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| It's not all white sand and turquoise water in Tahiti. |
When I picture Tahiti in my mind I imagine turquoise water lapping pristine white sand beaches with numerous reefs beckoning just off the beach and indeed a fair bit of French Polynesia is like that. However after sailing into Papeete this morning it was fairly obvious that turquoise water and pristine while sandy beaches weren't going to feature much today. Papeete is the capital city of Tahiti and it's like a lot of these South Pacific cities in that it can feel a little rough around the edges.
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Papeete Harbour.
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Luckily for Sam and I we were heading out of the city to explore the nearby Popenoo River Valley. This valley has a rough road running up it and we were lucky enough to be able to travel in the relative comfort of the tray of an old Land Rover Defender. The open sides allowing a cooling breeze as we swayed our way up the valley. After checking out Topatari and Vaiharuru Waterfalls we pulled over at a nice pool in the Popenoo River for lunch and a swim, life was pretty sweet!
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Now this is the way to travel!
 | I'm not 100% sure of the names of these waterfalls in the Popenoo River Valley.
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Returning to Papeete in the early afternoon we stopped at Pt Venus to check out the black sand beaches complete with a few children enjoying the sand, although with little time left we didn't have time to drop onto the sand for any beach combing unfortunately.
Once back in town Sam and I headed back to the ship for a quick shower and change of clothes before we set off on foot to see what Papeete had to offer. With a population of only around 30,000 people Papeete isn't a huge by world standards however by South Pacific standards it's a decent sized city. I've found that the countries and cities in the South Pacific that have some French heritage are a little more developed than some of the other spots and Papeete was no different in that regard. It was easy to lose half a day exploring this small city, with its good selection of French inspired cafés and bars it's a pleasant enough place to hang out for awhile.
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Looking towards Papeete from Pt Venus.
 | Tahiti's black sand beaches.
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Looking east towards Popenoo from Pt Venus.
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After checking out a small dock side market we returned to the ship in time for a sensational sunset over the jagged peaks of the distant Mo'orea, although it was framed by the industrial Papeete Harbour which dragged the oh wow factor back a couple of notches I think. With the sun setting behind Mo'orea, which incidentally was tomorrows destination, we settled in for another hard night on the ship (actually as I'm typing this up many years later as the Corona Virus causes all sorts of havoc I'm wondering if I'll ever enjoy this type of holiday again). After getting a few photos of Papeete by night as we sailed out of town we headed in for an early night, tomorrow in Mo'orea promised to be a good day.
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Papeete's back drop is more impressive than the actual city I think.
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Papeete Harbour
 | The island in the distance is Mo'orea - tomorrows destination.
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 | | The sun has gone down behind Mo'orea. |
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The Dirt.
We visited Papeete on a Princess Cruise. At the time I'm writing this cruise line has suffered a lot of negative press as the Corona Virus has decimated the industry, so it'll be interesting how the industry recovers. Obviously if you read my blog you'll notice that I don't mind the occasional cruise, a situation that might seem a little incongruous considering how much I love being on my own out in the bush. Cruising allows Sam and I to have a holiday together that we both enjoy, I get some forced downtime where I can catch up on my reading and at the same time we get to sample some amazing destinations around the world in relative comfort. Anyway, hopefully when things settle down in a couple of years Sam and I will again enjoy some more cruising although in the shorter term it looks like things will be a bit more local and at least in my case, will probably feature walking boots rather than fins.
Relevant Posts.
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| Papeete - there was a night market down on the wharf. |
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Sailing away from Papeete.
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