Oct 5, Papeete Tahiti

Papeete (Pa pay a tay) is the commercial center for most of the South Pacific. It is a commercial town, not at all like what Captain Bligh found when he came here on the Bounty. I can see why Capt. Bligh's sailors wanted to stay here - the Polynesian women can be very pretty. But in the here and now, it is not obvious why anyone but a Tahitian would want to live here.

We took a fairly interesting ship's tour up the mountain to the center of the caldera of the volcano that formed Tahiti. It is pretty scenic with waterfalls, narrow roads, and steep hillsides. The highlight of the trip was watching the guide play with some eels in the pond for the power plant.

They say that there are some nice beaches on the other side of the island, but on this side it is mostly rocks. The waves were pretty good so the surfers were out in force. It was a work day and school is in session, so the surfers were mostly from the high number of unemployed here just now. One guide said that she doesn't understand why they surf here because the waters are infested with sharks.

I went over to the local market and got another case of sticker shock. Prices are lower than in Bora Bora, but still about double the prices at home.

The ship brought on a folkloric show. It was great. Pretty girls in grass skirts. Libby says the boys were pretty too.

You can see Moorea from here. We will be there tomorrow.