Tahiti crammed with natural beauty and cultural attractions

By GRAEME LAY*

Tahiti is a cluster of extinct volcanoes rising more than 2000m above the Pacific Ocean. Its jagged, forest-green peaks soar from the sea, overlooking azure lagoons and the island's encircling coral reef.

Visitors usually stop over at one of the resorts near Papeete, the island's capital, before moving on to one of the other Society Islands, such as Moorea, Huahine or Bora Bora.

But Tahiti offers a great deal more than just Papeete. The 114km-long coastal road around the island allows the visitor - self-driven or by coach - to savour the loveliest coastal plain in the South Pacific.

A circle island tour of Tahiti starts at Papeete, located at 11 o'clock on the island's dial, and usually proceeds in a clockwise direction. Once the busy shopping districts and suburbs of Papeete have slipped behind, the road follows the coast alongside Matavai Bay, climbs a steep hill, then descends into the district of Mahina.

A short turn-off leads to a sprocket of land named Pt Venus, historically one of the most significant landmarks in the Pacific. Pt Venus is the place where the first European discoverer of Tahiti, the Englishman Samuel Wallis, disembarked in 1767.

James Cook's expedition also encamped here, in 1769, to observe the transit of the planet Venus across the face of the sun. A striking lighthouse - designed by the father of the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson - marks this spot today.

Pt Venus was also the base for William Bligh's ill-fated breadfruit-gathering expedition of 1788, a sojourn during which the allures of the Tahitian women captured the affections of Bligh's men, contributing to the mutiny on the Bounty - and all the movies that followed.

Today Pt Venus is a popular picnic spot for locals. The long, black sand beach is overlooked by coconut palms, and bare-breasted French women baste themselves on the sand or cool off in the silken waters of Matavai Bay. From the beach the view of the bay and the towering green mountains is magnificent.

Five minutes' drive from Mahina is the Papenoo district, noted for its surfing, and further on still is a sheer-sided valley, Faarumai, which cuts deep into the island. At the head of the valley three spectacular waterfalls plunge hundreds of metres into pools at the foot of the cliffs. The secluded Faarumai valley, with its coconut palms, breadfruit and banana plantations, is like another small world, hidden from civilisation.

The next section of coastline, the Tiarei district, at about 2 o'clock on Tahiti's clock-face, is rugged. Here the island is exposed to the prevailing southeasterly trade winds which drive the Pacific swells hard against the land.

The road has been routed into black basalt cliffs and around steep headlands. Rockfalls are not uncommon. At Tiarei itself a blowhole at the foot of the cliff erupts every few seconds, showering the road with salt spray.

Then, gradually, the coastal plain widens again, and there are pretty villages separated by mountain spurs and the estuaries of crystal-clear rivers, pouring down from the green mountain core of the island.

The villages - each with its distinctively designed church - are clean and neat, and beside the road, stalls sell produce such as mangoes, grapefruit and bananas. It was off one of these villages - Hitaa - that French explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville anchored his frigate in 1768.

Twenty kilometres on, at 5 o'clock on the dial, is the busy service town of Taravao. Here Tahiti-Nui (Big Tahiti) divides, amoeba-like, into Tahiti-Iti (Little Tahiti). The road crosses the isthmus and a wide estuary, then comes to the Papeari district.

This is the most beautiful part of Tahiti's coastal plain, a virtual Garden of Eden. Here, on a small plain beside the lagoon, is the Paul Gauguin Museum and a Botanical Garden, created by an American, Harrison Smith, last century. Surrounded by tropical plants, and with waters of the lagoon and Tahiti Iti visible through the palms, Papeari is the perfect place to break the circle island drive and take lunch, at the restaurant by the museum, or picnic in the gardens.

On the next section of the south coast is Vaipahi, where right beside the road a waterfall tumbles from the cliff, creating a popular swimming hole, and a few kilometres on, at Mataeia, the French painter Paul Gauguin made his home in 1892, finding inspiration in the landscape and the local people.

From here onwards, on Tahiti's west coast, the fertile coastal plain broadens and plantation crops flourish. Here, too, is Tahiti's international golf course, Olivier Breaud, located at Papara while the mouth of the nearby Taharuu River comprises one of the island's best surfing spots.

For the final 30km the circle-island road is much busier and settlement denser. .

From Punaauia onwards, urban sprawl takes over the coast, but there is an oasis in the form of the Museum of Tahiti and Its Islands, set beside the sea at a location which is also a popular surfing spot. The museum contains a comprehensive natural and cultural history of French Polynesia. A short distance further on, a new bypass and a motorway lead to Faa'a Airport and back to Papeete.

A circle island tour of Tahiti is one of the best excursions the South Pacific has to offer, a drive crammed with natural beauty and historical and cultural attractions. Don't miss it.

Getting there:

Air Tahiti Nui flies to Tahiti on Fridays and Sundays. Air New Zealand flies to Tahiti on Saturdays, Sundays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Packages start from $1699 a person based on twin-share including return airfares from Auckland to Papeete, seven nights accommodation and return airport transfers.

Packages to Moorea start from $1699 a person based on twin-share including return airfares from Auckland to Papeete, return ferry transfers from Papeete to Moorea and return hotel transfers in both Papeete and Moorea. Price includes six nights in Moorea and one night in Papeete.

Both packages: for ex Wellington add $199 a person, ex Christchurch add $249 a person. Airport taxes not included. Contact Flight Centre for more details.

Where to stay:

Hotel Le Meridian, by the only white sand beach on Tahiti.

Pension De La Plage, just a short walk from shops and bus stop.

What to see and do:

Circle Island tours leave Papeete daily. Cost: around $66.

Le Marche - the Papeete Market - is the best in the South Pacific. Located just behind the town centre, it sells everything: tropical flowers, chilled drinking coconuts, vanilla pods, pareo skirts, wood carvings and black pearls. You can even get tattooed upstairs with a design of your choice.

Eat at one of the "roulottes", the mini-vans which descend on Papeete's paved waterfront area every evening. The food is varied, fast and tasty, and a meal costs only $16-$20.

Play golf at the picturesque Olivier Breaud course, at Papara, under the mountains and amid lush tropical vegetation.

Visit the Museum of Tahiti and Her Islands and see the exhibition Ia Orana Gauguin, featuring many Gauguin originals, May 10 - July 25.

Visit the James Norman Hall home, the beautifully restored home of the co-author (with Charles Nordhoff) of the Mutiny on the Bounty saga. Fascinating displays of Tahiti as it was in the 1920s and 30s.

Best time to go:

From May through September, the dry season, when day temperatures average 24-26 C.


* Graeme Lay travelled to Tahiti as a guest of Tahiti Tourisme and Air Tahiti Nui.

www.tahiti-tourisme.co.nz