IT'S A DOGS LIFE
SAILING AROUND THE WORLD WITH SPIRIT OF ARGO
IT'S A DOGS LIFE
SAILING AROUND THE WORLD WITH SPIRIT OF ARGO
French Polynesia

Tahiti, Society Islands, French Polynesia – Hanging out and sight seeing

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Me: hanging out in Tahiti. Falling asleep with a tennis ball in my mouth.  Life is hard.

Cruising definition: Fixing your boat in exotic locations

This time we are fixing our boat in Tahiti.

If you have tuned into my doggy blog to read about some great adventures I have been up to, you will be sorely disappointed. I am afraid we have been caught up in the slow crawl of bearocracy, here in Tahiti, awaiting my final clearance and pet permit. This has entailed a retesting of my blood for all transmitable canine diseases. No trust given to the laboratories in Panama before we left. And vet visits to inject me full of anti-paracitic drugs. Which I am then expected to s#*t out on Spirit of Argos decks, and not ashore. Lots of boring fun! I do not know if having my blood samples all sent to French laboratories in the first place would have helped, but perhaps when this is all “said and done” I write a little list of contacts and information for my canine friends on how to make this process easier.

Our plans to quickly restock and sail down to the Gambler Islands group have gone “out the window”. But my humans have been cruising long enough to just make the best of the situation. You have to be adaptable to survive this life style. We have all accepted we are stuck in Tahiti and have anchored up a short distance from one of the major marinas (Marina Taina) that has a dingy dock, amenities ashore and is a short bus ride to the centre of the capitol, Papeete.

What are we doing with ourselves while we wait? Good question. The answer is simple. Work on the boat, or supervise work, as in my case. The sun, salt and constant wear and tear of the sea life means everything on a boat takes a beating and eventually needs repair or replacement. With a pleary of materials available in French Polynesias capitol, much better prices and availability than the Central American countries we have visited, it seems it is destiny we get through that sadly neglected “To Do” list that builds up in the back of our sailing log book. So my humans finally have no excuses not to get through some boat jobs and will surely find a few more along the way.

But no reason to make the stay here in Tahiti all work and no play. There are still fun things to do and see while we are here. I have promised the humans, if they work hard, I will let them go off exploring occasionally. They have been good little worker bees lately, so I let them rent a car and do a “round the island” sight seeing day trip. I was impressed how much they squeezed into their tour and the humans were impressed how well sign posted and presented all the tourist sites were. There is a little something for everyone’s taste to see, and all the sites were FREE. Makes the renting a car worth it. (Ecocar- small 4 door, including no excess insurance $65/day + $21 fuel). I have included a “slide show” at the end of this blog of the trip the humans made around the island.

So what next?
We have been promised that the pet permit should be ready, after a few more vet checkups, by mid March. In the mean time I will keep the humans working hard on boat projects, while we have access to supplies, and let them out for some hikes or socializing ‘if they are good’. Tahiti is not the best place to ride out the cyclone season (Nov.-April) but the chances are low and I am making the humans keep an eye on the forecasts in case we need to make a hasty retreat. Not much different from the time we chose to stay in Grenada, in the Eastern Caribbean for a hurricane season. The only difference is we will have to sail north, rather than south, to get out of the way if a nasty storm forms.

I promise to keep them alert. So do not worry. If we get up to any thing fun, I will post you some pictures.

Here is a close up of where we are anchored.  We are just south of the airport.
Here is an Arial shot of the anchorage. You can see Marina Taina in the background and the protective barrier reef that shelters the anchorage from the sea.  We are anchored off the public beach closer to the bungalows of the hotel.  On our own ‘over the water’ bungalow.
Boat jobs, BORING! But when the safety netting around the boat is looking this sun damaged…..perhaps it is time to get to work.
Perhaps it is also a good time to replace the old UV damaged dynema that holds up the guard wires. And what about all those rust spots guys?
Time to strip it all off, clean it up and replace it all.
This section done. Put some tubing over the sections we ‘throw’ the kayaks over and were the prevent can rub in some points of sail.
Before repairs.   (And yes, before you make any comments about the deck paint, we know the nonskid needs repainting.  Next season? )
After
Little finishes, like my doggy door on shock cords and hooks, make my floating home extra safe.
The humans escape the boat with trips into town.
A building wall painted to create an optical illusion of texture.
There are some nice parks right in the city centre. This lovely garden is found behind City Hall. A great escape and lovely lunch spot.
The garden here is also very informative if you would like to learn about the local plants.
Great for the humans, but I am stuck aboard BORED!
All I have to look forward to is my morning swim swims before the island breezes stir up the lagoon surfaces.

But still I am a selfless dog, and rewarded my hard working humans with a little island tour get away.  I would have gotten them to visit The local Museum of Tahiti first, before embarking on the trip, but it was temporarily closed for refurbishment.

Here is a numbered map so you can travel around the island with the humans.
1. Is where they started. The anchorage in Faa’a is a 5 minute bus ride from the airport where there are a multitude of car rental deals to be had.
2. Is one of the multitude of excavated and preserved cerimonial and religious sites called Maraè
2. All the sites along Tahitian coastline have both cultural and religious significance….except perhaps the many surf spots. But that could still be classified as cultural?
3. Next stop is the beautiful water gardens of Vespore Caverns.
3. The caverns are cut into the hill side and water drips down the hanging ferns
3. This cavern had a carpet of waterlillies at it’s base
3. Waterlillie
3. The gardens are lovely to wander through
3. You have to love the Polynesian passion for flowering plants.  The gardens are also filled with information on all the plant species and the cultural significants of the area.
3. A beautiful flower that turns into an amazing seed pod

3.You never know what you will find around the next corner in this water park
4.After a quick coffee break to watch the surfers the humans were off down the West coast to the next stop, the Botanical Gardens
4.Banyon tree. Here at the National Botanical Gardens you can learn even more about the indigenous and introduced plant species of French Polynesia.
4.The humans did not have enough time to give the extensive collection here justice, but still worth stopping by and taking one of the parks many shorter trails.
5. The next stop was the tiny isthmus that divides Tahiti in two.  The area here is well protected and considered a ‘hurricane hole’. Maybe more aptly called a ‘cyclone hole out here in the Pacific. Checked on a friends boat (Nasoblu) stored here at Phaeton Yacht Club.
6. Perhaps the best view of this area and the isthmus that divides the island is from high up on the plateau of Tahiti iti, the smaller of the two halves. Here is a view down the West coast of Tahiti and the deep indentation to the isthmus
6.Here is the view up Tahitian rugged east coast and the deep indentation to the isthmus.
6.Finally, a view of the narrow isthmus.
7. Tahitian West coast is much more rugged. Even with the protection of the barrier reef the trade winds batter this coast and make it a surfers paradise. The terrain is dominated by towering volcanic mountains and deep valleys that cut deeply into the islands interior.
7. High mountains and deep valleys always make great waterfalls
7.There are a multitude of trails you can follow to visit these waterfall including this well groomed trail only a short walk from a park in parking lot.
7. Why does cascading water have a calming effect on humans? To preserve the water quality for the locals no swimming allowed here despite the perfect pool.

8. If you have a rugged coast with waves, you are sure to eventually find a blow hole.  Only a video will do a blow hole justice.

9. At the northern tip of the island there is a lovely look out. You can see the Yacht Club and distant cranes of the harbour of Papeete. In the back ground you can just make out Tahitian neighbouring island of Moorea
10. The humans had to pass through Papeete city centre, but after driving in London for years, even rush hour in the capitol here is a breaze
10. As you drive out of the city there is a garage with a nice view back onto the port harbour of Papeete.

And then it was back to the anchorage and a doggy very happy to see them back.

Keep you posted on what they get up to next.

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