Io Rana, French Polynesia

[panama hat]

The flipside of these wonderful beaches, atolls and crystal clear waters is the inland . . . back on Tahiti we took an inland tour which incorporated a bit of a hike. The road was both frightening and amazing - it was raining so the path was simply slippery as well as being one-car width at the. most. General through traffic isn't allowed past a certain point. Looking at the geography, it is steep going uphill . . . and of course downhill. Not for the faint-hearted.


Lots of rain = lots of waterfalls

Tiny settlements in the mountains



And the humidity . . . spot the traffic sign




Visibility was, at times, down to a few feet only, with steep drops and sharp curves fairly well all along the route

[DrWilly]

That passage sounds more like Bill Bryce than Paul Theroux.

[happynz]

Bill Bryson?

[DrWilly]

Oops. Yes, thanks for the correction.

[panama hat]

For good measure:

Wild orchid



View of the tunnel from the other side showing how 'interesting it was



And back . . .

In short, tahiti is far more than the aforementioned beaches and water. Hiking was a bit difficult due to the rain, so that was kept to a minimum

[happynz]

Much in the way of biting insects?

[panama hat]

The girls had some mozzie bites, but aside from that nothing.

[katie23]

Very nice pics. Thanks for sharing. Glad you enjoyed (are enjoying?) your holiday.

[david44]

excellent , I thought I would never rteurn, your images remind me hw lovely it was than you, could make a great Trans Pacific stopover compared to agreeable bur so Americanized other options

[panama hat]

Very nice pics. Thanks for sharing. Glad you enjoyed (are enjoying?) your holiday.

You're very welcome. We will definitely be back.

excellent , I thought I would never rteurn, your images remind me hw lovely it was than you, could make a great Trans Pacific stopover compared to agreeable bur so Americanized other options

Absolutely. As I mentioned earlier, it is inherently French Polynesia . . . the French have a very strong and unique cultural basis, blend that with Polynesia and the result is quite different.


Next stop is New Caledonia again - only three hours away.


One interesting aspect of Papeete is the street art, celebrating Polynesian life and people . . . (Not all photos are mine)

Papeete is not a big city, roughly 30.000 people and walking around is quite easy - and literally everywhere you have cafes and boulangerie(s/patisserie(s)) . . . dreamy. I didn't take photos in the shops - a bit weird, but this is it:

[happynz]

Nice!

Oddly enough one of the best coffees I've ever had was on an Air Tahiti Nui flight from Auckland to LAX with a change of planes in Papeete. I know about the advice that one shouldn't drink water or hot beverages on planes as the water tanks are rarely cleaned. But, anyway, the Tahitian grown French roasted coffee was superb.

[panama hat]

Coffee was goooood . . . add a pain au chocolat or similar . . . sigh.

[hallelujah]

Coffee was goooood . . . add a pain au chocolat or similar . . . sigh.

A go to of mine when in a bakery/cafe.

Tahiti looks like a great island for hiking...and then hitting the beach, of course, to relax those weary muscles.

[Mendip]

The mountains are breathtaking - craggy and very obviously volcanic, almost always capped by fog/mist.

It looks fantastic... even better than Dorset.

French Polynesia is a chain of volcanic islands, formed as the Pacific Tectonic Plate moved north-westwards across a fixed hotspot (plume of hot mantle), hence the islands forming a chain in a NE-SW orientation.

PH, I haven't seen you mention temperature anywhere (unless I missed it). What kinds of temperatures/humidity were you getting? The photos don't look over-hot but it's hard to tell.

[DrWilly]

In much the same manner as the mountain ranges running down the eastern coast between Adelaide/Melbourne and Sydney formed. Western Victoria has a chain of extinct volcanos and is essentially flat lava fields.

[panama hat]

Tahiti looks like a great island for hiking...and then hitting the beach, of course, to relax those weary muscles.

Oh yes . . .

French Polynesia is a chain of volcanic islands, formed as the Pacific Tectonic Plate moved north-westwards across a fixed hotspot (plume of hot mantle), hence the islands forming a chain in a NE-SW orientation.

In much the same manner as the mountain ranges running down the eastern coast between Adelaide/Melbourne and Sydney formed. Western Victoria has a chain of extinct volcanos and is essentially flat lava fields.

I'm a map geek and you two are 'what makes maps look they way they do' geeks. Nice.

PH, I haven't seen you mention temperature anywhere (unless I missed it). What kinds of temperatures/humidity were you getting? The photos don't look over-hot but it's hard to tell.

Temperature wasn't too bad, high 20s to low 30s max . . . the sea is literally just there so keeps the temps down to manageable levels. Sweaty . . . walking in town, rods and footpaths see to that.
Just googled the temp in Papeete - 28 degrees, 4pm)

[panama hat]

Now, the sea . . . snorkelling . . . simply incredible. The islands we visited - or even no islands, simply a very shallow seabed far from the coast - just drop in and swim, float . . . whatever.

Swimming with sharks and rays and - for the first time - other tourists.




The water is so incredibly clear, even when you dive deeper and the sealife is incredible



Feeding rays is unbelievable . . . they just swim up to you and simply mingle, feed them or don't. They seem to just drop by, no organised feeding - swim out further and feed them or just touch/pat them, they are non-plussed.



Pull your bench into the water and eat while your feet are kept cool . . .



Full days at sea . . . if it would have been like this while I was in the navy I would have stayed,
but the North Sea is a bit different.

[DrWilly]

Simply stunning. Absolutely on my list of places to travel now. Thanks.

[panama hat]

And then the simply wonderful visit was over . . . as I said at the beginning, we travel a heck of a lot, take as many vacations as we can in as many parts fo the world as possible . . . but French Polynesia has been the most wonderful trip so far. The reasons are many, too many to list, but if there were any negatives (aside from the cost, but the value for your money is there in spades), they were far outweighed by the country and people. (Taxis are unbelievable expensive, however)

We stayed the last few days at the Intercontinental in Fa'a'ā . . . and enjoyed not only some of the best food this trip but also a cultural evening, not something we do often but this was worth it.

The Intercontinental is a lovely resort hotel with its own man-made reef full of fish and other sea-thingys . . . I didn't take many pics there as I was simply out-photo'd by this time. I added some stock pics to mine - I'm sure the difference is obvious.

The markets












the bread







Mine:



Not mine:



And after many Piña Colada . . .



It was time to say 'nana' and mauruu'ru

[DrWilly]

The sunset pic is amazing

[Bonecollector]

I'm a map geek and you two are 'what makes maps look they way they do' geeks. Nice.

Great tip of the cap there.

Stunning pics PH, I really loved Hawaii for the inland to be honest. The hiking, green mountains and amazing waterfalls really are the heart of the Pacific Islands. Great stuff

[panama hat]

The sunset pic is amazing

We were sitting on our balcony with a few hours to go before having to go to the airport . . . and the sads kicked in, realising that this wonderful time was about to come to an end.

Stunning pics PH, I really loved Hawaii for the inland to be honest. The hiking, green mountains and amazing waterfalls really are the heart of the Pacific Islands. Great stuff

Absolutely, the islands are far more than just beaches and jetskis () . . . the inland is simply amazing. I'm glad you enjoyed our vacation. I can only highly recommend Tahiti - not that many tourists, natural/normal people of all hues, the food . . . and the list goes on.

[Bettyboo]

Looks lovely, thanks for sharing the pictures. The beaches and water are amazing (it all is).

I'm feeling jealous; what a fantastic trip with your family...

[DrWilly]

A timely article.

Moorea is an island paradise better than Bora Bora | escape.com.au

[DrWilly]

A timely article.

Moorea is an island paradise better than Bora Bora | escape.com.au