Trés Jolie Tahiti

A couple of weeks ago, I flew back into grey, blustery Melbourne, from what had been terrifically warm, bright and blue-skied Tahiti, and the Society Islands. After ten days in French Polynesia, and a fortnight on, I’m still craving butter-soft carpaccio de thon, and tangy, rich poisson cru. Some might say that eating too much tuna isn’t such a good idea, because as top-of-the-pile predators all the mercury in the ocean ends up in their tasty, deep-pink flesh. I say, too bad. Fresh tuna is too delicious. Order it from high-end restaurants like Ute Ute, and enjoy your carpaccio doused in hot olive oil, or order it from a roadside roulotte, like the below Cafe Pause in Punaauia, and be similarly blown away.

Cafe Pause, Punaauia, Tahiti, French Polynesia

Apart from the outstanding and abundant tuna, and all the attendant gorging on French pastries and other creamy, buttery delights afforded by this patch of European gastronomy in the balmy South Pacific, there was plenty of opportunity to walk it off. Canyoning through the Hiitaa Lava Tubes and hiking up to the Cascade Rupe (‘beautiful waterfall’), were two full-day, full-on excursions on the island of Tahiti, while another, half-day hike took me up and past a triplicate of waterfalls on the island of Raiatea, and yet another, shorter walk, through a fascinating archeological site on the island of Huahine. Brilliant guides on all occasions too.

While I was on Tahiti, I got in touch with the Jewish community there. I photographed the synagogue, a beautiful building so refreshingly free of the high security mandatory in most other parts of the world, and I ate Friday night dinner with the wonderful, generous Chichiportiche family.

And, in between everything, there was plenty of time to paddle in bath-warm water. Something I savoured, particularly give the chilly waters awaiting me during a winter of paddling the Bay in Melbourne. Sunset kayaking at the mouth of the Faaroa River, the only navigable waterway in Polynesia (and even then, it’s only a few kilometres long), was a transcendent experience.

I’ll post a little more about the trip in the coming weeks, but I though this taster was in order. I’ll leave you with this sunset over Moorea, as seen from the landing strip at Papeete, on my last night in French Polynesia. Check out more shots here and more adventurous pics here.