So it’s au Revoir Tahiti, an early flight takes us on to New Zealand.
Tahiti is somewhat of an enigma. You imagine a tourist haven but it is in fact quite the opposite. A real place with only the smallest concessions to tourism, and the land that globalisation forgot. All the obligatory brands hawking their wares are not here.
The fact most of anything resides in a small stip of land around the edge of the island gives you an environment where the massive contrast between the stunningly clear blue Pacific Ocean and the almost primeval tropical landscape which ascents at impossible angles pretty much everywhere is stunning.
We hardly saw any tourists while there, pretty much most of the people we met were polynesian, everyone spoke french, almost no-one spoke even a smattering of English. Which while fine, was a bit of a surprise. If fact the whole place reminded me of rural France if you ignore the fact it is a tropical island:
- Very beautiful place
- No bars anywhere
- Most things closed most of the time
- Zero concessions to tourists
- Only French is spoken anywhere
For most of our time here, I have had a picture of the world map in my head, and it’s a real thought how far away from anywhere we are here.
If you come to Tahiti I’d island hop and include moorea, bora bora or other islands as these are more tourist focused. Saying that Tahiti has a charm of its own, and it is a real place so do spend time there. If you are prone to bug bites, bring some stuff, we had stuff, it didn’t work.
Our accomodation was great, overlooking the pacific, a great snorkeling venue. We made a conscious decision to chill out and had a great time.