French Polynesia in April/May 2023 (Travelogue in English)

[foto-k10]

... it was enough to wait a while after the dogs started barking and the owner appeared - who always let me cross his or her property to where I needed to go without any problems.

And when the owner isn't at home?

I was surprised that all the sanitary equipment hadn't disappeared from there.

But a plant is growing inside the toilet?

[Suse]

Awesome, I love abandoned places. There is always something eerie about them.

[amsel]

Thank you very much for your travelogue!

Is the Royal Huahine resort still open (the one with the own)? I remember some locals looking forward to it closing forever. The article you posted also confirmed that the local population in all of FP has somewhat mixed feelings about tourism.

I am very much looking forward to the continuation of your report!

[Bong!!!]

And when the owner isn't at home?

In this case, there are two options:

1.) If the dogs are leashed, go around.
2.) If not, fall back beyond the property line, they stick to their territory.

3.) In theory, the third option, if the second one doesn't work and they still chase you - fight!

But a plant is growing inside the toilet?

That's entirely possible - rains may have gradually washed enough soil into the toilet for something to grow there. From time to time I pull some weeds on the patio that take hold under the tiles, laid on a plastic platforms - there's no light but plenty of space.

Awesome, I love abandoned places. There is always something eerie about them.

Yes, me too, for the same reason. I also enjoy finding out more details about these places from the local people. My favorite place in this regard was an abandoned house on Anse Caiman on La Digue. Not so deserted now though, as they've built a bar nearby...

Thank you very much for your travelogue!

Is the Royal Huahine resort still open (the one with the own)? I remember some locals looking forward to it closing forever. The article you posted also confirmed that the local population in all of FP has somewhat mixed feelings about tourism.

I am very much looking forward to the continuation of your report!

You're welcome (-: Glad you've enjoyed reading & photos.

Royal Huahine still seems to be closed. But I haven't personally visited the place. What was the reason this particular hotel bothered the locals so much?

As for the overwater bungalows, I honestly don't really like that type of architecture. For me, it ruins the landscape and it doesn't fit in with its surroundings at all... But it's what it is...

[foto-k10]

As for the overwater bungalows, I honestly don't really like that type of architecture. For me, it ruins the landscape and it doesn't fit in with its surroundings at all... But it's what it is...

So underwater bungalows?

[Suse]

As for the overwater bungalows, I honestly don't really like that type of architecture. For me, it ruins the landscape and it doesn't fit in with its surroundings at all... But it's what it is...

Same here. On a smale scale it wouldn't bother me. But the amount of Bungalow-lined boardwalks covering the most beautiful bays on Moorea for example, is just destroying the natural beauty. It's a bit like beach loungers and parasols on Anse Coco etc. I just disapprove.

[Bong!!!]

The photo isn't worth much, but I couldn't take a better picture - a blue-eyed eel, a kind of local attraction. It's in a small stream in the village of Faie, on Huahine-Nui.

I searched for them for a while, and finally managed to locate the exact spot by the largest number of empty fish cans lying on the ground.

But, they are such lazy buggers, unfortunately I didn't have any food, so they refused to even move. Finally, throwing a small stick into the water a short distance from them helped, so, mission accomplished, I have a photo of the blue-eyed eel and can move on (-:



View of Maroe Bay, from the road leading south towards Huahine-Iti.


And here is a photo of the path leading to Hana-Iti beach, supposedly one of the most beautiful on the island. I walked from the main road. It's not far, about 2 km. About 2/3 of the way could be done by car, but I like to walk... The photo is from about the last third of the way through a bit more dense forest.


As I said, it is possible to drive a car for about the first two thirds, then you need to park…


Pictures of the beach:




Too bad I didn't know about the abandoned hotel that Paul Allen built, as I mentioned in my previous post.

I really like this kind of tree, especially its silhouette against the rising or setting sun. One of the reasons I like to walk. If I were driving, I'd be focusing on the road and driving and quite possibly wouldn't even notice.



The Hana-Iti beach was definitely interesting and nice, I also liked the surroundings. There were relatively more people there - it's not such an unknown place and getting there is not a problem.

It's also a fairly common destination for boat trips around the island.

You are driving along the road and suddenly a horse, I have a similar photo from Seychelles, but with a turtle (-:


Avea Bay beach, on Huahine-Iti, near Le Mahana hotel. Ironically, it was quieter here than at Hana-Iti. At most, an occasional hotel guest walked by. About once an hour.

This beach ended up being my favorite on Huhahine, although I didn't expect it initially. I didn't try the snorkeling, but again, supposedly it's good here in that regard (-:




The third photo again shows another "private property" behind the chain, but here I get it - the owner obviously maintains the place regularly, and if the chain wasn't there, other people would run over his nice lawn with their cars.


There were such beautiful resting places scattered around the road. Just like in Maupiti, everything was so clean and well-kept.


A photo of the rock formation that resembles a pregnant woman lying down and gave the island its name (Huahine means "pregnant woman").


The local bar was packed that day.
I just saw that the ship is currently docked in Tahiti...http://www.shiptraffic.net/current-posi ... /228763000

[Bong!!!]

The next morning I set off in a similar direction as the day before. This time on the hiking trail leading around the marae in the northeastern part of the island. The start of the trail is near Mont Tapu, across from Fare Potee, a museum dedicated to the history of the island.

The trailhead was nicely hidden, so it took me a few minutes to find it (-: If any of you find your way there, it is located looking from the road approximately 80 meters to the right of the public restrooms.


By the way, there were restrooms available at most of these places, which, at least when viewed from the outside, seemed well-maintained, which is pretty nice. Again, comparing this to the Seychelles, I can't help but think of Anse Major…


Otherwise the route was easy, no sharp climbs, a pleasant walk through the forest.

The first marae is located in the middle of the forest, it doesn't look like that in the photos, but it was quite an impressive structure. I have to say that even though I don't really believe in these things, I could feel some strange energy in that place.



The second marae was located on the edge of the hill, with a beautiful view of the lagoon.


Near marae Anini in the southern part of Huahine-Iti I discovered such a nice beach, even with a small shelter nearby.


I met a local clean-up crew who had gone there for a break. So we had a nice English-French chat, discussing who's from where, favorite meals, how nice it is on Huahine, etc. No deep conversation, due to the language barrier (-:

Finally, again some remaining photos, not included in the story:


And finally, departure to Bora-Bora:


View od the island from the plane, mont Tapu in the background (with the antenna tower):

[Bong!!!]

And the arrival, had like 2 days on Bora Bora, last of the Society Islands, before my departure to the Tuamotus.

[foto-k10]

By the way, there were restrooms available at most of these places, which, at least when viewed from the outside, seemed well-maintained, which is pretty nice. Again, comparing this to the Seychelles, I can't help but think of Anse Major…

And no entrance fee?

And finally, departure to Bora-Bora:

Hmm, isn't this island the most expensive of all?

[Bong!!!]

And no entrance fee?

There were no fees, the toilets were accessible free of charge. So were the official hiking trails. Well, with a couple of exceptions in Tahiti, as I recall - for some trails you had to get a permit from City Hall, for example, Fautaua Valley and a few others if I remember correctly.

Hmm, isn't this island the most expensive of all?

Yes, Bora Bora, if we are talking about "casual" islands, in the sense of accessibility - either on an Air Tahiti pass or via a regular ferry line, such as the Apetahi Express. It is one of the more expensive islands, or otherwise, it can be the most expensive - if you choose some luxury category of accommodation in OWB on some motu.

However, if the above is not taken into account, the regular accommodation was about 30-50% more expensive than on other islands.

Prices in supermarkets were also a bit higher, I remember running out of rum I bought in Tahiti and a 0.7L bottle that cost 2000 XPF over there, I bought in Bora Bora for 2450 XPF (-:

I'm not taking into account more or less "private" islands, where you can only find out the price through a travel agent, and you probably need to have some connections (and a lot of money) to get there in the first place (-:

[foto-k10]

And no entrance fee?

There were no fees, the toilets were accessible free of charge. So were the official hiking trails. Well, with a couple of exceptions in Tahiti, as I recall - for some trails you had to get a permit from City Hall, for example, Fautaua Valley and a few others if I remember correctly.

Well, Seychelles want to have money for more and more hiking trails.
A permit in ok, so a trail is not overcrowded and they know who is missing at the end of the day.

Prices in supermarkets were also a bit higher, I remember running out of rum I bought in Tahiti and a 0.7L bottle that cost 2000 XPF over there, I bought in Bora Bora for 2450 XPF (-:

About 16 €?
First I only read "a 0.7L bottle that cost 2000 XPF" and thought it's the price for a bottle of water.

[Suse]

If we should ever go to Huahine, your hiking directions will come in handy. Luckily travel reports in this forum are never deleted, so we'll keep it in mind as this will not be realized in the near future. We are in the process of booking the next trip to FP at the moment but again we'll leave out the Iles-Sous-le-Vent and this time also all Tuamotus. Just longer stays on Tahiti-Moorea-Raivavae. We really can't wait and it makes reading your travelogue even more fun.

[Bong!!!]

@foto-k10: A 1.5L bottle of water cost 100 - 105 XPF if I remember correctly. And to complete the picture, 0.5L beer was around five hundred (-:

@Suse: You must have really liked Raivavae a lot (-: But yes, from your description and photos it looked very good indeed... I was quite interested in Moorea, also because I could do one of the shortest flights (Tahiti - Moorea) that way. But, it was not possible to reasonably include it in the itinerary...

But, just hypothetically, if I were to visit Polynesia again, I would probably choose these two islands out of the Society Islands because of accessibility. Although I would definitely like to visit Tiapaa again, however, it's a bit more difficult to get there.

[Bong!!!]

Similar to Maupiti, the airfield has been built by the Americans during World War II for the eventual support and supply of troops defending the region in the event of a Japanese invasion. The material for the runway was obtained by blasting away part of the hill on the main island. Construction is said to have taken six weeks.

There is this memorial plaque in the harbour:


Again, as in the case of Maupiti, the airport is not on the main island, but on Motu (Mute) nearby. Transportation to the main island is provided directly by Air Tahiti and is free, or rather, included in the ticket price. Boat times are directly linked to departures and arrivals. It's quite a pleasant cruise with nice views of the main island from the upper deck. So after completing it, I ended up not having the need to do the lagoon tour afterwards.

Otherwise, no one checks anything, you just board, so if anyone feels the need to take an extra lagoon tour, perhaps in nicer weather - there is an option...

In order to simplify logistics and make more efficient use of my time on the island - as I mentioned above, I only had two days, or perhaps more accurately, a day and a half - I stayed in Vaitape. Approximately five minutes walk from the harbour.

Vaitape is a kind of "main village" on the island, much of the traffic and services are concentrated there.

Part of the main road, especially around the petrol station and local larger supermarkets is quite busy.


The two larger supermarkets are Chin Lee and SuperU.

Chin Lee has a better rating on google, however, I think SuperU is better in my opinion (-: There is more space between the shelves, not as many people and the prices seemed a bit lower. It's a bit further away from "downtown" though, but nothing serious, a few extra minutes walk.

Otherwise, Bora Bora is one of the most popular islands, so, especially the area around the port in Vaitape was more "touristy" - souvenir shops, pearl shops, tattoo parlours and so on. However, I must say that I rather expected it to be worse in this regard.

But they had a nice church there, just a few minutes walk from the harbor.. The photo didn't turn out so well, just barely escaped deletion