Blogs from Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia, Oceania

Tour Day 14, Cruise Day 14 – Cross the International Dateline eastbound and crossing the Equator southbound. Tour Day 15 & 16, Cruise Day 15 & 16 – Our scheduled arrival time in Papeete on Day 15 was 1400 (2 PM) but only two shore excursions were available. One held no appeal and the other appeared to be a shortened version of the tour I had scheduled for Day 16. I walked into town and happened upon a nifty tropical bar showing Monday Night Football. I ordered a normal size beer and soon learned a JUMBO beer was in the offing (5 liters or about 5 quarts). TOUR - Tahiti: Around the Island (7 hours) - Head towards the east coast of the island and continue on to Matavai Bay, where Tahara'a Point offers a great ... read more

‘As you move through this life you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life – and travel – leaves marks on you’ –Anthony Bourdain Tahiti - Discovered by Samuel Wallis in 1767 and sung about by David Essex in Mutiny on the Bounty, this is the largest and highest of the French Polynesian archipelago and lies approximately half way between Los Angeles in the USA and Sydney in Australia. A harbour at Pape’ete was built in 1962. Welcome to Tahiti’s principle town and capital of the entire 1,600 islands of French Polynesia. We docked at 8am and stayed until 6am the following morning. Not sure why as it’s not as if many of the passengers are going to go out clubbing during our stay! Pape’ete (pronounced Pahp-ay-et-ay) or as the New Zealander ... read more

I spent 2-3 nights in Tahiti, mostly in transit between other places. The first day I was there was a Sunday, when everything is closed. There was also a huge cruise ship in the port, so the handful of open places were swarming with people. The second day I was there it rained the whole day...so overall I'm not sure I can say I experienced much of what the island has to offer. Papeete did have some absolutely fantastic street art, which made it pretty interesting to walk around.... read more

Im Le Méridien auf Tahiti waren wir 3 Tage gut aufgehoben in einem grosszügigen Zimmer mit Meersicht, reichhaltigem Frühstücksbuffet und sehr guten Nachtessen. Das Wetter war sonnig/bewölkt und warm ( 28•). Am 2.Tag machten wir einen Ausflug ins Papenoo-Tal ins Innere der Insel. Es braucht dafür ein 4x4-Fahrzeug da die Strasse so schlecht ist und man auch durch einen Bach fahren muss. Die Vegetation ist wirklich sehr üppig tropisch und es hat viele Wasserfälle. Zuvor hatten wir den Markt in Papeete besucht und eines der vielen Perlengeschäfte besucht - das gehört hier fast dazu! Am nächsten Tag fuhren wir mit der Fähre auf die Nachbarinsel Moorea - da hat es schon zu regnen begonnen. Am Abend des 24.12. hat es zeitweise quer geschüttet. Das Restaurant war voll besetzt für das „Xmas Eve Buffet“: sehr gut und ... read more

Christmas Island, Bora Bora and Papeete 6th & 7th February It's 5 whole sea days till were to reach Tahiti, so it was a bonus to see a bit of land in the shape of Christmas Island. A cruise by this island which is the first to celebrate the New Year and was the the island used by Britain to test the H bomb. Still poor weather as we head south to Tahiti and hoping we can get in as last year we couldn't get into the lagoon because of high winds. Bora Bora Well on the morning of the 6th we sailed to our anchorage (past 2 other cruise ships) to our first destination of Bora Bora. Said to be the inspiration of Bali Hai from Rogers & Hammersteins South Pacific, this gem, we hoped ... read more