Blogs from French Polynesia, Oceania - page 15

Here on the islands, everything is about the ocean, its marine life and fish. From the tattoos on the locals to the fishes on the corals and the fishes on our dinner table. Today we had another great experience under water. After a little messy start at the dive centre we were finally on our way outside the reef heading north to a dive site called Muri Muri. For some reason we can't understand everybody in the diving business seems to have a very special sense for order and planning... The ride itself to the site was exciting. It was the biggest waves we both experienced in a motorboat. The boat was flying of the waves and hitting the water hard in between. On the site we jumped in the water and we immediately saw black-tip ... read more

Here we are now at Bora Bora, one hour flight north of Tahiti in French Polynesia. This island is by many said to be paradise on earth and we can only agree, it is beautiful. The rocky mountains on the island are all covered with green and they are surrounded by a lagoon with turquoise water. We are staying on one of the motu, coral islands, on the outside of the lagoon. The view over the lagoon towards the island is fantastic! The climate here is much warmer than on Rapa Nui. The temperature is around 30 degrees and the water is about the same. So far we have stayed on our motu and just enjoying the place. Canoeing in the lagoon, snorkeling and walking on the rough outside of the reef. We're staying at a ... read more

The island of Tahiti is of volcanic origin and has several high peaks, about 2000 m at it's maximum. From the sea level circular street it goes rapidly up the moment you turn inwards. When we first arrived at the island we got fascinated directly by the mountains that arise majestically, all covered with thick green and the tops disappearing in the clouds. Martin could not help but test himself with a little running tour, 300 m up on a distance of 3 km. Add 30°C in the bright sun and you get a really exhausted man! The next day we took the car up to look at the view and our little engine could hardly make it! The views are however stunning wherever you can catch them. There is a reef surrounding the island in ... read more

We already find our way around in Papeete, capital of Tahiti! With it's 200 000 inhabitants it is quite lively and has considerable traffic. After some expensive taxi rides we hired our own car and got even more engaged with the local life :-) On Thursday we headed for the famous Papeete Market. Fresh fish, woven handbags, paeros, vanilla oil, wood carvings and sea shell necklaces are all offered in a colourful mix next to each other. First thing we got us was our first ever served-right-from-the-ice-cold-coconut-with-a-straw coconut water. Of course there are so many nice things that we (especially Clara) would like to have - but how to get them home?? Papeete's one big product are the black pearls. We never heard about that before but you can really hardly miss all the shops in ... read more

Once upon a time, in a beautiful blue ocean far, far away, there stood a family of rugged mountain volcanoes. But there was trouble in paradise. The villainous ocean insidiously attacked and eroded it’s volcanic inhabitants. With time, the mountain peaks relented to the ever punishing ocean and eventually sank away, leaving only perimeter rings of earth material as evidence of their former presence. With time, coral colonized on the land and grew to create strange looking ring shaped islands containing large protected lagoons within. As with all fairy tales though, this ends happily ever after. For within the lagoons, life once again became a paradise providing for all sorts of creatures. Such was how we found existence on and around the atoll of Fakarava in the Tuamotu islands. Warm, moist, and oh so colorful. Like ... read more