Another Throwback – Tahiti

The Hotel Intercontinental, Tahiti

Tahiti June 2006

On our way home from our eldest son’s graduation from Yale, JD had booked a three day special in Tahiti. We were flying Air Tahiti-nui, taking advantage of their special prices; we were new to the issues surrounding special resort prices for three nights. We were unaware that three nights was a bit of a misnomer, seeing that we arrived so late; also, that the Monday was a public holiday, meaning that much of Papeete was closed.  I had not expected that Tahiti would be such a contrast to Washington D.C.! Silly me, in the American capital, as in Rome,  almost every building was a monument, with too many gorgeous art galleries and museums to visit in one week.

Our flight from New York was greatly delayed. Flights out were evidently operating under Visual Flight Rules. We waited for several hours at JFK Airport in Long Island, and eventually boarded our Air Tahiti-Nui Airbus 340 plane. Then there were great delays in taking off. We waited a long time before boarding the plane. The plane then taxied in a very long line-up, (I counted over 30 aeroplanes!) but it seemed that US airlines were being given priority over us. Despite an announcement that our take-off would be delayed, all passengers had to be seated again with their seatbelts fastened; there was no going to the bathroom.  The air hostesses became very nervous over this. I was also very concerned about a “clunking” noise that sometimes occurred when we were taxiing, but when I asked about this I was assured that it was nothing to worry about. I later discovered that this was because we were taxiing on one engine. Our plane had a long flight to make to Papeete, but the flight-plan had us flying north over the Great Lakes, seemingly adding to the already lengthy flight-path. Finally, after taxiing on the runway for a long time (the engines went “clunk” alarmingly!) we took off into the cloud and seemed to fly north for a long time.

We eventually reached Papeete by early morning, where we were welcomed by dancing ladies and given shell necklaces. They’re rather beautiful – I still have mine, I think. There was a shuttle to our hotel, which was very near the airport. I think we reached the International Hotel by around 4:30 am, although we had paid for the night – we were there in time to see the sun rise. Sunrise and sunset both happened very quickly. The room was beautiful, with a bathroom, mosquito net over the bed, and a private balcony overlooking the sea. The sunrise was over very quickly. When we went to the dining room for breakfast, I was amazed at the beautiful food, and at the prices, which were very high. A downer here was when we unpacked I found there had been water damage to my big suitcase, and my nice cream suit which I had worn for graduation had water marks on it and was wet. C’est la vie!

After breakfast we hired a rental car, dents and all, under some kind of warranty, from the airport, and headed off in the rain to drive around the main island. I had hoped to do lots of walking here, but it turned out to be even hotter and more humid than Washington.

We drove and drove and eventually had lunch at a French restaurant by the sea. This was very primitive by our standards: a dirt floor, formica-topped tables, some kind of awning to keep the rain off our heads. Against my better judgment I ordered curried shrimps on rice. I was given a huge plate, and it was delicious. And there were no ill-effects.

We drove on and looked at a waterfall, some way down a primitive driveway, and then stopped at a store on the way back. The store was also very primitive, with a generator and no proper refrigeration.

We drove on, feeling slightly threatened by now, both by how primitive everything was, and how much resentment we seemed to arouse in the locals. Driving through the township to get here, we had been saddened by the general state of disrepair of most buildings that were not government-owned or tourist hotels. Many buildings had large damp spots on them and dampened curtains, if they had them.

At one point we found and visited the Gauguin museum. This did not have any paintings by Gauguin, but had material about his life, and a list of museums where his paintings were held (some of which, of course, we had visited).

We visited a supermarket, Tahiti-style, on our way back to the Intercontinental. That night we were very tired so we skipped dining in the hotel, although they put on some kind of local entertainment and rang us to see why we weren’t there.

The next day was fine. We went kayaking, in what turned out to be a leaky kayak, sailing out past the reef bar, and then making our way back with some difficulty! After this adventure I got JD to get me a drink in the “Pool Bar” – I think a gin and tonic, they didn’t have fancy cocktails. In the evening we ate in the exclusive French restaurant, which was very expensive but did not have very nice food.

On the Monday several things went wrong! We had to vacate our nice room by 10 am, although we weren’t flying out until midnight that evening; the hotel did give us use of a bathroom with a shower and access to our bags, though; it was a public holiday in Papeete, so most shops were closed, and we were very short of things to do,

We met a nice Chinese-Canadian couple from Victoria Island and had lunch with them. There was bound to be a Chinese restaurant open in Papeete! Some of the jewelers were open, but charged outrageous prices.

We tried to get a ferry to Moorea, but somehow got the times mixed up; we had decided against risky flying, being too nervous to fly in a very small plane.

Eventually we went back to the Hotel. We had now found a cheaper way to eat at the restaurant! And so eventually to the Airport, where our flight was delayed, of course, and we spent our last French francs on a bottle of Amoretti and a brooch with a Tahitian pearl. The prices were outrageous, especially for jewellery. After another hair-raising experience on Air Tahiti-Nui, we arrived safely back in Auckland and so on to Wellington.

It was interesting to get a package-deal to a resort (and see the inherent flaws in such schemes).  The next time we stayed at a resort was in Mooloolaba on Australia’s Gold Coast; we were there because our eldest son was attending a conference where he was to  deliver a paper, and we were to look after our granddaughter there.  That’s another story!

Generally when we travel (how I wish it were more!), we remain independent and “do our own thing”, with quite a bit of planning involved. We rarely join a tour, although tours of the Louvre and the Prado in our 2016 trip were amazingly good value for money. We were largely free to roam where we pleased, and we avoided the long queues!

That’s it for now. Ngā mihi nui.