Tuesday, January 16, 2018, Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia/Walking Tour

One of the world's most visually stunning and romantic destinations and the cultural hub of French Polynesia,  Tahiti is perhaps the archipelago's most famous island.  It's easy to imagine the astonishment of English captain Samuel Wallis when he came upon it in 1767, the first European to do so.  But he certainly was not the last, as the island's continental flavor will attest.  Here, swaying palms skirt dramatic mountains, striking a breathtaking pose in shimmering Pacific waters.  Admire the yellow facade and arched stained-glass windows of the Cathedral of Notre Dame and browse the fascination Paul Gauguin Museum, a rich collection of the work of the renowned impressionist artist created while living on the islands.

We docked Monday evening around 5 PM, January 15.  We were greeted with lush green vegetation in the small city of Papeete, the port town of the island of Tahiti.

We had the morning free before we started an afternoon shore excursion.  So we disembarked the Viking Sun to be greeted by a chorus of Polynesian singers and dancers. 

We found a little "train" to take us on a one hour tour of Papeete.  Our first point of interest was the construction of a grass hut.

As we traveled we saw plush vegetation in this tropical island.  There was great evidence of the Asian heritage of those who first discovered this beautiful area.

The Catholic Church was instrumental in bringing Christianity to the area several centuries ago.

We have seen several open churches.

Chinese were brought to Tahiti to farm cotton in the early 1800s.  

 What do you think these are on roof tops?

 This fire escape caught our attention.  OK to have exterior stairs where it is so warm.

Round abouts are very popular here.

After lunch we met our guide and bus to start our shore excursion of the

"West Coast Highlights"

Our first stop was at the Museum of Tahiti and Her Islands

 The wood figure above is not a boat buy a food trough of pot locks!

 The boat above is one of two for the catamaran boat in the photo below.

The display above has weapons developed by Polynesians.  One similar was used to kill Captain James Cook in the Hawaiian Islands when he was attempting to barter a feud between to locals.  In his attempt he kidnapped one to force him to work out the dispute buy he balked at Cook to his demise.

This model boat is of the Bounty for which the book Mutiny on the Bounty was written.

 As noted earlier in this blog, Christianity became very important to the Tahiti area.

 

Note the sewing that holds the board pieces together.  After Europeans brought nails to the area that changed boat making.

 Banana trees are abundant on the museum grounds.



We continued around more of the island to enjoy beautiful sky, vegetation, and rain.

On our return to the cruise ship, we made a quick stop at the Maraa Caves where superstitions of communications with those who have died take place.  The red poles below are thought to be antennas to facilitate the communications.

 These are young, immature bread fruit.  We tasted fried chips, similar to potato chips, at our last stop.

Green papaya that will soon be very tasty.

Bandy rooster; really pretty in the wild.

Beautiful valley we saw on the ride to cruise ship.

We spotted this beautiful yacht in the harbor at the pier next to our cruise ship.  We concluded that we should use the money from selling our motorhome 2 1/2 years ago and apply it to this yacht.  Since it has its own helicopter, that would fit right in to our life style.

 Only problem is the motorhome proceeds might only buy a few fuel miles on the sea!

Oh well, we can only dream.  We are on the way overnight for Bora Bora.  We plan to snorkel in the morning and take a back of the truck tour in the afternoon.