Blogs from French Polynesia, Oceania - page 4

Today we arrived at Bora Bora, near the northwest end of the Tahitian Archipelago. You may know if from the famous World War II battles of Bora Bora. Or maybe you don’t because there never was such a battle. The Americans came to this island in 42 or 43 and took control as an anchor to protect the remainder of the island chain. They built an airfield and a boat harbor to bring in supplies and personnel. Then they built a road around the perimeter of the island. And they installed a water purification facility. And they built bunkers and huge cannons to protect all of it. None of these were ever used in the war but they have all remained and have served as the facilities which brought Bora Bora into the modern world. Our ... read more

Ein Traum von Vanuatu über Neukaledonien und Rarotonga bis nach Tahiti und Bora Bora Endlich finde ich Ruhe und Zeit, um über einen der schönsten Teile meiner Reise zu berichten, der Südsee. Nein, die Südsee besteht nicht nur aus türkisblauem Wasser, weißem Sandstrand und Palmen im Wind, sondern ist weitaus vielfältiger. Und es kommt darauf an, für welche Insel man sich entscheidet. Nach längerer Recherche im Internet habe ich schließlich Mitsegelgelegenheiten in Vanuatu und Tahiti gefunden. Auch wenn sich die Planungen kurz vorher noch etwas verändert haben, bin ich Mitte November direkt von Malaysia erst nach Brisbane geflogen, um dann weiter nach Vanuatu zu reisen. Halo Vanuatu... Vanuatu ist ein souveräner Inselstaat im Südpazifik mit über 80 Inseln und ungefähr in der Nähe von Fiji gelegen. Dort auf der Hauptinsel Efate befinden sich das wirtschaftliche Zent ... read more

Dateline: November 10, 2018, Jumping Ship: Papeete, Tahiti and on to Moorea (Society Islands) Jumping Ship We are jumping ship today. We will get off, spend a half day in Papeete and then head for our ferry and Moorea by 12:45. Since we are in French Polynesia, everyone of course, speaks French, We have a few words of French…oui, merci, un, deux, trois, thank you… we will do fine ?. Our ship is docked right downtown so we wander into Papeete. Papeete is a bustling, busy city, on Saturday. It is the capitol of French Polynesia. The huge marketplace is wonderful with tons of fresh fish, vegetables, fruits, lots of clothing and pearl shops. When we got to the market Jean noticed a woman selling pearls that was just a table, not a shop, and she ... 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

Tikehau is the first true atoll I've visited - and that an atoll exists at all still amazes me. Atolls all used to have volcanic islands in the center of them - corals form a reef around the volcano, with a lagoon between the reef and main island (this was the stage that each of the previous islands I've visited is at). For an atoll, after a realllllly long time, the volcano erodes and sinks into the ocean, but the reef remains. When this happens, the outside of the reef (hopefully) stays healthy. The inner edge of the reef gets less fresh water (or slightly less nutrient filled water?), and slowly dies off, creating limestone. Somehow...and I can't quite explain it...the limestone contributes to the color of the water inside the lagoon. Over time, the ocean ... read more