Two weeks in Tahiti

French Polynesia is a country, but it’s also part of France. It's an archipelago of 120 islands in the South Pacific Ocean. Tahiti is the largest island, where almost seventy per cent of the population lives. I spent two weeks there, in Papeete, the capital. There aren't many attractions in the city, but it has the region's only international airport and is a good starting point for exploring other areas.

I visited the Papeete Market (colourful), the Town Hall and the Assembly of French Polynesia (interesting), the Notre Dame Cathedral (unimpressive), and the Robert Wan Pearl Museum (small).

When I was out of things to see in Papeete, I rented a bicycle and pedalled all the way to Pointe Vénus. That's 12 km each way, with a steep hill in the middle. It was painful but worth it.

Pointe Vénus is a small peninsula with a black-sand beach. James Cook stopped there for astronomical observations during his first voyage in 1769, giving the place its name. In 1788, the HMS Bounty famously docked there, in the voyage you can see in any of the Mutiny on the Bounty movies (1935 with Clark Gable, 1962 with Marlon Brando, 1984 with Mel Gibson). There's also a lighthouse there, built in 1867. It was designed by Robert Louis Stevenson's father, who would later visit it with his mother.

On the way to Pointe Vénus, I stopped at the James Norman Hall Home and Museum (he is the author of the Mutiny on the Bounty original novel) and at the Belvédère du Tahara'a (which offers a good view of Papeete).

Time zaniness

Moving from New Zealand to Tahiti has a strange effect due to the oddity of time zones. I'm used to losing or gaining a few hours when I travel, but here it's like a Twilight Zone feeling. I woke up in Auckland on a Friday, went about my day, then took my flight at night, arrived in Papeete a bit after midnight, and went to bed. When I woke up the next day, it was Friday morning again. Because I crossed the so-called International Date Line, I was sent back in time.

For reference, London sits at Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) zero. New Zealand, far away, is at UTC +12. If you keep going east, you get to UTC +13 (Tonga and Tokelau, for example), but if you move a bit further, you cross the International Date Line and arrive at UTC -10, which is where French Polynesia is. So, technically, I gained an extra day. But I will lose it again when I travel back west.

And the food?

There's more French food here than I expected. I had cassoulet, boeuf bourguignon, petit salé aux lentilles, and a few other Gallic meals. Even the bread is as good as the baguettes you can buy in the Quartier Latin in Paris.

But there are also the local dishes. The one I had the most was i'a ota, also called poisson cru, which is raw tuna fish marinated in lime juice and then mixed with coconut milk, cucumber, tomato, carrots, and onions. Very good. It's basically the same dish I had in New Zealand, called ika mata in Tuvalu, kokoda in Fiji, and oka i'a in Samoa.

I also drank Tahitian punch, the national drink: white rum, orange juice, pineapple juice, lemon juice, vanilla, and cinnamon. Especially good when you are out at sea.

Any side trips?

Just sailing in the South Seas on a catamaran is an enticing experience in itself. These are the waters navigated by Herman Melville, Robert Louis Stevenson, Somerset Maugham, and Jack London, all of them inspired by the endless blue sea and the traditions of the Polynesian peoples.

I spent a day in Tetiaroa, an atoll 50 km north of Tahiti. It's a group of twelve islets (they call them motus), most of which are protected areas for several species of birds and turtles. I also saw small sharks in the shallow waters and hermit crabs on the sand. You have to walk in the very warm water around the islets, to avoid disturbing the animals. Tetiaroa was once a neutral place for Tahitian chiefs to meet. In 1904, it was sold to a Canadian entrepreneur who started a coconut plantation there. Then, in the 1960s, after filming Mutiny on the Bounty in Tahiti, Marlon Brando secured a 99-year lease on Tetiaroa. He actually lived there with his Tahitian wife (and co-star in the movie), Tarita, and his house is now a private luxury resort on the only inhabited islet. Tetiaroa is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.

And after Tahiti?

From Tahiti to Bali, for a quick relaxing week before moving to Vietnam. But that's a story for another time.