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Published: March 26th 2013
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In a nutshell, there is no cheap way of doing French Polynesia. My trip through Tahiti, Bora Bora, Moorea and Rangiroa was an expensive exercise - but it is worth it. There are no hawkers, taxi drivers dont hassle you because they make a lot of money from cruise ship tourists on tours so I found hitching very possible and a great experience meeting lots of people who turned out to become friends.
Everything except two things are expensive - cigarettes and tattoos, both of which I am fond of.
Diving is spectacular and you pay Australian rates for your dives but you can find pensions on the smaller islands like Rangiroa for $60 a night with breakfast and dinner included. A lunch and water will set you back $12 - $30 at even a simple roulotte, so be prepared to eat a lot of cheese.
Eating at hotels is ridiculous - be prepared to pay $55 for a small polynesian plate - which is tuna carpaccio, poisson cru and sashimi.
The fresher fish is found at the roulottes where the polynesians eat.
I also saved money by going to the marche and using a mix
of english, polynesian and french managed to get my baguettes and frommage and chokolat and a litre of juice for $25. A pineapple from a road side stall will set you back $5 and if you are lucky a mango might just fall into your hands. I made a lot of baguettes filled with cheese and platters of fruit with my dive knife in my overwater bungalow. I figure if you are staying in a room that sets you back $2600 a night in high season you can eat fruit and hitchhike in style.
There are a few very cheap $20 - $30 a night dorm style bungalows around and a campground on Rangiroa at around $15 - 25 a night but there is no escaping the fact that this is an expensive destination so you just have to not worry about money..its only paper anyway.
Transport runs on Polynesian time, the plane may get there on time, or it may not get there for hours or at all. The only island that has flights never cancelled seems to be Bora Bora. Taxis are few and far between if you have to catch them but hitching seems to
work well but I would not do it at night as a single female. Walking at night anywhere in polynesia is probably not the smartest idea as the islands have very poor streetlighting which may or may not work.
Taxis in Papeete to the airport or the ferry terminal will cost you about $40 and on sundays they dont always have a lot of taxis and if you are there when crusie ships are in port you have no chance of getting transport at all, its all prebooked by the ships for their passengers. Just hope you meet a friendly local with a car on the ferry who offers to take you to the airport..bless you Malika.
A word on hitchiking. The system works like this..the person who has walked the furthest gets the first lift, even if you are a frail old lady struggling with a dive bag the young guy with the surfboard up the road will get a lift before you do..dont worry, sit down eat a banana and your turn will come.
Take a circle island tour on Tahiti, its a very beautiful island with a lot more to see than airports, papeete
marche and hotels - many of which closed down while i was there due to the economy in europe.
Each island is different. The people are different depending on if you are east or west of Tahiti. I found the friendliest people those on Rangiroa. Those on Bora Bora all speak perfect English and will encourage you to slow down and enjoy your morning stroll should you buck the trend and leave your hotel and go exploring the island. They will even ring the hotel to make sure you got home safely. The kindness of people in Polynesia is wonderful. Without starting a war with cruise ship passengers and hotel dwellers, there is so much more to Polynesia if you meet the people instead of just the french resort staff and pool boys.
There is a silent undercurrent of resentment mixed with an uneasy truce towards the french. As my friend on Moorea said..they build a hotel on MY land and not let me walk on it??? They are proud people, they have mana, pride. But they are also incredibly happy people who live an uncomplicated life and are happier to be counting the days til their bananas
are ripe rather than counting cash. Of course they have to work, life is as expensive for them as it is for the french residents and all who shop at the marches..working two or three jobs is not uncommon. In between jobs, its ok, the ocean and the land will provide a meal and who needs a tv anyway?
Other than the spectacular and well worth it diving I had a few really amazing experiences in Polynesia..from the Dolphin luv to having a lovely gentleman go and spear a fish, climb his coconut tree, pick a lime and some salad from his garden and make me poisson cru for brunch. I also learnt that freediving near the ferry in Moorea is hazardous when an entire school of tuna decide to all poo at once and cover you with....crap. Having a scrub off perched in the wash basin on a moving ferry is also hazardous but better than smelling very bad and being asked what the yellow and pink blobs all over you are.
Getting a tatu in the birthplace of tattoo is beautiful when you let the artist listen to your story and do a freehand ''story'' for
you - and I must say Alfred was extremely gentle..I even had to ask when he was going to start shading when he said he had almost finished!. The story of my tatu, my manu, is the dolphin for intelligence because of my job (?) inside the dolphin are symbols representing my sons, my family, music and waves. There are more waves with stylised Manta Ray wings above the dolphin as the manta ray represents safe oceans. The flower represents the earth, and it is a frangipani flower not a tiare flower as the polynesians have as I am not polynesians. Most of my friends on Moorea were very happy that i didnt have a tiare. The linework below the flower represents my familys safety, that is there protection, and there are stylised waves there to keep me safe in le blu.
Going to Polynesia is never going to be a backpacking quick trip option.....but......it was worth every dollar. On one day alone I dropped $600 spending money - not diving - so doing it as a couple would be really expensive.
Would I recommend Polynesia as a holiday destination........hell yes!!!!
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bvchef
Brendan Vermillion
Great great picture
Love this shot. Just looking at it makes me feel relaxed. You must have loved it there.