Our arrival in Tahiti heralds a much needed return to civilisation after months in the wilderness – time for boat repairs, showers, laundry, baguettes, yoghurt and cheese.
When we arrive in Tahiti it is windy and wet, and every day while we’re there the skies seem to discharge a huge downpour or two. Which makes quite a nice change from the dry Tuamotu islands that we come from, but is not conducive to drying all the laundry that we have saved up for this fabled place of washing machines. That’s what cruising in remote locations is like – we are over the moon to arrive in Tahiti, not because of its impressive volcanoes or lovely sandy beaches, nor for its nice snorkelling or cultural importance as the heart of French Polynesia. But because it has washing machines. Which sounds silly, but is rather incredible when you’ve been living on a hot boat in the tropics without access to much water or any laundry facilities for two and a half months.
It is not only laundry we have to do here, although we do have endless sheets, undersheets, pillows and towels that need a good hot wash to sterilise them after months of sweaty sleep and infected coral cuts. We have to install the new batteries that are waiting for us in Taina Marina just out of town. We also need to get a cooking gas refill, and to provision for the next four months of cruising in less-than-wonderful retail locations such as Tonga and Fiji. And then there are all the small jobs – reinstalling the water filter which fell out halfway across from Galapagos to the Marquesas. Fixing a broken handle on a hatch to prevent further leakage. Repairing the port engine clutch which has just started slipping. Downloading kindle books for Matias who is reading faster than our limited internet access can provide (doesn’t say much – currently we have access to download a book about twice a month). Answering emails after a month without internet. Buying new clothes for the rapidly growing children. Showering.
We start by going to a half-finished marina right in the centre of town, a lovely location just in front of the huge cruise ships with names like ‘King of the Sea’ that park up to disgorge passengers into Pape’ete where their shopping experience awaits. It is a great place for a marina, right in front of the main drag, within walking distance from the market, the shops and the mobile food stalls – the roulottes – that serve delicious French and Chinese food to hundreds of people every night. We go out eating two nights in a row and revel in the fresh, crunchy vegetables of the chow mein, the roquefort sauce and pommes frites, the bread that we didn’t have to bake ourselves.
Because the marina is not fully operational we only pay half price, which is fair given we only receive half the services of a normal marina. The toilets are a good kilometre from our berth, which is not great for the childrens’ perpetually urgent toilet calls, and the washing machines are not operational. But they have internet, showers and shore power, all of which are amazing. I finally upload the blogs from the Tuamotus and manage to answer some of my emails, David looks up clutch repair options and second-hand kayaks online, and Seb and Val do their best to avoid looking at their work emails. We spend half hours just standing under hot water flowing down, soaping ourselves down, washing and combing hair, marvelling at how nice it is to feel clean. Not that it lasts long – it is incredibly hot and humid here and as soon as we step out of the shower we’re covered in sweat, but still. It is also fantastic to have a fully operational fridge after months of battery problems, and it came at just the right time – we caught a big skipjack tuna the day before coming into Pape’ete and continued refrigeration means we can actually eat it rather than throw half of it away.
Downtown Pape’ete seems a nice place with its brightly lit waterfront featuring parks and paths planted with beautiful trees and flowery bushes. Flowers are indeed everywhere here – fragrant bouquets for sale in the market, individual flowers decorating the hair of most women, necklaces of tightly bound flowers and leaves adorning tourists and locals alike, big colourful flowers woven into artful arrangements tied to lamp posts and fences.
After two days spent exploring the centre of Pape’ete we say a sad goodbye to Seb and Val who are flying back to New Zealand. The children are sobbing on our way back from the market where we said our goodbyes and as soon as we get to the boat Matias starts writing them letters, including a message in a bottle which we will post with firm directions to head south west when we get to open water. Hopefully it’ll reach them in New Zealand.
After their departure it is time to get back to business, and we move the boat to Taina Marina where access to supermarkets is easier and where we have boat batteries arriving. Taina is a bit further from town but sports a massive Carrefour nearby where I spend most of my time over the next two days rapidly spending any money we might have saved whilst in the isles of no shops further east. Several times a day I risk my life and sanity pushing a dangerously loaded and spectacularly uncooperative shopping trolley up the steep hills to the narrow bridge over the bumpy footpaths from the Carrefour to the marina. The trolley tries its best to kill me, slaloming rapidly down the hills attempting to shake me off, refusing to go over curbs leaving me stranded in the middle of traffic, and veering dangerously close to the water’s edge on the rough boardwalk of the marina. Despite this, the kids and I triumphantly continue to bring back supplies until we are fully stocked and ready for the imagined food horrors of non-French Polynesia.
The rest of the time in Taina is spent doing unbelievable amounts of laundry, paying astronomical prices for the privilege. The lady in the office is incredulous when I come to get change for the laundry again and again but I don’t care how much money we spend – I just want clean sheets and towels. And a clean boat – after months of visitors it is time for a thorough clean-up and cockroach eradication effort, both utterly futile but nevertheless necessary. Kind of like all housework I guess – a fleeting sense of achievement and then back to square one to do it all again…
David is busy with the batteries, the hatch handle, the clutch and the water filter but finally after two days of solid work we emerge victorious, boat fixed, clean and fully loaded with French delicacies, crew scrubbed clean in endless showers, sheets and towels dry and fragrantly sterile. The only thing we haven’t been able to do is to get more cooking gas. There is a strike on at Tahiti Gas, and no cooking gas is available here or in the Society Islands. So far, the strike has been going for three weeks with no sign of an agreement emerging, and thousands of Tahitians are out of gas and likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. Not getting a gas refill is a bit of a problem for us, as we are doubtful we have enough to get us and Ed comfortably to Tonga, our next likely refill option. But there is little we can do – there is no gas – and so we resign ourselves to rationing the gas strictly from now on whilst looking out for refill opportunities wherever we go.
And then, after five hectic days is Tahiti, and without having seen much of the island at all, we are ready to go. Tahiti hasn’t got a very good reputation as a cruising destination and we are keen to head to Mo’orea where the waters are clear and the pace relaxed. We’ll meet Pete in Mo’orea, and then make our way towards Bora Bora where we are meeting Ed who will sail with us to Tonga.
SV Bob The Cat 