Final visit to Papeete, Tahiti

On arrival in Tahiti, stored my suitcase at the airport, grabbed a taxi and popped into Papeete. Principally in search of clip-on French Polynesia’s pearl earrings. First place, perfect set (and duty free made them even more perfect). On way to pearl market had noticed a street of fabric shops. Wanted to buy every roll with all their patterns, but settled on one to make a pareo (sarong). So much wonderful choice. Hibiscus flowers predominated whether symbolically stylised or more naturalistic. I settled instead on a more geometric find, not geometric like Marquesan tattoos but making me remember them. The landmark Cathedral was suddenly before me. Nothing to write home about architecturally. It was a useful break because I could sort out my bag and remaining francs. It also gave me physical and mental space to work out where I was and where I might go next. Outside it was simply too stimulating to think clearly. Then I found a busy street corner with a restaurant where I could buy refreshing jus de pamplemosse, and then watch the slim, elegant, urbane yet casual French local women walking away at the end of their working day. After quite a while and the walkers had thinned out, and watching cars held no interest, I wandered down to the water front, found a brasserie on the side walk. While enjoying a cold beer, the sun set majestically over the water with the rim of the reefs in the distance. All around me were elegant French men having end of day drinks. Very civilised. The street lights were on and it was time to find the food vans. Eventually made a choice and enjoyed a Mahi-Mahi with Tofu. Silken tofu slipped down interspersed with prawns and chicken pieces in a slightly chillied sauce. Was joined by a couple from Kobe who had no French at all. This was a shock. Tried to gather my thoughts and find some memories of my limited Japanese language. Thankfully the woman had sufficient English for us all to be able to communicate. Had one last look around and grabbed a taxi to return to the airport. Collected my case, brushed my teeth, washed my face and felt so much better. Water is such an amazing thing.

Dominican Republic, Bulgaria, and Tunisia

What is the connection between all those countries with people looking at my blog and Tahiti. It turns out that beach soccer is the link between Tahiti and the country of many of my viewers. Already you know from an earlier blog that Russia is a soccer competitor for Tahiti, and that the 2013 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup takes place from 18–28 September 2013 (the day I arrive is its last day) at Tahua To'ata Stadium (Stade Tahua To'ata) in Papeete, Tahiti. Russia is the defending champion – I wonder what I will learn on Saturday night. It turns out the Dominican Republic, Bulgaria, and Tunisia all have soccer teams and play Tahiti. But it doesn’t seem that Tahiti plays so well – check this site: http://int.soccerway.com/teams/tahiti/tahiti/2204/matches. When I have time, I will research some other countries for their connections.

Weather and time

How I love Google and this moment in history when all information is at one's finger tips. Thought I would see what the weather will be like when I reach Tahiti next Saturday. It will be about 27 degrees and about 22 degrees overnight. During the day, presumably before I arrive at 9pm, there will have been thunderstorms. On Sunday when I have the day to fill, it will be about 29 degrees max and 67% humidity with some cloud which is all incredibly liveable - of course this a country which measures temperatures in Fahrenheit rather than Celcius - its been so long since I have had to do the calculations. But thanks to wonderful Google, I can make the calculation without thinking. A much earlier posting explained the time differences, but I have just checked the time in Papeete just now - its Friday afternoon (yes I will be crossing the international date line) at 4.30pm as I write this on Saturday at 12.30pm. So I will be behind you by 20 hours - almost a day. This means as I travel over there I get two Saturdays. But on the return I lose the time.

Music of a different kind - Jimmy Buffet and the southern French Polynesian islands

John alerted me to the fact one of his favourite singers, Jimmy Buffet, has a French Polynesian connection. Apparently Buffet is well known for singing the Crosby Stills & Nash song "Southern Cross". The first few lines of the song are as follows: Got out of town on a boat goin' to southern islands. Sailing a reach before a followin' sea. She was makin' for the trades on the outside, And the downhill run to Papeete Bay. Off the wind on this heading lie the Marquesas. We got eighty feet of the waterline. Nicely making way. .... So I was curious to find out whether Jimmy Buffet ever stepped on the shores of Tahiti or the Marquesas. And the answer is yes to Tahiti and no to the Marquesas. He did perform on various islands including Tahiti, Moorea, and on Bora Bora in the 1980s, including a couple of benefit concerts where proceeds from ticket sales were donated to build a playground for the children of Bora Bora, and on another occasion supported Tahiti after the 1983 cyclones. “Like many “Tahiti-philes” who keep coming back to these islands, Jimmy Buffett has visited Tahiti and Her Islands on several occasions. Some people recall when he used to sit at the end of the bar at Hotel Bali Hai on Moorea during the early 1980’s, quietly playing his guitar and singing for his own pleasure. Others remember seeing him at Bloody Mary’s on Bora Bora in 1986, where he gave an impromptu performance. In 1982 Jimmy Buffett did a concert at Tahiti’s Cultural Center, which was then called OTAC. Jimmy Buffett recalls that when they arrived at the airport in Tahiti they were met by Hugh Kelley, one of the three “Bali Hai Boys” who had left Southern California in the early 1960s and eventually owned the Bali Hai hotels on Moorea, Raiatea and Huahine. Jimmy said that he and Hugh became instant friends. While sitting in Kelley’s big Urufara house in the mountains above Cook’s Bay on Moorea, he looked down at the vista and a song came out as if it had been sitting inside him waiting for the moment. Jimmy called this song, “One Particular Harbor” and it has become one of his most popular creations. Jimmy Buffet’s easy going style and friendly smile have earned him the title of “the troubadour of laid-back island living”. “Jimmy had such a wonderful time here that he wants to come back and go to Pitcairn Island,” said Rick Guenett. “His ancestor, John Buffett, was the first white man to live on Pitcairn after the “Bounty” mutineers. John Buffett’s descendants are now living on Norfolk Island.” Pitcairn is only perhaps a couple of thousand km to the south east of Tahiti. Jimmy Buffet 1985 at Bora Bora performing at the restaurant Bloody Mary;s.

My travel arrangements are cast in concrete and as flexible as ...

You already knew my flights to and from Papeete were booked. Since then I have booked myself into the hotel airport (across the road from the small airport) for two nights. On Sunday I hope to get a ride around the island and see all I want to see - Captain Cook and Charles Darwin's Point of Venus, and the local Gauguin museum. If I am really lucky I might even pass some of the small villages in which the artist lived. My guide on the Marquesas Islands tells me that nothing happens on a Sunday (well it didn't when he was last on Tahiti 17 years ago)and that my plans might come to naught. But I am positive that something will happen. When I return to Papeete around midday before flying back to Oz, I will have the rest of the daylight to see some things I might miss on that 1st Sunday. Whatever I will see will be seen. Nothing more nothing less. Then early Monday morning I have booked a long flight via Nuku Hiva the main Marquesas Island to the island Hiva Oa. This is the island where Gauguin died, so I will charge up the hill to the cemetery and look at his plaque. Somewhere around all of this, I will meet Philip Beardmore who will guide me across the seas and the land for 10 nights and 9 days. He offered and I accepted to sail in his ketch around as many islands as we can in the time. Eventually we will end up at Nuku Hiva and I will fly away. Sailing alone with a stranger is a calculated risk but I believe I will have a magical time. What I love in anticipation of travelling with a local who speaks English is that I will have real conversations about real things that are local so I gain a much deeper understanding of the place and its people, and will meet real people in a way that I would not have as an independent traveller not attached to anyone. I may get to see things that my research has never mentioned and I may miss some things that seem important now. But the thrill of rocking and rolling on seas because there are apparently no calm lagoons around the islands, of having my meals cooked for me, and of the pleasure of regularity of days and nights at sea interspersed with on-land discoveries- all of this amounts to a spectacular possible wonder. Being there and doing it will be different from my dreams but I have no doubt it will be memorable.

Time difference between Melbourne and Tahiti

Melbourne is 20 hours ahead of Tahiti. This means that when I arrive in Papeete at 9.15pm on Saturday 28th September, it will be 5.15pm on Sunday 29th here. So when I depart Papeete at 12.20am on Friday 11 October to return to Australia, it will be 8.20pm (also on Friday) here at home. When I land in Melbourne at 10.20am on Saturday 12 October, my body will still be set at 2.20pm in French Polynesia. So I would expect to be ready for bed around 5-6pm our time on that Saturday. My flight back from Melbourne gets into Hobart about 3pm so that will make it easy to be ready for bed. Then I will have Sunday to do some more adjustment, before heading back to work on the Monday. In terms of official time zones: Papeete time zone is UTC/GMT -10 Melbourne time zone is UTC/GMT +10

The far Pacific seems like a better idea

Weeks ago, I thought to travel to South Korea and began amassing interesting facts that were most persuasive. Then Gary wondered out loud why I wasnt planning to visit North Korea. New research began. It was clear that I needed to travel via Beijing, the city with the unenviable record of the most sink holes. It was equally clear that if I travelled as an independent then I would need to cover the costs of two mandatory guides and a driver while in North Korea, and that I could only enter if I understood I could never go for a walk even around the block without a guide following. When North Korea began rattling cages, with threats to the USA and South Koreans, so that our Bob Carr officially denied North Korea the opportunity to establish an embassy in Australia, I began to wonder how smart it might be to pursue a holiday in that part of the world. Where else could I travel? With only two weeks recreation leave allocated to get somewhere, have a great time and get back home ready to work, what were the possibilities? I turned east, and forgot the East. When I discovered the eastern most part of French Polynesia was a departure point for a 2 day sea journey to Pitcairn Island (so that's where that island is...south east of French Polynesia by over a 1000 miles)the idea loomed that perhaps I could island hop (in that very large expanse of empty ocean)and reach Easter Island (a further 1000+ miles to the south east) or even aim for the Galapagos Islands (way way way way north of Easter Island). But it seemed unlikely that cargo boats and private yachts would be ready waiting for me on a tight timetable. Being free and open to the timetable of the whims of the world is just the opposite of State Public Service requirements. So, I have settled on a simple and seemingly controllable plan. Today, I have booked my flights between Hobart and Melbourne departing late in September and returning a fortnight later. And I have booked Air New Zealand to take me from Melbourne via Auckland to Papeete on the island of Tahiti. And I plan to move around a number of the major islands (although most are three hour flights from each other - and we think Australia is large!) I have purchased my travel insurance but have organised nothing else ... yet. Let the adventure begin!