Blogs from Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia, Oceania - page 2

After three weeks of visiting only small pensions we decided to go to the other extreme when we got to Tahiti, the Intercontinental where we stayed is the biggest of the resorts on the island, and one of the most luxurious. We had booked the room with my last remaining reward points from my stay in Harrisburg last winter, and even though our room was free we managed to get upgraded to a room with a ocean view, nice! As the rainy season was catching up with us and the weather was all but sunny, we spent a lot of time on our balcony enjoying the view towards the neighboring island of Moorea that you could actually see through the rain every now and then. Our stay wasn’t just rain and gloom. Our first morning the ... read more

January 14, 15, 2014 Arrived late night January 14th in Papeete, Tahiti from Easter Island ( 5 hour flight and arrived at the same time we left – chasing the sun !! ). This morning we took a 3 ½ hour bus tour of some of the highlights of Papeete and the Island of Tahiti. This is really a beautiful place to say the least. Stayed at the Le Meridien Hotel a short drive from town. Very nice accommodation with a beautiful beach, walk in snorkeling and a great location. Wednesday we took it easy around the hotel waiting for our boarding time on the Oceana Marina Cruise Ship. This could have been better organized by Oceana as a lot of people were like us and had to leave our hotel room with nowhere to go ... read more

After taking the pool and theory part of our diving certificate in Stockholm we had the pleasure to complete the open water part in Tahiti. Our intention was of course from the beginning to be able to dive in the tropical waters and to see the great variety of fish and corals that can be found here. Last weekend it was finally time! The first two dives took place in The Aquarium, a calm and shallow site in the lagoon of Tahiti. At about 6 metres depth we glided over the white sand surrounded by colourful fish and forgot all about equalising the ears! We also saw an octopus and a stone fish (very poisonous and difficult to see because it is perfectly adapted). The instructor Franck brought some bread so we could hand feed the ... 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

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