As I took the helm for my last midnight to 0400 watch on 4 July the lights of Tahiti twinkled in the distance. The rain had cleared late on Sunday afternoon, then the clouds and the wind disappeared and the sea flattened out, leaving us to motor sail for the last 50 or so nautical miles of this passage. The peaks and pitons of Tahiti started to come into view as we edged closer and as the sun rose and threw out it's early morning rays, we were tantalised by our first glimpses of the islands dramatic and luscious scenery. We furled the small amount of sail we had out, radioed the Vigi Du Port to request permission to enter Papeete Port waters and then made our way into the "City" Marina. This marina, run by the Port Authority, is run on a "first come, first served basis" and you effectively arrive and select where to tie up based on availability. After a couple of false starts - the first berth being subject to fast ferry wakes, the second being needed for a catamaran - we settled into a suitable pen at the long waterfront dock. With office and check in procedures completed, we once again made Elevation shipshape before we started on our list of tasks associated with our rudder and other repairs.

It's been an intense and busy time meeting with various companies and trades providers to identify the right location for us to haul out and to obtain quotes for work needed. There has also been a degree of difficulty from a language perspective and Google Translate has become our new best friend. Luckily, the locals are all very friendly and accommodating and we have been able to address needs, obtain quotes and start the ball rolling with our insurers. Living onboard will not be possible and sourcing accommodation was challenging as of course it is the high season here - with a lot of patient research using less than great internet, we finally managed to get a mix of places to stay. We found a great local sailmaker, Guillaume of Tahiti Sails, who has very efficiently dealt with the repairs to our mainsail; our bolt rope track being damaged in two places when we lost steerage and rounded up. Sebastien, the director at Technimarine, where we are scheduled to haul out next week, has been invaluable providing advice; he even offered us the free use of a freezer at the yard to store our remaining frozen provisions!

Our sightseeing so far has been extremely limited. We are loving the easy walk to the Marche Papeete, a riotously colourful place filled with fresh produce, aromatic tropical floral arrangements, locally grown vanilla and coffee and souvenirs galore. We've checked out the famous "Roulettes" at Place Vaiete, a quick five-minute stroll from the marina and extremely popular with both local people and tourists. Each night food vans arrive at this waterside dock location and in no time at all, transform a dull parking area into a vibrant open air food court complete with a variety of French, Polynesian and Pacific/Chinese fusion food, plastic tables and chairs and local entertainment. Good food, and great people watching!

Heiva I Tahiti is now in full swing - this three-week festival dates back to 1881 and began as a one day celebration of Tahitian culture following the ousting of the English Protestant missionaries when the French took full control of the Polynesian islands. With greater political freedom being gained in the 1970's, Heiva became a catalyst for showcasing traditional cultural - dancing, singing, music and craft - and today is an exciting, vibrant celebration of all things Polynesian. We were able to obtain tickets to this wonderful event and were entertained for almost 5 hours by amazing musicians, soulful and melodious singers, and sensationally vibrant and rhythmic dancers. The mostly local audience all dress beautifully with elaborate floral headdresses- tres magnifique - or fresh Tahitian Tiare blooms. Earlier in the day, I had visited the craft collective and got chatting with Tamatoa, one of the pearl jewellery makers and a dancer for one of the Heiva troupes. He was genuinely pleased to learn that we had tickets and handed me an artificial Tiare bloom to wear "to be like a local vahine".

Today is Bastille Day and we are looking forward to the annual fireworks display, reported to be the biggest in the South Pacific. There are worst places to be when fixing boats!