To be perfectly franc in Tahiti

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Papeete's Faa'a International Airport opened its doors and welcomed the first visitors to French Polynesia in 1961. Nearly 40 years later, little has changed for the 220,000 people of this South Pacific paradise. There are more tourists, the French connection is still obvious, nuclear testing has come and gone, but, thankfully, the laid-back lifestyle remains.

Tourism is a big money-spinner.

The people on the main islands of Tahiti and Moorea enjoy an enviable lifestyle. They remain as friendly towards visitors and take pride in their tight-knit families. And they are easy-going.

It is easier, for example, to buy fish at the supermarket or markets than go and catch it, despite having the time.

When the need for big-money items arise, many simply sell a piece of land - but not, the government insists, to foreigners.

It is a rich nation in many ways, but often only one member of an extended family holds a well-paid job.

Their day often starts and ends with a trip to the magasin - New Zealand's equivalent of the disappearing corner dairy. Laden with up to a dozen baguettes - subsidised by the government to ensure there is always bread on the table - they cost just 35 CFP (French Pacific francs; about 60c) and remain the staple for many families.

Rice and sugar are also subsidised and cost about a third of the price in France.

While many tourists are cautious and restrict themselves to bottled water and carefully selected foods, there is plenty to eat without worrying. The seafood is superb and features on menus everywhere.

A favourite with locals and visitors are the brightly-lit roulettes - mobile food vans - which offer a variety of dishes cheaper than hotels and restaurants.

From about 5 pm each day the food trailers are in place. One of the most popular spots is a large parking area adjacent to the Moorea ferry wharf, alongside the docks at which the omnipresent cruise liners tie up.

The market-like atmosphere is inviting, the variety of food amazing.

With such a strong French influence - Tahitians have been regarded as French citizens for the past 55 years - it is little wonder that superb cuisine is a big part of many restaurant menus.

Among those likely to tempt the adventurous is Maa Tahiti - a feast often served on Sundays which can include poisson cru (raw marinated fish), roasted pork, taro, kumera, and spinach mixed with chicken. This is followed by a desert of banana and pawpaw cooked together with tapioca.

While steak tartare (raw steak) can be found on the menus of restaurants outside France, the tartare de thon (tuna) might not. Served with a small salad, it is taste-tempting delight for lovers of the freshest of seafood.

Many locals eat with their fingers but knives and forks are provided for less adventurous visitors.

Eating out is expensive in this country of 35 islands and 83 atolls scattered over more than five million square kilometres. A modest meal of two courses and a bottle of French wine will cost at least $80 a person.

The price can quickly go much higher: a lobster main, for example, can cost $75.

The high TVA - a gst-type sales tax - levied at between 1 and 4 per cent when it was imposed three years ago, is now between 6 and 9 per cent and rising.

Goods imported from New Zealand, as an example, attract an import tax of 70 per cent. From Japan it can be up to 100 per cent. Apart from a small quantity of fish, virtually nothing is exported.

Tourism trails only the big-earning black pearls as the country's chief source of income.

Many maintain that if service improved, tourism could have an even greater impact.

The French government continues to feed money to French Polynesia and the European influence is there in cars bearing the Renault, Peugeot, BMW or Mercedes Benz marques.

But a walk around a supermarket can be little different to shopping in New Zealand or Australia. Products can be on Papeete shelves five days out from Auckland.

That quick turnaround - it takes five weeks for ships to reach the islands from France - keeps New Zealand at the top of the Tahitians' shopping list and the link is predicted to get stronger.

While trade is mostly one-way in New Zealand's favour, there are many educational exchanges with New Zealand students.

Those who have had schooling in both countries are convinced that the standards in French Polynesia are higher. English is compulsory at secondary school and from next year will be part of the primary school curriculum.

Language, often a problem in non-English speaking countries, and one can think readily of difficult times in places like New Caledonia, is easily overcome in Tahiti.

Most people associated in any way with tourists can get by in English. They also speak Tahitian (not too unlike Maori) and, of course, French.

A 40-minute (fast ferry) or one-hour (vehicular ferry) ride away is the island of Moorea.

Best known to New Zealanders for Club Mediterranee, the island boasts other world-class resort hotels and offers the chance to "get away from it all."

The crystal clear waters, protected by a reef which encircles much of the island, offers safe swimming and ideal waters for diving. The huge array of small, multicoloured fish only add to the island's attraction.

While many confine themselves to Papeete - and there is plenty to do including a stroll through markets overflowing with fresh produce and fish - it is easy to get around the main island in either a rental car or tour bus.

The beaches, black sand on the way out along the east coast and white (with cleaner water) further around the island, offer safe swimming in warm water.

Access can be difficult in some places: while the beaches are public, access to them is often through private land.

Tahitian ties with France - going well beyond baguettes, great wines, left-hand-drive cars, Club Med and the language - are obvious, but there are those still keen to press for independence.

These "freedom fighters," however, do not find a lot of support as most locals seem to be happy with their lot and in no hurry to sever the 55-year tie Tahitians have enjoyed with France.

To the outsider, any break with France - and Bougainville first visited the far-flung islands nearly 250 years ago - could bring unwanted change.

Among the most developed of all Pacific nations, French Polynesia is special.

The lush tropical landscape, free-flowing rivers and craggy mountains help visitors push aside some of the less savoury facets of island life.

Tahitians who divide their time between New Zealand and their homeland are appalled (and embarrassed) at the mounds of rubbish which are piled up in almost every Papeete street.

No-smoking restaurants have no place here, the rush-hour traffic is horrendous and parking restrictions are virtually non-existent in a city where many still live in cramped, rundown conditions.

But putting aside such things, there are few more relaxing ways to sit back, take a break and enjoy life in the slow lane than finding a spot to watch the sun set on one of the world's still largely unspoiled paradises.