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French Polynesia TravelGuide
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 | Road Around The Islands |   |  |
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 |  on December 11, 2005 |
To know any of the French Polynesia Islands, one needs to go around it slowly. A bicycle would be ideal but a scooter would be a good substitute if one were not physically fit. A car is fine only for certain purposes. Bicycle offers the slow pace and freedom to venture into small paths. Scooter is not bad but one misses details due to the speed and the peripheral-limited helmet. Car is the least ideal because it goes too fast and because people tend to talk in the car and miss out the sights. We have used all modes of transportation. We would ride the bike for a few hours, or the scooter for half the day, but when we were on the quest for specific items that are difficult to handle, then we would rent a car. It doesn't matter which mode of transportation one selects, one still needs to stop often to walk the paths, to see what behind the foliage, to climb up and climb down. There is no other way to know the islands unless one can be up close and personal with it, smell it, touch it, feel it, and be a part of it. The road around Moorea is 40 miles and Bora Bora is 20 miles. |
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| Swimming With Dolphins | | |
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| on February 13, 2006 |
Be careful when signing yourself up for a swimming session with dolphins. It may not as simple as most people thought it would be, just get into the swimming pool and glide alongside the flying, spinning, somersaulting loveable creature. However well trained and gentle they are, dolphins do not know their own strength, just as first time swimmers do not realize how they would react when finding themselves face to face with the dolphins. Over the years watching and listening to the swimmers, we have found that most people enjoyed the experience tremendously, but still there were some who felt a suddenly fear when being touched by the mammals and had to get out of the pool immediately. And then there is a delicate matter of dolphin mating. Dolphins do not restrict their mood to a certain season although spring and summer usually see them feeling more passionate about one another. During the outburst, dolphins are unpredictable. We once witnessed a pod of dolphins became very difficult to handle because of this reason. Note: The first picture shows one dolphin -- the only one -- doing the job of entertaining tourists. The other pictures show the rest of the pod following their amorous instinct and pursuing their amorous needs while making a big mess out of the pool. During this dolphin affair, the trainers and wiser tourists had to scuttle out of the water to avoid being in the middle of the mammals' tryst. |
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| Colossal Fig Tree on One Tree Hill - Tahiti | | |
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 |  on April 21, 2005 |
At home in the UK, I have a Ficus Plant (That's a Fig Tree), and I have had it for many years and it is shorter than me, and a good deal narrower! Imagine my surprise when I saw exactly the same Ficus species growing in Tahiti, only just a tiny bit bigger. Check out the girth of this thing, it is absolutely gigantic! I had no idea the measly little fig plant I have at home could grow to such dimensions! This picture doesn't show the height of the tree, but trust me, the height is as awe-inspiring as the girth! This tree is on One Tree Hill, and whether it is the tree that gives the hill its name I have no idea, but it is certainly grand enough to be! |
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| One Tree Hill and views to Moorea | | |
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| on April 21, 2005 |
One Tree Hill is not really recognisable as a one tree hill, but it does have some excellent views down to Moorea (Moorea is a siater island to Tahiti and actually a much nicer place to stay despite Tahiti being much more famous internationally). Parking is easy at the top (provided it isn't too busy), and it is a nice spot just to stop off and admire the views down to Moorea and the colourful flowers on the plants. This picture shows some of these colourful flowerd and the craggy outline of Moorea in the background. Tahiti and Moorea both used to be volcanic, and the craggy shapes as left from the very slowly disintegrating volcanoes. One day the islands will completely disappear, but the time scales are such that it shouldn't worry any of us! |
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| The Belvedere - Lookout point on Moorea | | |
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| on April 21, 2005 |
The Belvedere is almost in the middle of the island. It is quite elevated and the road up is pretty steep. We saw some very tired and overheated looking cyclists attempting to get up the road as we drove past them in our air-conditioned car ;-) The Lookout Point (Le Belvedere) looks down onto Mount Rotui (seen in this photo between the two coves) and Cook's Bay on the right of it, and Opunohu Bay on its left. There is some debate as to whether Captain Cook actually landed in Cook's Bay, but he certainly was in the area. |
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| Point Venus Lighthouse on Tahiti | | |
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| on April 21, 2005 |
Captain Cook (and Captain Bligh) both anchored off Point Venus. It is Tahiti's most northerly point and has a flat sandy beach. The sailors would anchor up, and then trade metal objects such as knives and nails for food and sex (apparently the going rate for sex could be as high as one whole nail!). The name Venus comes about as Cook built a fort on the site to watch Venus cross the Sun. Unfortunately however he failed in his observations due to lack of proper equipment to allow him to look at the bright sun! The Lighthouse here has the date 1867 just above the door. However it was apprently built on "Tahiti Time", and was actually finished one year later... |
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| Titiroa Marae on Moorea | | |
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| on April 21, 2005 |
In French Polynesia, a Marae is a temple in the times before Christianity was introduced to the islands. Titiroa Marae has supposedly been restored. Note the word supposedly! You can see a few old walls and general foundations. Apparently human sacrifices were made here and Polynesian Chiefs also used to practice their archery here. The Marae continues off into the woods, but the 'best bit' is actually just by the carpark. I believe this is the best authentic Marae in Moorea. If on the other hand, you are going to visit Tahiti, then you may wish to give this marae as miss. See this page for details on my next tip on Arahurahu Marae, which is a far better Marae and has actually been restored to its former glory. If you do visit this marae, make sure you wear insect repellent as this place has a lot of biting insects, including ones which will happily bite you during daylight hours. |
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| Arahurahu Marae on Tahiti | | |
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| on April 21, 2005 |
A Marae is a temple in French Polynesia. Arahurahu Marae is the only temple in French Polynesia that has been restored to its original condition, and it has been restored beautifully. If you only have time to see one thing on Tahiti, this should be it. When you get to PK 22.5, you will need to turn off inland, and drive for a short distance to a small shop and parking area where you can park for free. There appears to be a pay booth, but when we visited there was no-one to collect any entrance fee, so we went in for free. Arahurahu Marae is not only a well restored temple, it is also in a stunning setting and is in a clearing in a valley that appears to be in the jungle with large mountains all around. You probably want to allow an hour for a visit. |
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| King Pomare V's Tomb - Tahiti | | |
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| on April 21, 2005 |
King Pomare V abdicated in 1880 after the French offered him a very nice pension to keep him, his family and his mistress very comfortable indeed. This made Tahiti an official French colony. With the proceeds of this pension, Kong Pomare V then hit the bottle big time, and died of alcoholic poisoning (or it's complications!). This has caused people to speculate that the Greek Urn on top of the tomb is actually just another one of his empty bottles. The tomb itself was actually made for King Pomare's mother, but after it was built, he decided he wanted it for himself, and had her remains moved out! Interestingly, the church (which can be seen in the background) is on the site of an ancient Marae (a Polynesian altar), however when King Pomare II converted from one of the local religions to Calvinism in 1812. He then built a church that was so enormous (217m long) that it needed 3 priests speaking simultaneously spaced throughout the church for the congregation to be able to hear anything (I guess this was in the days before PA systems... ;-) ) |
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| The Kilometre Posts - Moorea 'heart' shaped | | |
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| on April 21, 2005 |
Moorea is almost a heart shaped island - as in the classic loveheart shape, but whereas a classic loveheart would dip down in the middle at the top, Moorea has an extra bit sticking up here. If this doesn't make sense, the Kilometre posts all around Moorea are in the shape of Moorea and are quite quaint. The Kilometre Post here was taken at the Belvedere which is the lookout point (see later tip). A cockerel was scratching around by the post, so I thought it would make a nice picture. For the purpose of this tip, it at least gives you an idea of the shape of the island. Most of the tips here are based around the coastal road which goes all the way around the coast. The coves at the top obviously increase the journey distance quite considerably as it involves driving all the wat around both of them. |
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More French Polynesia Tips
| Overview | General Tips Tips: 97 - Photos: 80 |
| Restaurants Tips: 47 - Photos: 26 | Hotels and Accommodations Tips: 77 - Photos: 54 |
| Things To Do Tips: 120 - Photos: 109 | Nightlife Tips: 18 - Photos: 14 |
| Off the Beaten Path Tips: 39 - Photos: 31 | Tourist Traps Tips: 17 - Photos: 8 |
| Warnings or Dangers Tips: 28 - Photos: 16 | Transportation Tips: 60 - Photos: 47 |
| Local Customs Tips: 41 - Photos: 24 | Packing Lists Tips: 27 - Photos: 16 |
| Shopping Tips: 17 - Photos: 13 | Sports Travel Tips: 9 - Photos: 9 |
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