Papeete

Georgina, Camille, Darren and Tim landed in Papeete, the captial of Tahiti, on the evening of Feb 19th having set out 5 hours previously from Auckland midday on the 20th of Feb.

We were hit by a wall of humidity and met by pretty Tahitians who placed floral leis around our weary necks. Serenading us were three middle aged male musicians wearing sarongs and floral shirts, chewing gum and looking bored as hell. But I'd kill for those close harmonies.

It's great to see passengers of all shapes and sizes walking around the airport wearing flowers round the neck and in the hair.

Chief memory of Papeete; rain rain and more. To be honest we were there only a day but the word 'dump' came to mind. The hotel, more like motel, was on the outskirts of the city. It seems very poor and run down around there; high rise flats with crumbling façades. Lovely trees enliven 'though. We saw Moira's snack bar and Patricia's hair salon. Ex-pats?

After a day of looking at rain it was time to go the airport for the Marquesan flight. Passing through the rigorous security as usual we were reminded not to bring any 'feux d'artifices' with us. We were clean out of them anyway.

So, we boarded the propellor driven AT 72 of Tahiti Air and took the 3 hour flight to Nuku Hiva.