A Tour Plus Reality

A four-hour tour of the East Coast of Tahiti Island in a comfortable Mercedes Van, led by Tracey of the highly recommended Unique Tours, gave us an interesting view of life and nature outside the capital of Papeete, along with three slices of real life, two happy and one sad. And perhaps one more sad thing at the end of the day if we count the memorial to Atomic Bomb testing in French Polynesia.


Before that, however we came across two men who had just finished spearfishing the beautiful reef fish which are eye candy for Western snorklers. Yes, they are food for the Polynesians.

 

 

These were in the fish section of the Papeete market

Today, Saturday, March 5, is a holiday, celebrating the arrival of the Protestant missionaries, believe it or not. Called Day of the Evangelists. They brought Christianity and immediately banned surfing which was apparently done nude as a way of attracting females. Churches are everywhere, Protestant, Mormon, Seventh Day Adventist. Even the non-evangelical Jews have a synagogue for the small community we believe is centered on the jewelry business.

In any event, we chanced upon a church-sponsored singing and dancing celebration which showed that native traditions had not been totally eliminated. We were told they sang a mix of mythical tales and religious hymns. The dancers ranged from young girls to grandmothers.

Tracy greeted her ex-mother-in-law in the audience - the woman in green.

Tracey was born in the UK, married a Polynesian man who was in the French Army and eventually moved here with her three children after their divorce. Residence in French Polynesia is open to all citizens of the European Union. It surprised me to learn that the population of all these islands is only about 290.000. And total annual tourism is less than what Hawaii gets in a day, according to Tracey.

At one scenic viewpoint we came across a man with a small cardboard box. He was in the process of abandoning four newborn puppies. Tracey remonstrated with him and suggested he take them to a nearby vet but he refused. Finally she put them in the back of our car and took them to a vet where they were put to sleep, (meaning killed), in a humane way with anesthesia. The photos show Tracey taking the puppies into the vet's office and them sucking on the fingers of Tracey and the vet as they died.

We had a good demonstration of the generosity of the Polynesians when Emma spotted rambutans at a road side stand and we thought to stop there after spending a few minutes at a site nearby. As we approached the location of the stand Emma saw a small pickup driving away with a lot of rambutans in the back. Thinking it was the stand owner leaving, we flagged it down. But it was two men who had bought a lot of rambutans. We left them, walked a short distance to the stand and found there were no more rambutans left. Meanwhile, the men in the pickup, realizing our predicament, had stopped, had waited, and now held out a giant cluster of them as a gift to us, refusing to accept money for them.

The "rambutan" stop was to see "blowholes" at the water's edge. They are an interesting lava-structure phenomenon. As waves come in, they push air and water through them and air and water spray emerges with great force. My lightening-like reflexes allowed me to capture this example.

We also stopped at  former leper village, now home to some traditional woodcarvers (in addition to some elderly lepers) and well-known for the population of large eels in its river. One of the carvers specializes in giant "tikis"  - traditional guardian figures. The French soldiers and policemen who are assigned here for a few years buy them because they are allowed to ship a whole container back to France when their tour ends. Otherwise the costs would be prohibitive.

Big eels in the river.

Before dinner, a walk in a very nice waterfront park with playgrounds, a memorial to the atomic bomb testing which was done here for many years and the world's most comprehensive park regulation sign. French Polynesia owes much of its development to the era of atomic bomb testing, now seen as a blot on its history and a cause of contamination of many islands and the cause of illness. At the time, according to Tracy, the testing was a source of pride and fashion, with many people hanging pretty pictures of the atomic blasts on their walls.

 

Memorial to Atomic Bomb Testing

World's most comprehensive park regulation sign

We tried to get into the restaurant "Le Souffle" for dinner, a restaurant recommended by Tracey, but they had no room.They suggested Le Sully, the restaurant of the chef's father, around the corner. They were both very small, very French-looking places, exactly what you would find in Paris. Le Sully had a very traditional menu and presentation. The appetizers of chantarelles and cepes and the main of parrotfish were enjoyable except the chantarelles had a little too much salt. This was the first time we ate parrotfish, a fish we have often seen and admired in many color variations while snorkeling. It was very good.

And so to bed.