Sunday August 18 – Tahiti

This is a truly beautiful lush island.  I did a tour which followed the west coast of Tahiti through the district of Punaauai.  We visited the ancient temple remains of the “Marae Arahurahu”.  This is considered one of the most significant archaeological sacred stone temples of the island.  It was destroyed by the missionaries.

We visited a private colonial home originally built in 1920 by a known English writer, Robert Keibel.  It is now owned by an English man with a love of vintage cars and his Chinese wife.  She gave us a tour of their gardens which she planted when they bought the house 45 years ago.  She told us about the medicinal value of all the leaves and fruits of her trees.  She makes concoctions from her plants to cure everything including dysentery, cholesterol problems, arthritis, rashes, sore throats skin cancer, scars, burns and eye complaints.  Yes, she had some of her concoctions for sale at the end of her tour.  We did not see inside the house but the outside was just beautiful looking out over the blue waters of Tahiti  So peaceful.  We saw a waterfall at the Vaipahi Gardens.  Here, a man covered in tattoos wanted me to photograph his inking.  Evidently the tattoos are a rite of passage for the males on this island.  Later, in the museum, we saw the ink wells and the sharp instruments used for inking males in the old days.  We visited the fresh water pool spring in the grotto caves where a monster is said to lurk.  Our final stop was at the Tahiti Museum.  Here we saw a mask made from coconuts that used to be worn for dances.  Also the huge hooks used to fish for sharks and other large fish.  I met a man adorned with a crown of flowers.  He had lived in Melbourne for a number of years and his sons still live in Craigieburn.  When I asked if I could take a photo of him, he insisted that we have one taken together.

Bill was taken on a catamaran to a snorkeling site.  He loved the colourful fish and the entertainment on board. It was a very upmarket boat run expertly by a few very young people. The girl member of the crew did a Hula for us on the return trip. The water was a delightful temperature and the fish varieties amazing. The clarity of the water (or viz as it is known) was incredible.

Tonight a group of Tahitians came on board to perform a folkloric show for us.