PAPEETE, TAHITI – NOT GAUGUIN’S PARADISE ANYMORE!

Polynesia, as its name says, is composed of many islands, 121 in fact. Papeete is the largest city in Polynesia, and 27,000 of Polynesia’s 300,000 inhabitants live there. Papeete is a “small” big city in a small area with big city problems. As you come into port, on one side, you will see many beautiful homes and hotels on the lush hillside. On the other side is a busy commercial port. The traffic was the biggest surprise (and the Burger King you could see from the ship! One Burger King on the island, six McDonalds)! The city is modern with traffic lights, roundabouts and traffic – lots of traffic. There is one highway that goes all around the island. It is three lanes wide for about 10 miles into the city. They move dividers in the road so that two lanes come into the city during rush hour in the morning, then move them again so two lanes go out at the end of the day. Bumper to Bumper traffic during rush hour. Our tour guide said he lives about 12 miles out of the city. During non-rush hour, it takes approximately 30 minutes to get into the city; during rush hour, 1 ½ hours. I wish we had taken a picture of the Bumper-to-Bumper traffic as far as your eye could see.

France supports French Polynesia financially, as the British do in Pitcairn. Construction project signs show how much of the project's cost is paid by the local government and how much is provided by the French. Our guide said 75%—80% of funding comes from the French government. There are local elected officials, but a French Official has overall authority. There are 121 islands with 47 airports. Some of the other islands are serviced by ferries.

There are beautiful places away from the city. There are many hotels and resorts in all price ranges. There are all sorts of water activities – swimming, snorkeling, and surfing. The French hosted the 2024 Olympics and the Surfing Competition was held in Papeete. Most of the beaches are black volcanic sand.

We took a tour, “Discover Tahiti’s West Coast.” Our first stop was the Museum of Tahiti and Her Islands. This was an ultra-modern, state-of-the-art facility that opened in 2023. There was much interesting information about the islands and their cultures (also very fun icons on the bathroom doors - pictures in the photo gallery). Most interesting to me was the development of Christianity on the island. Our guide said there were originally 3 Gods in Polynesian culture. Now, there is one God and many religions. The Spanish Catholics' first unsuccessful attempt at evangelism was in 1774 and 1775. The London Missionary Society arrived in Papeete in 1797 and managed to convert Tahiti and Moorea (12 miles away) by 1815. The church they built in Papeete is still standing and is the oldest Building on the island. Indigenous missionaries traveled to the Cook and Austral Islands, where local populations adopted Protestantism between 1820 and 1826. After a slow start, Catholicism returned to the islands and is now the largest denomination and largest landholder. But there is also a strong Morman presence with many Morman churches. Pitcairn, which we visited earlier, is predominately Seventh Day Adventist. There is a synagogue as well. I thought it was amazing how many and how far these evangelists traveled.

We visited the Fern Grotto Caves of Maraa, which was written about in Capt. Cook’s journals and is where Paul Gauguin would go to cool off from the tropical heat. A native boy was bathing in the pool when we arrived there. Our guide said it’s not unusual for native people to still go there for a cool respite from the heat (didn’t say it quite like that). We visited the Arahurahu Marae, an ancient sacred place where religious ceremonies were held. It was where the ancients would bring their dead for cleansing and purification so that their spirits could rise to the sacred Island of Raiatea. Our guide then did a native Tahitian dance for us. We also saw breadfruit growing on the trees. Remember, breadfruit was what caused some of the problems on the Bounty. When Capt. Bligh wanted to give water intended for the crew to nourish the breadfruit he was tasked with bringing it back to Jamacia. Our guide said it is still a popular food because it's easy to cook; just lay it on hot embers and rotate until the skin is blackened and the inside is tender. Its also be very nourishing. One breadfruit would feed several people.

The night’s entertainment back on the Zuiderdam was a Tahitian Folkloric Show, “Mana—The Spirit of Tahiti,” with local singers, dancers, and musicians. They were amazing—I don’t think my hips could ever move that fast! There was also speculation about what they were wearing (men and women) under those costumes—not much!

Tomorrow, on to Moorea, supposedly the inspiration for James Michener’s “Bali Ha’i.”