Tahiti has been a whirlwind of socialising and touring. On Monday we joined Somerset and Sirena of Oare on a tour of Papeno'o Valley with our guide Teiva who French Polynesian. The valley crosses right through the centre of Tahiti but is currently blocked since a landowner on the western side has forbidden vehicles to pass over their land. Apparently the pass there is very narrow and some gunhoe tour drivers either hit or only just missed children playing near the road so now all the tours have to backtrack to the eastern side - which according to Teiva is not a bad thing since the road through to the west is full of ruts and rocks. The road we were traveling along towards the east seemed little better - the jeep crawled down the mountainside and around hairpins at impossible angles and D from Sirena of Oare had to close her eyes at some points it was so steep. The photos are of a mountainside covered in waterfalls and of Teiva feeding jamon and fromage sandwiches to fresh water eels - they almost jump for it.
We have now had 2 excellent lunches at 'O' Restaurant on ?? in Papeete. The restaurant is modern French and run by David and Corin who are part owners and Remi who is the chef. Remi and David joined us on Iolea with Interlude and Somerset for a lazy afternoon last Sunday - I think it was 10pm by the time everyone headed home after dinner ashore. This is our last lunch at the restaurant, with David and Corin at the end of the table and Jim from Somerset in between.
Our last couple of days on Tahiti has been occupied with separating ourselves from large quantities of money - just as the Ozzie dollar starts to tank! Paul's 25 year old BC and Regulator are leaking like mad and since he is the one who is meant to save me if something goes wrong when we dive rather than the other way around, it was time to get a new one - particularly with the prospect of Nui in front of us. For my part, Papeete is a provisioning mecca and we stocked up on cheeses and cold meats and tinned duck - all the necessaries of life. We are now heading to Moorea a little poorer. The last photo is of a weird looking boat on the mega yacht marina.