Blogs from Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia, Oceania

My last day in Auckland was pretty darn nice. I woke up after having a nice sleep in and ventured off to the waterfront to have a good ol' breakfast. It was absolutely lovely having a view of the harbour while eating my scrumptious eggs benedict. What more could you ask for? Afterwards, it was time to search for this 'hokey pokey' ice cream flavor that everyone insisted I have to try. I went up and down Queen Street and into the side streets, and found zero ice cream shops. Then...I see it: a chocolate shop with the flavor 'hokey pokey' with amongst six other flavors. I got a scoop of it and it was yummy in my tummy. Basically, vanilla mixed in with hints of caramel and honeycomb. In the afternoon, Daniel and Hannes (the ... read more

It took about 12 days to get to Tahiti from NZ. The route took us through an area where there is pretty much absolutely nothing going on, and there is no normal reason for anyone to be there, as there is no real shipping going on between NZ and Chile (our course to avoid the weather took us nearly straight East). The only interesting thing that we saw along the way were the birds--nearly everyday for most of the trip we had at least one Albatross circling the boat for pretty much the entire day, never stopping to have a rest, and hardly even flapping its wings. They are the biggest flying birds in the world with a ten foot wingspan. The experience was reminiscent of the poem 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'.....not quite as ... read more

Its over. 16 days, 304 working hours (a land job would consist of 128 hours over the same period of days), 48 served meals, 432 napkin origami creatures, 400 loads of laundry, 12 islands, 16 turn-downs, 10 bruises, 100 “what am I doing with my life’s”, 20 linen changes, 1 confrontation with the chief stew, 4 provisioning trips, 0 alcoholic beverages, 1 flanking of the chain, 32 toilet scrubs, 2 yoga classes, 80 hours of sleep (this calculation was found by multiplying 5 hours x 16 days), 9 guests, 1 baby, 1 lazy nanny, 32 sunrises, 32 sunsets (Yes, I saw them both each day), and the completion of one very trying owner trip. It’s over in more ways than one. I came to Odyssey 4 months ago with great intentions to make my way from ... read more

Avalon Travel Publishing has launched the 7th edition of Moon Tahiti by David Stanley. Since 1989, Moon Tahiti has been the leading travel guidebook to French Polynesia and this new edition incorporates the latest restaurant, resort, and transportation news. Stanley has been covering the South Pacific for over three decades and he knows the region better than any other travel writer. Packed into Moon Tahiti’s 353 indexed pages are 53 maps and 122 photos. The maps are clearly labeled without the confusing legends and keys which make other guidebooks hard to use. There are five maps of Tahiti, four of Moorea, and eight of the Leeward Islands. The 24-page color section at the front of the book has been expanded with four suggested itineraries and three travel strategies. The six travel chapters offer detailed advice on ... read more

TAHITI, PAPE’ETE 7.-11.2., BORA BORA 11.-14.2.2010 Tahiti, Bora Bora, Mo’orea, Ra’iatea, Taha’a, Marquesas... Tarunhohtoisista nimistä syntyy mielikuvia äärettömän meren keskellä kohoavista viidakkosaarista, joiden terävät huiput ovat tiheän kasvillisuuden peittämiä. Villisti muotoaan muuttavat pilvet kätkevät niiden salaisuudet. ”Eikä liene ihmislapselle suotu maan päällä mitään, joka vastaisi niin hyvin hänen unelmiaan matkasta mielikuvituksen kultaisiin maailmoihin kuin tulo Tahitiin. Sen sisarsaari, Murea, tulee ensin näkyviin uljaine kallioineen. Se kohoaa meren äärettömyydestä kuin taikasauvan esiin loihtima, aineeton taruluomus. Sen särmikäs profiili on kuin Tyynen valtameren Monserrat, ja siellä voi kuvitella polynesialaisten soturien vartioivan oudoin menoin mysteerejä, jotka olivat liian kammottavia ihmisten tiedettäviksi. Saaren k... read more