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Published: August 7th 2007
French Polynesia is a set of archipelagos in the South Pacific; a dependent country controlled from Paris. France's power over this remote nation provided the basis for extensive nuclear testing over the last few decades of the twentieth century. This has now at last ceased, under extreme international pressure. The most famous islands here are Tahiti and Bora Bora.
After an uneventful evening in an uninspiring motel in Pape'ete, French Polynesia's (and Tahiti's) capital, we set about planning the least expensive itinerary possible. Only by increasing our daily budget to one hundred pounds a day would we stand a fighting chance!
We booked flight tickets to nearby Huahine in the Leeward islands, and grabbed a beach bungalow. The Lonely Planet wasn't kidding when it said 'isolated location', and we soon realised the impracticality and expense of staying so far from the town. However, for two nights, we made the most of our pretty little dwelling (idyllic), and its resident cat (mangy). Sitting on the verandah, listening to the sound of the sea was nice; battling with the incessant humidity and ferocious mosquitoes was not. After leaving apologetically, we found a much more convenient spot on the main drag in
Fare, Huahine's main village.
Settling into 'Chez Guynette', we quickly started to make friends. It wasn't long before we joined with two other guests in booking a car for the day, to see the rest of this beautiful island. Ralphe was an electrician from Texas who looked like TV's 'Raymond'. He was generous and warm, and we thoroughly enjoyed his company. Rachel was a boat skipper from Suffolk. She had lively curly hair, and a personality to match. We warmed very quickly to her too. We spent the day stopping for random photos and lounging around on the beach. David did a little snorkelling too. Great day, great friends!
The rest of the time in Fare, we did very little except breathe in the ocean air and relax. Ahhh!
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june&graham
non-member comment
c'est la vie
This all looks beautiful - more stunning pics. Can't view any comments on your blog - you may want to check if there is a problem.