Papeete

June 23.  2014, Tahiti, Papeete

The next week passes quickly.  Alan takes full advantage of the car to track down all of the parts that he needs.  The new starter switch is located, installed, rewired and finally works.We find a sailmaker, a frenchman who has converted a large trimaran  into a sail loft.  Both the main sail and the yellow genoa are expertly mended.  We decide to let the jib be.  It looks sort of funky with it’s blue stripe but it seems to be holding.  I pull all of the anchor line out and hang it out to dry and then repack it into plastic baskets in the sail locker.  One by one, all of the other jobs get done.

We make numerous trips to the mall where Alan sits in the cafe and uses their wifi while I shop for groceries .  Food is expensive here.  In fact everything is expensive.  Prices over all are what we would pay at upscale stores in LA.  The problem is that there are no counterbalancing discount stores, no 99 cent store or Food for Less.  IT is like doing all of our shopping at Nordstroms or Gelsons.  There are no street tacos where we can get a full meal for $5 or less.  Lunch is never less than $10 and dinners stet at $20.  We had gotten spoiled with $2 beens in Mexico.  Here it is $6 to even $10 for a glass a beer at a cafe.  Makes for an expensive “free wifi” session.  All of the computers need to be updated and synced.  We need to download the charts covering the next phase of our journey from here to Fiji.  One of the iPads took a direct hit from a wave and has stopped working.  I track down an Apple store but they can’t do anything for it so we end up buying another mini iPad.  There are our navigation tools and we need to have back ups.  Now we need to download all of the software onto the new one and be sure it is working right.  There is a restaurant with wifi in the marina but the connection is too slow and unreliable to use for these major downloads.  Eventually we discover that the best, fastest wifi is downtown, upstairs in the market.  It really is free.  You don’t even need to buy a cup of coffee, just take a bus ride downtown.  Unfortunately the buses stop running at 5:30 and don’t run on the weekends so we can either work on boat projects or update the computers but not both.  I have finally decided that the buses are used mostly by kids going to school  with the occasional shopper so there is not reason for them to run at night.  Still, little by little, it all gets done and we even manage to get in a few days of sightseeing before it is time to turn in the car and join the Tahiti Moorea Sailing Rendezvous organized by Latitude 38 magazine..

Papeete is not a pretty city.  Apparently there was a huge influx of money in the 60s.  Long distance flights became possible and the airport was built.  Filming of Mutiny on the Bounty brought Hollywood money and glamor.  The islands became officially French Polynesia.  Lots of buildings were built, all in the worst of 50s, 60s architectural style.  And then the money dried up and the buildings began to deteriorate.  Hotels became apartment buildings and many were abandoned.  There is a much higher rate of poverty and homelessness here than we have seen on any other island.  For the first time we see lots of graffiti and litter.  Still people seem by and large to be happy and relaxed.  Warm air and warm water, flowers and fresh fruit.  It is hard to get too uptight about anything.

Throughout these islands, and indeed in Mexico too, the American influence is ubiquitous.  Everyone wears t-shirts or tank tops, shorts and flip flops, even to work.  iPhones and iPads are common.  American rock music vies with the Polynesian rhythms.  The French influence is also, naturally, strong.  Every where you see people caring baguettes.  Lunch is most commonly a baguette sandwich. Clothes are more stylish and and better made than in Mexico and the fabrics are much nicer.  I have great fun browsing the fabric shops and barely resist loading up Rhapsody with yards of brightly colored cloth.  Almost everyone seems to have a fairly new French car, Citroens, Renaults, etc.  People start work early and take a long lunch.  Stores close around 4:30 or 5:00.  Very little is open on Saturday and nothing on Sunday.  And then there is the overlay of Polynesian culture with  a love of bright colors and flowers.  It is not uncommon to see women wearing flower wreaths and even men often have a flower tucked behind their ear.