Last December, when we spent ten days in Papeete between cruises, G had really wanted to walk through the Papeete commercial port area. We see it from our balcony at the Hotel Tiare Tahiti, but to get the very end of of it, a seawall that extends far out into the Papeete harbor, requires about a 45 minute walk or so. It was way too hot in December to think about that kind of walk in the sun surrounded by concrete. But today...the weather was so pleasant and we had gotten such an early start to our day that I was up for it. Like Mt. Tapioi on Raiatea, this wasn't going to go away. It was time to just do it.
I have known G for 35 years and have done many of these sorts of walks before. He loves looking at things, figuring out what they are, how they work, what they're used for, etc. He loves observing things like freight operations, on trains or boats. Now, I have a fair amount of patience with this sort of thing because my dad was exactly the same way. As kids, we were dragged...er, taken to every museum along the way on our camping trips. I remember well my first trip to the Henry Ford Museaum in Dearborn, Michigan. "See J, that's the governor (a machine part, not a politician)", or "Those are the pistons, that's the manifold (intake and exhaust)...etc.". To which I would respond, "But Daddy, I'm only four years old. Where are the Barbies?". You get the point. The two main men in my life have been much the same in that way.
So we walked first down to the ferry terminal, where G struck up a conversation with a port agent who told us the Port of Papeete is open (no security) and we could safely walk the entire distance. We continued on our way, through an area that contains stores and warehouses related to boats and ships and crossed a bridge into the port itself. This was when I first realized that the port is on an island. Only the smallest boats can enter the other side, under the bridge. Most, as we've seen from our balcony at the Hotel Tiare Tahiti, enter the port the same way the cruise ships do.
Source: Moon Tahiti Guide
Now, unlike most port areas, this one was not at all unpleasant. in fact, it became most pleasant when we reached the area of the coconut oil mill. It was located right next to the Aranui dock, the freighter than runs between Tahiti, Bora Bora, Rangiroa and several of the Marquesas islands, but also carries passengers on cruises. The Aranui returns to Papeete with copra (dried coconut meat) from the island, and unloads it next to the mill, where it is pressed and processed for oil. The entire area smelled like bonbons. It reminded me of Hershey, Pennsylvania and Battle Creek, Michigan (Kelloggs...and we toured both of those factories as kids, too. Those I liked!). I swear, if everyone lived near one of those sweet smelling places, there would be world peace. We saw vats and storage tanks of all different grades of coconut oil, from stainless steel ones for consumption to lubrication for machinery.
Main road into the Port of Papeete
The Aranui 3 was in port today for a turnaround day, and was being unloaded and loaded. Around the corner from that was the interisland freight office, and that was the busiest place in the entire port. We saw a degreasing operation with ship engine pistons that were four feet long, an entire yard of rusty anchor chains and a large area where mother of pearl shells were being sorted and crated. Eventually, we made our way to the port operations building. I waited outside while G stepped in there, and a few minutes later he was motioning me to join him. We were invited to go up in the port control tower, We were asked not to take any photos (don't these people know I need blog content??), and that was the only indication of any security in the entire port. We love it here!
The view was incredible, and there were lots of displays and it's not totally dissimilar to the photos I've seen of airport control towers or even a ship's bridge. The people we met spoke English and gave us a little tour, and we talked about the Pacific Princess, due to arrive tonight at 8pm from Moorea. I wish I had known then what I know now, that the Pacific Princess will again be at Berth #2, where the Paul Gauguin usually is. I would love to know the reason for that.
Finally, we walked down to the sea wall by which all the ships and ferries must closely pass. We climbed up on large rocks to reach the top of the seawall and discovered a young couple eating their lunch there. We greeted them as we were greeted over and over yesterday when we were eating by the waterfront. "Ia orana! Bon appetit!" and then walked to the far end of the sea wall. We knew the Moorea ferry was leaving at 11:30 am and would be coming right by the sea wall. We wanted to take pictures of it with Moorea in the distance. As we sat there, several outrigger canoeists passed by. Suddenly the girl came running down to us and yelling something excitedly. I could not make out what she was saying (in French) and I could tell she was searching her brain for an English word. Finally she shouted "DOLPHINS!" and we looked at where she was pointing. Sure enough, there were maybe 100 dolphins jumping out of the water and doing flips, right in the harbor where the ships and ferries pass. All we could figure is that the ferry starting its large engines to depart got the dolphins all excited. Very cool! The ferry departed and we took our photos.
On our way out of the port, we walked along a very high sea wall separating the port from the open ocean. We spotted a tent set up along the sea wall and some scantily clad girls standing around. Now, I live in a different world than this sort of thing, but G (who lives in that same world with me but who is a guy who spent 27 years in the military) knew exactly what this was. He gestured to some men working across the road and one of them said "Sex. $50" (Wow...how clever were they to size up that we were American and speak English and then even do the currency conversion for us, too!). I have no idea about that rate...is it high because it's French Polynesia or low because Papeete, though by far the biggest port in the area, is just not that large? (And, please, if you know the answer to that, do NOT feel compelled to email me!).
We arrived back at the ferry terminal just as one of the large, car carrying ferries was unloading and stopped to watch the trucks being unloaded. That ferry is huge!
As we passed by the second cruise ship berth (we call it the Paul Gauguin berth because that's where it always docks) we saw that the large tents that are used for check in and luggage storage for the Pacific Princess were being unloaded and set up. Last turnaround day the ship was docked there also, because the Radiance of the Seas was in port with us. But I was surprised to see it there today with no other ship in port.
It was well after 12:30pm when we made it back to the area around our hotel, and, though it was not unpleasantly hot, we were getting warm in the sun. But relief was in sight...the frozen yogurt store just down from the Hotel Tiare Tahiti has half priced yogurt on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11:30am to 1:30pm. We met the owner of this shop and his parents (all from France) last year while staying at the Hotel Tiare Tahiti because he opened for business that same week. I wasn't certain he'd make it then; business was very slow but we did our best to help out. ;-) Well, it's doing just fine and the junior high and high school kids know all about this half price deal. The line was out the door but we waited just a few minutes and got ours. Today I had Greek yogurt and raspberry and it was fantastic. And we sat at a table on the sidewalk and called it lunch.
We returned to the hotel and stopped to pick up our valuables from the safe at the front desk. I had been a bit concerned about heading into a port area with passports and credit cards and money but needn't have worried. Everyone we saw waved and "Ia orana"-ed us and we never felt a bit unsafe. The only unsavory thing we saw was the Tent of Temptation, but even that seemed pretty tame (NOT that I have anything to compare it to!). It was a fun outing and good exercise. And I am a very good wife. :-)
We stayed in for a few hours this afternoon just so we could rest (though not nap). We were determined to stay up late enough tonight to sleep past 4am tomorrow morning! G then gave me my first haircut of the winter (who do you think was braver: he or I?) and did a darn nice job, and I returned the favor, and we did a bit of organizing of things in our suitcases. We wanted to have everything done before sunset and the Pacific Princess' arrival at 8pm, so we could watch the ship arrive from our balcony and then walk down to les roulottes for dinner.
Sunset over Moorea from our balcony at the Hotel Tiare Tahiti was a pretty one. We kept watch, continually checking the Pacific Princess webcam on WiFi and then looking out again for the first sign of the ship's light. It was easy to imagine exactly what was happening on the ship right then- dinners being served, beds being turned down, luggage being collected, people packing- and felt strange that we weren't there, too.
The ship finally came around the corner to enter the harbor and slowly spun into position at the second berth. It always thrills me to watch that happen! We walked down to that area and heard an announcement being made on the ship that it had been cleared by the local authorities just as we walked up. It's always interesting to watch what happens next. First, an official, probably the port agent, walked off the ship and into a waiting car. Then I noticed three men who looked to be in their late 20s or so waiting to board with large black duffel bags. I walked over and asked them if they were entertainers or crew and they were neither. They were divers who just flew in from Vancouver. They had worked on the hull of the Pacific Princess when it was in Vancouver and are going to continue it for the two days the ship is in Papeete, and then fly home. That kind of job both fascinates and scares the heck out of me. I adore diving, but just the thought of being under that large ship gives me chills. And I wondered later if their work has anything to do with the ship being at Berth #2.
The divers were eventually allowed to board, and then we were surprised to first see two dancers and Shai, the lead male vocalist walk off heading to les roulottes, followed by several officers including Hotel General Manager Ivano and Captain D. The latter two were being met and taken somewhere, probably to dinner, but everyone took the time to walk over to us ask about our trip to Rapa Nui. It was nice that they remembered we were going there.
It also made me think...in the course of the one 10-day cruise we missed, we traveled 5200 miles and 1000 years back in time. What an amazing trip we had!
