From 1 to 18 April 2023
My third destination for 20 days, is French Polynesia which is made up of five archipelagos bringing together 118 islands, 76 of which are inhabited. The first inhabitants came from migrations from Southeast Asia around the year 300 AD. The encounter with European navigators occurred at the end of the 18th century. From 1842 France gradually imposed its protectorate, it was not until 1957 that the indigenous Polynesians benefited from a first local government benefiting from autonomy in relation to the metropolitan government.
For more information => https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Polynesia
Flying from Nouméa to Papeete on Tahiti...
At Nouméa airport, what a pleasure to see a model Lockheed "Constellation" which was flying when I was a child and a big photograph of such an aircraft at La Tontouta International Airport, a long time ago...
For more information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Constellation
I left Nouméa at 10:30 on APRIL 1
and arrived in Tahiti
on MARCH 31 at 19:15 !
This is NOT an April fools' joke but due to the fact
that I crossed the Internaional Date Line (going East)
As I arrived in town late evening, after checking-in at my backpackers's hostel, it's time to have a drink and to eat street food, next to the harbour.
Next morning, I took a walk around Papeete...
I rented a car for 2 days to drive around Tahiti...
Where do you want to go to?
- Do you want to drive inland of Taihiti (to see mountains and lakes)? => Click here
Further notes (from wikipedia)
Polynesia is a triangular collection of Islands in the Pacific Ocean. At its most northern point are the Hawaiian Islands, Southwest is New Zealand, and Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, can be found southeast.
Polynesians (an ethnolinguistic group) are known to have definitely originated from a branch of the Austronesian migrations in Island Melanesia. Melanesia is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from New Guinea in the west to the Fiji Islands in the East, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea.
My observations and comments
Visiting French Polynesia is many people's dreams: blue skies, turquoise seas, fine sandy beaches, tropical vegetation and an ideal climate (...plus sculptural vahines). My reality was a little different because the sky was often grey and outside areas occupied by 5-star resorts, the reality of everyday life for Polynesians is not extraordinary: the reverse side of the 'postcard' view is omnipresent, you only must turn the camera 180° to see poverty and a difficult life for the middle class. Polynesians are heavily built and with modern junk food many of them are now obese. The visit of many islands is not geared for “backpackers with a limited budget” like me, most things are expensive, the tourist is to be exploited.
There are vast differences of topography within the various archipelagos, but a warm, tropical climate is the common denominator. Great distances between some of the islands mean taking an airplane to visit them unless one has plenty of time to travel by boats. The inter-island aerial network operated by Air Tahiti is good.
My conclusion: disappointed – no, but on a limited budget, not so enthusiastic about the country, especially the weather when I visited in April 2023.
In a hurry to undertake a long jouney
to my next destination?
Click here to discover Pitcairn
.