Papeete..our last day in Paradise

 Well, last night as we went to bed this was what we saw from our veranda 

I pulled open the curtains this morning and saw this:

WOW! This is the exploration yacht “Arctic” (Arctic P) . This ship can go anywhere in the world.  It was incredibly impressive. It is a refurbished icebreaker that started life as a tug boat in 1969 and was fitted for icebreaking and owned by one family and just recently has been fitted to be a charter yacht.  This ship has every toy you could want for exploration..jet skis, zodiacs,helipad, and for just 400,000 dollars per week you can experience it with twelve of your friends and a full staff including a dive instructor.  If you want to know more please google Arctic P..I’d be happy to be invited long if you decide to rent it.

Then when I turned my head this was moored next to the Arctic:

This yacht is also available for charter…$800K per week. Think I will stick where I am!

Today we took a walking tour of the city.  Our tour left at 9:am and it was already hot and humid. Being intrepid travelers meant we just grinned and bared it.  Our guide was fun and had lots to tell us about his city. We walked from the ship across this lovely little gazebo area where during the early evening there will be many food trucks for the community.

Our first stop is the city hall/registry/office of the mayor. It is a faithful reproduction of the Mansion of Queen Pomare IVwho ruled the island until 1854 when the island became a French Protectorate.

This is where all couples who are getting married must come first to be married by the local government and then they can go to the church to have a religious ceremony.  

The chapel is simple but nice and opposite the chapel is a mural of island life and is strongly reminiscent of Paul Gauguin’s work

We are here during the Chinese New Year so the streets were decorated to celebrate the year of the Rabbit. 10% of the population is Asian.

Our next stop was the Papeete Market. Vendors gather early each day to sell fruits,vegetables,fresh caught fish, and homegrown home made items.  It was full of everything you might want to take home..food,shell gifts, black pearls,flowers,prepared foods, French pastries….from 6am-8am most people stop and get a pastry and coffee to eat before they head to their jobs. The bright red wrought iron walls are inviting and typical of many things in Tahiti..colorful

Entering the market

Fruits including bananas and pineapples

From the Market we walked through the streets of town to get to the Cathedral. One thing our guide mentioned as we walked was the level of homeless we would see. Since the islands are small and there are high unemployment rates on the smaller islands, many young people try to come to Papeete to find better jobs. They often stay with relatives until the situation becomes uneasy and they take to the streets to live. One mission of this cathedral is trying to help them. By European standards, most of the churches and cathedrals we have seen are simple and unadorned. 

The Virgin Mary and child greets you when entering

When in recent times the church stained glass was repaired/replaced the themes were changes to show more of island life and more inclusive of the island population .

This marker was outside the church near the road. Our guide explained that until 2018 there was no house numbers on the island.  Mail was delivered to a post office box in every small communities.  if you needed to give directions to someone to find your house you would tell them how many kilometers from this marker. The marker reads Papeete Polynesian kilometer 0. Our guide lives at PK19,meaning he lives 19 kilometers from here .. further directions would include turning at a palm tree or  mentioning some geographical feature. In 2018 the government finally decided to give all homes a number and direct mail delivery. 

Our walk continued and look at what we found!

What a grand meal! Certainly enough to feed a family!

Our last two stops were a garden near the French office buildings and a park near the dock. 

This provided a much needed shade. The gentle walk along a koi pond( without the koi) (instead local fish.) many of the plants were in bloom including a “rainbow “ hibiscus.

The bloom starts green in the morning turning to yellow in the afternoon then hitting red by evening and orange at dusk. It was in its yellow phase for us but you could see old ones that had turned red/orange on the banks. 

This garden is on the grounds that used to house Queen Pamore. It certainly was peaceful.

 Our last stop was a park named for General Bougainville. 

There were a few structures that were representing a typical Tahitian home in the past- open on all sides with a thatched roof. This provided for ventilation during the heat of the day. After 2 hours of walking in the heat and humidity,Al and Steve left to go snorkeling and Susan and I walked back to the market to get some fresh gardenias for our rooms. Then we sat in the pool and relaxed all afternoon. Tonight the entertainment was a destination event.  We were entertained by a local dance group who treated us to a wonderful concert of native dancing.

 It was a great way to spend our last few hours in Pepeete, Tahiti!