Blogs from French Polynesia, Oceania - page 29

hey Leute, kurzer Eintrag zu unserem 4-Tagesurlaub auf Tahiti! Traum-location nicht??? Mitten im Meer und dann bekommt man franzoesische Croissants und tolle Baguettes ... :-) ... mampf ... denn alles - andere ist ziemlich unleistbar... ein Bier kostet sage und schreibe 8 Euro ... unter 15 Euro ist sonst kein Essen zu bekommen. Unterkuenfte fuer 80 Euro (das Billigste, was wir bekommen konnten) sind sehr, sehr, sehr schlecht und dreckig, aber mehr wollten wir auch nicht ausgeben ... dafuer ist das Meer traumhaft schoen ... sind 1.5 Tage auf Papette gewesen und dann zum Relaxen haben wir es uns 2 Naechte (3 Tage) auf der Insel Moorea gut gehen lassen ... 30 Grad im Schatten, toller Strand, viele Palmen, viele schoene Fische, die um dich rum schwimmen und hellblaues Wasser ... ... read more

Today I shared the water with Polynesian bottle nosed dolphins!! We were out in the zodiac scouting for a drift snorkeling site when I saw a fin in the water - then two then three. All of a sudden a dolphin jumped into the air three feet from the zodiac! We were driving through a channel in Rangiroa, the second largest atoll in the Marquesas. We were looking to see how quickly the water was rushing into the lagoon to see if it might be suitable for snorkeling. When we arrived, the water was moving so rapidly that there were 4-5 ft swells in the channel. So we were surfing the waves in the zodiac and the dolphins were doing the same! We would weave in and out and they followed on our bow, friskily speeding ... read more

We were hoping our taxi would arrive a little early, but weren't quite expecting it to arrive 5 hours early at 4am. We politely asked if he would mind coming back a little later. Maybe about 9am, the time we had asked for. Clearly unimpressed at us putting him out, he came back at 9.30. Everything else went smoothly, apart from the woman at the airport who refused to check us in because we didn't have any documentation. We suggested that the whole point of having e-tickets meant we didn't have to have any documentation and she finally relented. After that, though, everything went smoothly. We quite enjoyed flying on Air Tahiti Nui; the staff were very friendly, the meals were good and the plane was only 2/3 full. We were greeted at the airport by ... read more

Tahiti: island of dreams I was so sick as we approached French Polynesia that I finally broke down and went to the sketchy boat doctor. He was more than happy to prescribe me a Japanese cocktail of strange drugs. I took them all 4 x a day and didn't get out of bed for 3 days. Finally Tahiti appeared before my eyes. A gorgeous lush tropical island, surrounded by crystal clear water, large mountains and deep mist. Looking at the gorgeous water, I was determined to dive no matter what! We went to a small island called Moorea and bunked into a garden chalet with 20 other friends from the ship. I raced off to dive that day and it was absolutely beautiful. Nearly kissed by a sea turtle, I danced with it over the ... read more

We got up bright and early at 6am to get ready for our flight back to Rarotonga. Beni came and collected us at 6.45am and I was surprised to see that the streets were just as busy at this time of the morning as they were at peak rush hour in the evening. Beni told us that school starts at 7.30am in Tahiti so the roads are busy from 6am. We weren’t too sad to say goodbye to Papeete, although next time we visit (and we will be back one day) it would be nice to stay on the mainland for an extra night so that we could do an island tour as it felt a shame that we only got to see the least beautiful part of it. We checked in our luggage, and then ... read more