Beautiful, Stunning, Magnificent, Spectacular Tahiti

Superlatives are the only way to describe Tahiti, the gateway to French Polynesia. Unfortunately, February is part of its rainy season. When our cruise director Brett moved the Show Under the Stars from poolside on Deck 9 to the Cabaret Lounge the night before we arrived, it was not a good omen because it was the first night we had not seen the stars. The rain continued the next morning when we met our table mates Ginger and Joe to decide what to do on our day in Paradise. Ken had wanted to rent a car to drive to the smaller part of this figure-eight shaped island. The larger, western part with its capital city of Papeete is called Tahiti Nui or "Big Tahiti," while the smaller eastern peninsula is named Tahiti Iti or "Little Tahiti" and is more like the Tahiti visited by Captain Bligh, Fletcher Christian and the crew of the Bounty. Sara thinks that Ken just liked saying the name Tahiti Iti.

Fortunately, we were approached by a van driver named Robert when we debarked who made a deal with us to take us around Tahiti Nui on the main highway and point out Tahiti Iti to us as well as stop for us to tour many of the islands must-see attractions. Tour books refer to this as the Circle Island Tour, and the road is 72 miles long. Driving through traffic-clogged Papeete at rush hour helped Ken to understand the wisdom of not renting a car.

Our first stop was Point Venus where Captain James Cook observed the transit of the planet Venus in 1769. Captain Bligh landed here after anchoring the Bounty offshore. The black sand beach and the parklike setting around the white lighthouse are popular for picnics. Next, we saw the "Blowhole" where we discovered one of Tahiti's most interesting natural phenomena: the ocean water reaches under the road to come out under pressure as a powerful and thundering jet at the foot of a steep cliff.

Then we toured the Gauguin Museum, a memorial to Paul Gauguin, a French artist who lived in Tahiti from 1891 to 1893. The museum had a few of his works and a section with post cards of his major works and which museums own them today. The charm of the museum is the exhibits that are dedicated to Gauguin's life in French Polynesia. In the gift shop, where the tour starts, Sara who almost never wears T-shirts was totally enchanted by a plain white T-shirt with a simple, black-line drawing by Gauguin. When she read an exhibit that explained that this was one of Gauguin's early sketches of a full-front face and profile of a Tahitian woman, she knew she had to buy the T-shirt. She rationalized her decision by saying she could give it as a gift. Don't hold your breath, ladies! It's really for Sara.

The museum is adjacent to the Harrison W. Smith Jardin Botanique (Botanical Gardens) that were exceptionally beautiful this time of year. These gardens were started by an American who during his midlife crisis left a career as a physics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to settle in Tahiti. (Smart man!) Our tour book claimed that this is the wettest part of Tahiti, "so bring an umbrella." Very perceptive because it was raining. After we left the gardens, Robert took us to a small public park that showcased the best of Tahiti--high cliffs, cascading waterfalls, densely covered ponds, breathtaking flora and the world's most beautiful restrooms decorated with tropical flowers. Then, Ginger requested that we stop at the Sofitel Hotel with its private beach. The rain had finally stopped so we got to admire Tahiti in all its natural glory.

Robert's commentary was as fascinating as our tour. He blames the weight problem on too many hamburgers that the residents have feasted on at McDonald's. He also pointed out numerous hotels and business establishments that had gone out of business because the economy is down and airfares are up. When Robert spent two years in California, he became good friends with Warren Beatty, Sam Waterson and Sylvester Stallone, all of whom love Tahiti and the Tahitian women. Tahiti's favorite hotels offer the four Bs--bed, breakfast, beer and boom-boom (use your imagination). Robert also told us about a golf tournament in which a beautiful Tahiti woman provides the 19th hole. Ginger pondered how much of his commentary we should believe.

Robert dropped us off at the Municipal Market in downtown Papeete with its dazzling array of fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, handicrafts and black pearls sold under a gigantic tin pavilion. We all enjoyed the local beer Hinano then toured both floors of the market before Joe and Ken decided they had had enough shopping. Sara then accompanied Ginger on her mission to find the perfect black pearl necklace to complement her black pearl and mother-of-pearl dangling earrings. Ginger purchased a beautiful long strand of baroque-shaped black pearls that were a good value for the money. Please note that we did not use the term inexpensive. Nothing in Tahiti is cheap. Ken is lucky that Sara was not as enchanted with black pearls as she was with the Gauguin T-shirt or he would need to go back to work. Sara's purchase was a six-pack of Hinano beer for Ken, which is the most expensive six-pack she had ever bought.

That evening's entertainment on the ship was the Hei Tahiti Folkloric Group presenting a traditional song and dance performance by eight beautiful women and four muscular, tattooed men. After the show, they posed for pictures with the passengers, and all men on the ship could easily understand why the mutiny on the Bounty occurred. Who would ever want to leave this paradise?