Papeete Tahiti

Sunset coloring clouds over Moorea


We woke up to the sound of the ship arriving at the dock just outside of our cabin window. Because the water is so deep there is no need for tugs and the ship pulled in under its own power. After our usual breakfasts on the back deck outside the Panorama Buffet, we heard the Captain announce that immigration officials had cleared the ship and passengers could go ashore. We walked down the gangway, onto the dock, and to the main street. It was 8 a.m. and 84 humid degrees. We walked a couple of blocks away from the docks because I was a woman on a mission. Last year, when we were in Papeete, we went to the big market right in downtown, and I saw a large, long, elaborate shell necklace that I really liked. But, I said to myself in 2008 that I would never wear it at home and it cost too much anyway. This year, we walked past the stalls with fabric, produce, fish, meat and flea market merchandise. I thought I knew exactly where the stall was with the necklace that I wanted. And I did. At first, I was disoriented because we entered on the other side of the building from the previous year, but then I became oriented and there it was just as I remembered. My necklace, a year later, and at a very reasonable price. I don’t know why in my memory it was too expensive. Perhaps I did the currency conversion incorrectly; perhaps I had very few Tahitian francs, but in 2009 I had the necklace after a year of thinking about it.

As we wandered through the Hotel de Ville (City Hall), we met a government official who showed us a balcony on the third floor where we had a wonderful view of the city. From there we walked for a couple of hours, looking at the people and shops. We ended up climbing to the fourth floor of a building to a lovely shop where they sold black pearls. I declined Jerry’s offer of a black pearl necklace. How many necklaces do I need? The couple we were walking with decided to take a taxi to a beach and we decided to return to the ship for lunch. (We had a good lunch, but our friends didn’t get to the beach after the cab driver said it would cost US$100 for the ride.)

After lunch we hurried back to the shopping area to buy postcards in one of the shops and then to the Post Office to write and mail them. The sailaway provided a lot of excitement for us all. When we reached Deck 10 and the best view of the port from the open deck, we saw thick, black smoke billowing from a four-story building that was occupied by a car dealer. The emergency vehicles had trouble getting through the rush hour traffic, but finally were able to reach the fire and steam water onto the building. We watched as the fire gained the upper hand and flames poured out of blown out windows and the roof. Eventually the water was aimed at each ascending floor, extinguishing the fire from the bottom to the top of the building. It was the largest fire most of us had ever seen.

As we sailed away, the Captain took us very close to the shore for a long look at Tahiti. We stayed up on deck for about half an hour because he said we would also be able to sail very close to Moorea, which we visited last year. The sun was setting and there were both clouds and mist over Moorea, but it still looked beautiful.


Two days by sea and we will be in Rarotonga, the capital of the Cook Islands