Dave & Margs' Travels

We were woken by noisy traffic, (how we missed the barking of dogs and shrilling of cockrels from Cook). 6 of us went on the 4x4 trip, a Canadian couple, Aussie couple and us. We had a good day travelling round the coast road to the north and then inland. We saw permanent waterfalls and the marks remaining from the 400 or so temporary ones created during the rainy parts of the rainy season (we didn't have any), and where the water had washed some of the road away and created pot holes. We crossed a ford where a guy was washing his car, sw dams and rivers, had a swim and saw the two highest peaks on Tahiti which is on the rim of the original volcanoe which had blown the top off. Our journey took us through the crater left in the middle.

The road across to the south of the island had been damaged some time ago by weather and was being rebuilt and so after lunch we returned on the same route, stopping off at an ancient sacred site to hear about some of the history of the island and people and then a second swim this time at a waterfall where Dave dived in off a rock and we went in a small area with a strong current which was like a jacuzzi but much colder. It was nice to see some of the greener and scenery in the middle of the island as the beaches really weren't much to write home about.

We were pleased we had done Tahiti as planned but we wouldn't recommend that anyone makes a special effort to go there. There a nicer parts of French Polynesia such as Bora Bora but they are very expensive.