Hanging out in the big city
18 July 2007 | Papeete
Steve and Susan
University of California in Moorea???? Yep, it is the Gump Field station, located at one of the prettiest places we've been on this trip, Opunohu Bay; what a great place to do research.
We've been in the marina in Papeete for three days while we shopped, went sight seeing and got the engine service completed. Our trusty motor now has all new filters, oil and is good to go for another 2-300 hours. We're headed south along the west coast of Tahiti and will spend the next two weeks exploring some of the less crowded parts of the island. We will return to the marina and leave Surprise for a couple of weeks while we make a quick trip back to the US for Susan's nephew's wedding.
Many of the boats we got to know during the crossing, in the Marquesas, and the Tuamotos are now either in the Leeward Islands to the west or have left French Polynesia completely. The typical cruising visa is good only for 90 days and cannot be extended. We were fortunate to have planned ahead and gone through the process of getting a long-stay visa good for six months; it has give us the luxury of being able to just hang out when the place was nice or the weather was snotty. The future for cruisers does not look bright; it is clear that the growing number of boats is beginning to strain the resources and environment and one can expect ever tightening restrictions on how long one can stay and where you can anchor.
Heiva is taking place in French Polynesia, particularly Papeete throughout July. Heiva is a festival, a celebration of the culture of the various island groups. It grew out of the French celebrations of Bastille Day, though of course in the late 1800's and early 1900's the native population was not invited to the Governor's Ball and other such activities. So the natives organized their own festivals. Of course early on dancing was barred, as a result of the church's influence. But happily that has changed, and dancing as well as traditional chanting is a principal part of the heiva. But other activities take place: a craft fair that encompasses all the local crafts of the island groups, canoe races, and the "ancient games". Susan went to view some of these the other afternoon, and forgot the camera--shame--so you will have to visualize some of this. The fruit carrying race requires that each man pick up a 4" diameter tree branch to which has been lashed bunches of bananas, sacks of oranges, taro corms, or sacks of limes. Each bundle weighs the same 30 kilos, though the variation adds color to the spectacle. So they do 5 laps on a figure eight course that passes in front of the seating area at the crossing--I would guess about a mile total. The lead changed many times, and after 2 or 3 laps there were definite stragglers, but the finish was a dead heat between two men in a sprint. Then on to the copra contest. Groups of three women vie to be the first to get the coconut meat out of a pile of 50 coconuts and into burlap bags. The most spectacular part was the ax wielding: one good THWACK and a coconut is split in two, and tossed to the women with the curved knives to pry the meat out. Could you do that? To a coconut? And finally the stone lifting contest. The men's contest--lifting up to a 120 kilo stone--had already taken place, but I did see the women who hefted a 50 kilo stone, roughly pear shaped, onto their shoulders successive times, until only one was left. Impressive! And great fun to see and hear their team mates cheering them all on.