French Polynesia - Part 1: Tahiti and the Austral Islands
Here is a part 1 of a brief summary of my trip to the Austral and Marquesa Islands in December. This trip came about back in May, when Sherri, who I know from the Travelers’ Century Club (TCC), asked me if I was interested in joining her to check off a couple of the more obscure parts of the South Pacific. The idea was to take the Aranui (a combined freighter and passenger ship, which I had been wanting to do for 20 odd years) to the Marquesas during the semi-annual Marquesas Arts Festival, with a few days on the island of Tubuai in the Austral Islands beforehand. For TCC purposes, these count as two countries / regions, while in the more usual world they’re both just part of French Polynesia. For logistical reasons, the arrangement other than my flights to and from Tahiti (via Los Angeles) were handled by Sherri’s travel agent. While things went okay, I was reminded why I prefer doing things myself.
Anyway, flying to Los Angeles on United was routine and I stayed at the Residence Inn near LAX, which was fine, though that brand has declined somewhat in the post-COVID era, particularly with respect to breakfast. No waffle maker, for example. And for some ungodly reason the toaster was on the opposite side of the room from where the bread was. Really, I’m fine with yogurt and an English muffin for breakfast, but the breadbox with the latter should be next to the toaster.
I flew from LAX to PPT on Air Tahiti Nui, booked via American. For some incomprehensible reason, the only seat I could select was an exit row window seat. Which should be fine, but the fuselage curved inwards, cutting off a lot of the room for my left leg. I once had a similar situation on Aerolineas Argentina where I remarked that only a one-legged person could be comfortable in a particular exit row seat. But one-legged people are not exit row eligible. (And I am, thank G-d, two-legged.) It was not a restful overnight flight.
Anyway, my transfer to the Intercontinental Hotel was there, but, of course, I couldn’t check into my room so early. They do have changing rooms where you can shower and change clothes, which was welcome. For lack of anything better to do, I took a tour around the island. (I had been to Tahiti before, but had stayed in central Papeete and just explored on foot.)
The first stop was Point Venus. There was an observatory that was built to observe the Transit of Venus in 1769 and a lighthouse was constructed in 1867.
There are also several monuments, including one re: the Bounty.
We were supposed to stop at a waterfall, but the road to it was closed due to a landslide. We did stop at a blowhole, but my photo / video doesn’t quite do it justice. The real highlight was the botanical gardens we went to.
The final stop was a grotto.
By the time we got back, my room was ready and I pretty much collapsed.
Sherri had arrived late at night and we met up for breakfast in the morning. In the early afternoon, we headed back to the airport for our flight (on Air Tahiti, which is NOT the same as Air Tahiti Nui) to Tubuai. Air Tahiti has really cool livery, based on local tattoo patterns. Everyone had to get off during a stop at the very windy airport on the island of Rurutu on the way. Note that I do not count an airport stop as having been somewhere.
Refueling done, we reboarded and went on to our actual destination of Tubuai.
Once there, we stayed three nights at the Pension Taitaa, which was comfortable enough. Our hosts, Narii and Nathalie, were friendly and we booked a tour around the island for the next day. Note,, however, that very little English is spoken. (I can handle tourist basics in French, but can’t carry on a conversation with anyone over the age of about 5.) The food was reasonably good, with homemade yogurt and brioche at breakfast and three course dinners, of which the desserts were notable. Note that breakfast was included but dinner was not and that only cash (XPF only) was accepted.
The Mutiny on the Bounty is a recurring theme in this part of the world. The mutineers spent a little time on Tubuai at what is now called either Bloody Bay or Bounty Bay depending on what source you believe.
The closest thing to a tourist attraction is Fort Georges, where there is also a museum. Unfortunately, it was closed because the owner was on vacation in France.
Beyond that, there are more beaches and, at some times of year, you can take a boat out to various motus (small islets). It was also not the right time of year for whale watching. We ate lunch at Chez Nani, where the food was good (thought pricy) and the large portions meant we had enough food for lunch for two days.
The next day we walked into town, though we started out by walking a ways in the wrong direction. There’s a bank, a post office, and a municipal building with a war memorial in front of it and a tiki inside.
There’s also a ferry pier, a beach, and a couple of food trucks. On the way back to the pension, we saw some nice gardens.
Our flight back to Tahiti was via Ravavae, which I had passed close to on my 2019 eclipse cruise. Here are a couple of pictures from the plane.
We got back to Tahiti and to the Intercontinental with no problems. The next day, we would board the Aranui, which I will write about in a separate post.
Anyway, flying to Los Angeles on United was routine and I stayed at the Residence Inn near LAX, which was fine, though that brand has declined somewhat in the post-COVID era, particularly with respect to breakfast. No waffle maker, for example. And for some ungodly reason the toaster was on the opposite side of the room from where the bread was. Really, I’m fine with yogurt and an English muffin for breakfast, but the breadbox with the latter should be next to the toaster.
I flew from LAX to PPT on Air Tahiti Nui, booked via American. For some incomprehensible reason, the only seat I could select was an exit row window seat. Which should be fine, but the fuselage curved inwards, cutting off a lot of the room for my left leg. I once had a similar situation on Aerolineas Argentina where I remarked that only a one-legged person could be comfortable in a particular exit row seat. But one-legged people are not exit row eligible. (And I am, thank G-d, two-legged.) It was not a restful overnight flight.
Anyway, my transfer to the Intercontinental Hotel was there, but, of course, I couldn’t check into my room so early. They do have changing rooms where you can shower and change clothes, which was welcome. For lack of anything better to do, I took a tour around the island. (I had been to Tahiti before, but had stayed in central Papeete and just explored on foot.)
The first stop was Point Venus. There was an observatory that was built to observe the Transit of Venus in 1769 and a lighthouse was constructed in 1867.
There are also several monuments, including one re: the Bounty.
We were supposed to stop at a waterfall, but the road to it was closed due to a landslide. We did stop at a blowhole, but my photo / video doesn’t quite do it justice. The real highlight was the botanical gardens we went to.
The final stop was a grotto.
By the time we got back, my room was ready and I pretty much collapsed.
Sherri had arrived late at night and we met up for breakfast in the morning. In the early afternoon, we headed back to the airport for our flight (on Air Tahiti, which is NOT the same as Air Tahiti Nui) to Tubuai. Air Tahiti has really cool livery, based on local tattoo patterns. Everyone had to get off during a stop at the very windy airport on the island of Rurutu on the way. Note that I do not count an airport stop as having been somewhere.
Refueling done, we reboarded and went on to our actual destination of Tubuai.
Once there, we stayed three nights at the Pension Taitaa, which was comfortable enough. Our hosts, Narii and Nathalie, were friendly and we booked a tour around the island for the next day. Note,, however, that very little English is spoken. (I can handle tourist basics in French, but can’t carry on a conversation with anyone over the age of about 5.) The food was reasonably good, with homemade yogurt and brioche at breakfast and three course dinners, of which the desserts were notable. Note that breakfast was included but dinner was not and that only cash (XPF only) was accepted.
The Mutiny on the Bounty is a recurring theme in this part of the world. The mutineers spent a little time on Tubuai at what is now called either Bloody Bay or Bounty Bay depending on what source you believe.
The closest thing to a tourist attraction is Fort Georges, where there is also a museum. Unfortunately, it was closed because the owner was on vacation in France.
Beyond that, there are more beaches and, at some times of year, you can take a boat out to various motus (small islets). It was also not the right time of year for whale watching. We ate lunch at Chez Nani, where the food was good (thought pricy) and the large portions meant we had enough food for lunch for two days.
The next day we walked into town, though we started out by walking a ways in the wrong direction. There’s a bank, a post office, and a municipal building with a war memorial in front of it and a tiki inside.
There’s also a ferry pier, a beach, and a couple of food trucks. On the way back to the pension, we saw some nice gardens.
Our flight back to Tahiti was via Ravavae, which I had passed close to on my 2019 eclipse cruise. Here are a couple of pictures from the plane.
We got back to Tahiti and to the Intercontinental with no problems. The next day, we would board the Aranui, which I will write about in a separate post.