Sunday 29th July

Papeete,
Tahiti

17 32.422 S
149 34.279 W

Many Happy returns of the day Russell, we will be having a drink for you!

We were all awake early – the excitement of having Abigail with us I expect! Gerry cooked us breakfast and then we all took our time getting ready to go out. I began to do the bits of laundry that I could manage easily on the boat but got chastised for using the water and then had to leave it half done as Gerry was ready to go out. We decided to take a slow tour around the island and find the pension that Abigail had booked just incase we weren’t at the airport to meet her. We had a vague address for the place and we knew that it was 70Kms from the airport. We set off on the East bound road and found ourselves driving along a small coast road with lots of twists and turns. The drive was very picturesque with it’s backdrop of mountains, roads bordered by the varieties of flora which thrive in Tahiti and the fantastic sparkling blue sea which has breakers big enough to surf in places along the route. On our way we stopped at Pointe Venus – a scenic lookout point, the views were spectacular and we took a few photos (mostly of bear enjoying the views).
When we reached the 60Km mark we were exactly half way around what is essentially a circular island with a polyp hanging on to the end of it. The big circle is called Tahiti Nui and the polyp is called Tahiti Iti, we detoured off of the main island onto the smaller island and began to drive along the east coast. About 10Kms along that road we suddenly saw a signpost announcing Pueu Village – this was where the pension was located. We drove into the driveway and found ourselves looking at a half build (or half demolished) building; we decided that we had got the wrong place and maybe it was further along the road. We turned the car around and continued along the road further but found nothing else; eventually Gerry asked a young girl where the pension was and she pointed us to the place we had gone into – oh dear. With a sinking feeling overtaking us we returned there and actually got out and made enquiries this time, we were shown to the bungalows which were a short distance from the half built building and to our surprise and relief they were actually very nice self contained chalets. We arranged to take a chalet from Monday night as long as they could put an extra mattress in it - that was no problem. Whilst we were there we had a look around the place, there was a communal kitchen, pleasant gardens with a large fish pool; the entire place is on the water front and you can swim there or use the kayaks provided for free by the pension. The biggest drawback is the lack of food – there are no shops close by and the nearest restaurant is a good car ride away – good job we have the hire car. Having sorted out our accommodation for the time that the boat would be out of the water having the rudder fixed we said goodbye to the owners and began our return journey to the boat; this time taking the west coast road which the pension owners told us was quicker even though it was 10 Kms longer than the east coast road. Along the way we passed the Grottes de Maraa – an area of caves just off of the road which look like they will be worth a visit and the Paul Gauguin museum which although I have issues with his lifestyle I think we should probably see too. It was mid afternoon by the time we got back to the boat and we were all feeling a little tired. Gerry drove the car around to the boat yard where he intended to leave it for the night and Abigail dinked across there to pick him up and bring him back to the boat; meanwhile I finished doing the bits of laundry that I’d begun in the morning and hung it all out to dry. Gerry and Abigail decided that they needed a short nap and I spent the time reading my book; I woke both of them up when it was getting near dinner time, the pair of grumps weren’t keen to get up but as they wanted to eat they roused themselves. We walked to the closest restaurant which unfortunately didn’t open its kitchen on a Sunday so we ended up going just a little further to a large open entertainment area on the shore line where a lot of food vans set up and serve meals in the evening. We picked a van serving Chinese food and had a delicious feast for a very small cost. It appears that a lot of the local people eat at these vans on a regular basis; we weren’t sure that they would pass health regulations in Australia but they were all licensed so I guess they have to meet some standard.
After eating we waddled back to the boat for the night. Unfortunately there was a large luxury motor boat docked in the lagoon across the water from us and they had a party going all night, because the lagoon is flat cam the sound traveled and we were entertained into the early hours of the morning by the music coming from this boat.