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Published: June 16th 2023
This might be our last post. As we sit quietly on our little deck munching away on our cereal it’s a bit hard not to notice a guy marching around the garden with a serious looking tank on his back, spraying anything that looks like it might be even vaguely green. This wouldn’t normally be worthy of comment, but he’s wearing a suit that wouldn’t look out of place on an astronaut, so we’re starting to suspect that whatever’s in the tank's probably not going to do much to improve your day if you happen to breathe any of it in. The breeze springs up and it’s now wafting in our direction, so we beat a hasty retreat inside and seal up all the doors and windows.
It must be a slow acting poison. It’s now a few hours later and we still seem to be alive so we decide to make the most of whatever time we’ve got left and head out for a stroll along the Road of Death (although that designation’s possibly a bit harsh during daylight hours and when it’s not raining). We pass a phone tower carefully disguised as a palm tree, with its upper
workings camouflaged behind some plastic fronds.
We’re hoping to dangle our toes in the water, but it seems that just about all beaches here are privately owned, so unless you happen to own a beachfront property or are staying in one, the beaches are generally off limits. And if the number of “Private Property - Access Prohibited - one foot in here and it’s off to the guillotine with you” signs (rough translation from the French) are anything to go by this privacy is strongly protected. We passed what we were told was just about the only public beach on the island on yesterday’s cruise, but that one’s certainly not within walking distance of our lodgings. We do eventually find a very short strip of sand that doesn’t seem to have a fence in front of it and wander out into the shallows. I keep waiting for someone to yell at us that we’re not supposed to be here. But no, it’s a different noise that grabs my attention - a coconut crashing down onto the sand a few millimetres away …. well that’s what it felt like. Is there no end to the hazards of life here?
We stop for a drink at the very pleasant Moorea Beach Club fronting Cooks Bay, where patrons have the option of dragging their tables and chairs into the shallows so they can dip their toes in the water while they’re refreshing themselves.
Back at our lodgings, and it’s been a relatively uneventful day … we’ll aside perhaps from the small matter of being either fumigated to death or knocked into the next world by a falling coconut … so I decide to take the opportunity to read up a bit about Tahiti.
After consulting the ever-reliable Wikipedia, the main question that seems to remain unanswered is whether or not French Polynesia is a country. According to the ever-reliable, it’s “an overseas collectivity of France and its sole overseas country”. Huh? It obtained this designation in 2004, and since then the two major political parties here, one of which wants to remain tied to France and the other wanting independence, seem to have been constantly running neck and neck in elections, with the balance of power often being held by non-aligned independents. As it currently stands the locals are self-governing in many respects, however the mother country retains full
control over “justice, university education, security and defence”. The “country” is currently on a not particularly long United Nations list of non self-governing territories, which in theory means it’s entitled to become independent if its residents vote in favour of becoming so. So I’m now as confused as ever. The term “overseas country” sounds like a complete oxy-moron; surely it’s either a country or it isn’t, and if the motherland still looks after the army and locking people up, then it doesn’t seem to me like they’re really a country in the true sense of the word no matter what the ever-reliable might think. Anyway that’s probably enough on that subject. I’m sure the motherland’s got a firm hold on whether or not we’ll be allowed out of the "country" in a few days time, so time to move onto less sensitive subjects …. like perhaps French nuclear testing in these parts …. or maybe not….
But it’s OK, all the locals here are French citizens, and have the right to vote. And how do we know this? Well we happened to be in Bora Bora in 2014 on election day and the hotel apologised profusely that because of
this the bar wasn’t allowed to open until after lunch. Wouldn’t do to have anyone voting whilst not in a fit state I guess.
We watch another spectacular sunset, then it’s back down along the Road of Death for an excellent grill meal.
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
Good question...
especially for those travelbloggers who are trying to visit 100 countries. According to the Travelers Century Club, Alaska and Hawaii are separate countries from the United States, which I disagree with, and Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are separate from the United Kingdom, which I do agree with as does FIFA. And is Puerto Rico a country or any of the other territories of other countries in the Caribbean, etc? I hope you are still alive after all the fumigation and have found a white sandy beach to enjoy!