New Zealand).

Although English is widely spoken in the tourism industry, so in resorts and on organised tours/activities, it helps a lot to speak French if you want to get a bit into local culture and get in touch with the locals. The more you get away from the main centres, the more it is essential to speak French, especially when you venture out on Le Truck in Tahiti, or search a special place. Certainly you will get around without French, with notes, pointing on maps and guide books, and sign language.

Having lived in New Zealand for several years, with very little possibilities of speaking French, I thoroughly enjoyed to hear and speak French again.

I found it quite nice that I know some Maori words from daily use and a bit of learning in New Zealand. As said, the languages are very similar. I understood a lot of Tahitian names and words.

A major difference to Te Reo Maori and other Polynesian languages is that Tahitian uses a glottal stop instead of the consonants k and ng, that glottal stop appears as an apostrophy in the words, and you will see a lot of those accents. For example the Maori word waka (for canoe) and vaka in Polynesian becomes va’a in Tahitian. Or weka becomes ve’a.

Some basic words:
Hello = iaorana
Good-bye = nana
Thank you = mauruuru
Welcome = maeva
Yes = e
No = aita
Woman = vahine
Man = tane
House = fare
Land = fenua

A word we all use derives from Tahitian, the word “taboo”. The Tahitian word is: tabu/tapu.
Tattoo = tatau

You will notice a certain lack of consonants in the language and incredible accumulations of vowels, like in Faa’a Airport.

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The islands enjoy a tropical climate. This means, it is hot year-round. The main difference is between the dry season (with still quite humid air…) and rain season.

The rain season is from December to April, with an average annual rainfall of 2268 millimetres. This is also the hottest season, so rather gluey ;-)

The dry season is from July to October. During this time you can encounter cooler evenings. They call this “austral winter”. It is the season of festivals and celebrations.

The seasons in-between the rain and dry season normally are nice and pleasant.

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Currency in French Polynesia is the CPF, also XPF = Cour de Franc Pacifique.

The exchange rate with the Euro is fixed.

1000 CFP = 8.38 Euro

The exchange rate with foreign currencies is flexible and can vary.

With the US$ in June 2009 was:
90 CFP = 1 US$

But as said, this can vary, so sometimes you might get 100 CFP for 1 US$, sometimes less.

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As you have to travel via Tahiti if you arrive on an international flight, let me give you some distances in French Polynesia from Tahiti:

Moorea 15 km
Huahine 175 km
Raiatea/Tahaa 195/200 km
Bora Bora 268 km
Rangiroa 300 km
Nuku Hiva (Marquesas) 1500 km