TAHITI
VA’A WORLD SPRINTS 2018
With
ten months anticipation and meeting logistical demands to be a participant, Gil
and his 70s team worked hard to be on Team Hawaii. Hawaii ladies also had a 70s team which is
quite a statement and both men and women in the 60s category traveled to the
ancient cultural land. Tahiti dominated,
as expected, 62 medals of 125 given.
But
getting ahead of myself, the entire Tahiti experience was rich and varied. Christian Marstan (owner of the famous Tahiti
Nui bar in Hanalei) and his Tahitian wife Vera were on hand for the arrival of
the team with leis at the airport. The
Heiva annual Tahitian dance competitions had completed earlier in the evening
and while we were crazy tired from traveling, we were in for a treat with
several troupes performing for us. Much
to their chagrin, the men were asked to join in before letting us go to our
hotel.
The
hotel for the next two weeks was 600 meters down the beach from the race venue,
all in Pirae, a small town next to Papeete (the largest city in French
Polynesia).
Gil at breakfast, black sand beach
Somebody going for a trial run in a viper sailing
canoe. On the athletic grounds, flags from island nations were
beautiful when the breeze unfurled them,
Just a sample: side street, morning rainbow, mangoes at
sunset, lotus we watched from bud to open below our room, heart in black sand,
sunset
Tech, we had one plug adapter with a multi strip and
multi charger, worked out great! With
local SIM cards, we could call and/or text; BUT, we could no longer move photos
from phones to anything or anyone so here we are 3 weeks later. C’est la vie.
OPENING CEREMONIES
While
we had been to World Masters in New Zealand last year, that race is all over
40s. This was sprints only for every age
group and it was fun to mix it up and talk to kids under 19 as well as the
young bucks from NZ and Australia, other tiny islands, etc. When the march began from the Town Hall to
the stadium, we were confused by the alphabetical line up until we realized, in
French of course, that the island groups all started with “Iles” including Iles
Hawaii. So, Ile Neuveau Caledonia, Ile
Cook, etc. What fun.
City hall
During
the march, the heavens opened and we had a Kauai style drenching. It must have dumped 6” on us in an hour. The seats for us at the stadium had no cover,
we tipped the standing water out to sit – it didn’t matter – we were already
soaked to the bone. Then it stopped and
the show began.
The guys were more than happy with this
The ladies were more than happy with this as well
The Marquessan warriors were phenomenal, again, we
had seen them at the airport
(sorry, still a little water on the lens)
Over the next two weeks we did
lots of walking. Plants and weather were
very familiar (wind, calm, rain, sun). While
we had a lovely buffet breakfast at the hotel each morning (tropical fruit, cold
cuts, baguettes, croissants, French Polynesia after all), our all-inclusive lunch
and dinner were at a local high school cafeteria (many of the paddlers were
staying in the dorm rooms there). Fresh
salad, baguettes and either fish or some variation of beef stew, even a turkey
dinner one night.
Cafeteria – to open in five minutes
From the doorway to our room
From our balcony
Lotus and eels
Lobby canoe – va’a (canoe) is a way of life here,
year round
Lovely pool – not heated, very refreshing
Tahiti Graffiti
This was
across from our bus stop (and the ATM) so we saw it often.
The others were near the school where the cafeteria was. They were such a pleasure to see.
During the first few days everyone
had strict slots to practice in the unfamiliar boats. V1, V6 with turns and without, the turns
being very difficult with sharp bottoms rather than the rounded Hawaiian
style. Deceivingly calm most mornings
with wind picking up during the day, some days were windy and choppy from the
start and the lane assignments really made a difference in the conditions.
Gil V1 practice
While the men had their V6
practice, Jill and I went into Papeete centre to the famous Marche. We got headgear, she bought a dress and I
bought a black pearl pendant. Good lunch
and bus back to the hotel.
Sharon at le marche (the market)
Papeete market
Fluid pearl shop
Jill lunch - We both the fab poisson cru and hers came with sweet potato mash and taro fries
CULTURAL TAHITI
Between
practices and meetings we had time for several excursions. We went to the beautiful Musee de Tahiti et des Iles down the coast. It was 6-8 blocks from the bus stop but what
a terrific location with Moorea just about 12 miles across the way.
What an exciting spot even before we went into the
building – little did we know we’d be snorkeling from a boat out there in just a
few days.
4840 Polynesian Triangle with Iles Hawaii at top, Nouvelle
Zelande at west, and Ile de Paques
(Easter Island) at eastern point
One of the signifiers of Polynesian
expansion were the styles of poi pounders
Clockwise: a
tattoo chart, distinct hala ceiling lashings we saw throughout our visit, a
finely woven manta ray fan, a dolphin tooth necklace
The coral display was quite beautiful although a nearby fish chart had some really funny English translations .
We
had a nice lunch at a French restaurant before waiting a LONG time in the sun for
the bus to come (no schedule we could find).
We did happen on an Aikido dojo near the restaurant, Aiki Kai
Tahiti. Too funny (see June post about
Aikido).
THE BLESSING
While
the opening ceremonies had been on Sunday, the blessing actually started the
races on Thursday at 7am. It was a tight
schedule with several heats per category and age group, over the next eight
days. V1, V6 straight 500 meters or with
1 turn, 1000 meters with 3 turns, and V12, all sprints.
The drumming reaches your bones
Blessing in Tahitian (of course)
Spectators
GO
At
the venue there were vendors and exhibits, dance videos and good food. There was a large screen TV where aerial
views of the races were easier to see than from the bleachers, but the
bleachers were very nice. All the guests
had been given little packs with a mat, a pillow, a pareo and soap! This allowed nice rest time in the athletes’
tent.
Light weight Tahitian quilt
Paddle history, canoe positions
Tahitian vanilla (lower bins are covered with glass)
SNORKELING TAHITI
We
had read about two spots for good snorkeling, the Aquarium and the Spring. Free days, we did one on Friday and one on
Saturday. As mentioned, the marina we
went out of wasn’t far from the Tahiti museum.
I tried to photo fish we don’t see at home.
Marina Taina
Mike McHenry
went with Gil and I and he was first in the water.
I had a blast looking up the fish I didn't know. What I couldn't find on Keoki Stender's website, I emailed him pics to help me ID. Got 'em all!
Lemon Peel Angelfish
Tridacna clam
Coral gardens
Bluegreen damsels (that are yellow in different
light!)
A Checkerboard Wrasse
Lined surgeonfish
Some people got excited about the plane, I turned around and went back to the coral
Nudi branchs, three different ones!
Gil with Moorea in background
The
second snorkel day we went to the outer reef and were dropped in a big swell and
drifted, fast. This was to see the
sharks and we did, many black-tip reef sharks, about 30 feet down. Other than the three of us, there was a
newlywed couple from Denmark, not at all sure they wanted to swim with
sharks! When I finally headed back to
the boat, there was one considerably larger than the black tips. Turns out Mike saw him too but we couldn’t ID
him. So, for future reference, I learned
that lemon sharks have two dorsal fins to look for but . . .
Black tip shark, hard to believe how healthy the coral is
here
Green sea turtle, it’s not that we don’t swim with
these guys all the time, it’s that the water is so different – felt like being
in outer space following him
Hawksbill turtle resting in the coral below, my
first
We
went to another location to swim with dolphins, we saw them but they left –
spinners like at home.
It is hard to
describe the water. It seems like you
cannot see anything but in fact, it is as clear as blue glass.
Gil and Mike, is that clear or what?
Final spot was the Spring where fresh
water comes up through lava tubes and mixes with the salt water (much like at Two-Step
in Kona).
The valley whose river created the gap in the reef
over centuries. We heard the legends of
Puna’auia, a couple versions of the big monster being killed. Really fun stuff. We were directly in front of the Tahiti
museum here.
Reticulated butterflyfish We see these off Kona but they are super rare on
Kauai
Long nose, we do have these as well, not common but
always fun to spot
This really shows the absolute clarity of the water, the
healthy coral, and this cool wrasse with the pink and green nose (Six Bar
Wrasse)
THE RACES
OK,
back to business. Sunday morning
unfortunately, was very windy. Gil’s V1
race was at 8:51am and fighting the wind in the furthest lane, No. 7, he bumped
a buoy early on that DQ’d him but he finished the race. The silver
winner was a friend from Maui that he usually paddles neck and neck with. Heartbreak.
Gil heading to start line for V1
For
some reason, the races ran late, by about 45 minutes. The V12 was made up of Namolokama Kauai guys
and Anuenue Oahu guys.
Steve, John, Gil, Baker, David, 5 of 12 guys – just Nick missing from Namolokama team,
Gil stroked
Nick Beck and Nappy Napolean from Anuenue, both close
to 80 years old and major legends in paddling
They got Gold!
Made the day better, bittersweet literally. I watched the big screen as the aerial was
more revealing than watching from sideline.
12 man
12 man finish - two second win margin
Some happy boys
I loved this T shirt, pretty much says it all
Gold collage
The
stage behind the podium offered one of the most delightful performances of the
entire event. A young girl (we all
guessed about 12 years old) gave a Tahitian chant that was unbelievably
powerful. She was strong, her voice
forceful, as she paced back and forth with hand motions that matched the story. We were all awed by it. The big screen next to her gave the written
chant in both French and English. What a
finish to a remarkable day in Tahiti.
Fab performer
Chant on screen
V6 RACE
Monday
Namolokama came in third of their V6 heat which meant they did not
automatically advance to the finals. It
required a repechage or play-off to determine who went to finals. Tuesday they qualified for the finals but on Wednesday
they did not place. Shoots!
Tuesday
afternoon, we went for a drive with John and Nancy from Maui who had rented a
car. Tahiti is very tiny, comprised of
Tahiti Nui (big) and Tahiti Iti (little) which is really, really tiny. Thirty some miles the entire length, there is
a perimeter road that is easy to travel in a figure eight.
We took the clockwise route, deviating at the neck to visit the famous surf beach on Iti, called Teahupo’o, (usually pronounced Cho-po). Then we backtracked and returned to Pirae through the city.
Interior from a little bridge
Ocean side of same bridge - breath taking scenery
Gil and John – Tahiti Iti in background
Nancy and
Sharon with the boys
Island is very different away from the city
Teahupo’o soccer
Sleepy little spot until the big surf contests
starting next month
In the upper right find the wooden structure being
built – this will be for the surf judges!
On
the return, still on Tahiti Iti, we found a restaurant that had been
recommended and when John and Nancy had driven by there before it was
closed. It was open for us and the only
other people in there were our 60s guys!
Yummy seafood.
Le Plage de Maui (Maui Beach)
Moray eel– this big guy was waiting for a handout from the
kitchen, shrimp heads. He had
competition from the terns that swooped in for them too.
Wednesday
Unfortunately,
after the V6 Turn final I felt hot and returned to the room. I had violent fever and retching for the next
24 hours and wanted to get on the next plane home. (Flights to and from Hawaii are Saturday
only.) Gil went along with three other couples as Jill had
booked a tour to the interior (I was so glad to just sleep). They found waterfalls, a swimming hole, saw
the remains of the crater that formed the island.
Their sweet guide and the “safari” truck they
travelled in
Thursday
Gil and two others from his team
were already feeling the body aches and respiratory symptoms coming on. I slept through their straight V6 race where
they had made it to finals (no small thing on the world scale) but, again, they
did not place. He picked me up some
paracetamol and cough meds and I was finally able to pack, my embarrassingly
big feat. Neither of us made it to
dinner or the Closing Ceremony. Too bad
as this is where all the athletes trade shirts, souvenirs they cherish from
their rivals and new friends.
We watched this tiki and his va’a
being carved the entire two weeks. He
was completed by the closing ceremony.
Gil caught him in his rightful place on his way back from the pharmacy.
MOOREA ON FRIDAY
Our
sponsors got us to the ferry terminal and we took the 30 minute ride across the
channel to beautiful, sleepy Moorea.
Ia Orana Moorea! – we had been seeing it at a
distance (short distance) for two weeks
Nana Tahiti
Someone
here told us it would feel like going from Oahu to Molokai. We did a little shopping and found our
bungalow at Fare Manureva on the west side.
Charming, well equipped kitchen, nice lanai for dining, etc. The owner gave us an overview of the island
(you can drive all the way around in an hour).
I must admit I had a hard time focusing and was glad to just lie
down.
Moorea map with our two locations
Saturday
we made it to the doctor and pharmacy in Hauru and took a bit of a drive after
to get our bearings. French Polynesia is
everything we love about Hawaii: mountains, warm ocean, and green. Plus very sweet people. While in Tahiti we heard about half Tahtian
language and half French; on Moorea, mostly French. But everyone switched to English, as best
they could. It was always better than my
French. I could make out signs, posters,
menus etc. but was hopeless in conversation.
By
Sunday we felt good enough to drive to Belvedere and see the amazing view of the
two bays. The big archeological site
being restored came first and while we didn’t have the energy to tackle the
wonderful hikes available in Opunohu Valley, we got a feel of the past and the
respect of the present peoples for their land and history.
From
1250 ad until European invasion in 1767, this spot has reclaimed “63 house
sites, 145 temples and shrines, and thousands of agricultural sites.” What is a heiau in Hawaiian is a marae in
most of Polynesia.
Marae
Creation of plants
Le Belvedere From
this point both bays are visible with Mt. Rotu’i (899 meters) in between
Cook’s Bay on right (even though he landed in the other
bay) and Opunohu Bay on left.
We had a pique-nique with us at this tranquil spot,
a few horses one way and cows the other
Gil stopped the car so I could catch this monument
lit by the sun, we were pretty low energy but thoroughly enjoyed the awesome scenery.
We
stopped in at the Sofitel, one of the hoity toity hotels with their obligatory
over water bungalows.
Water looks fake
On the high side, Sofitel also has a turtle rehabilitation
set up. Injured turtles are sent to them
from all the islands and if they recover, they are released. If they are too damaged to fend for
themselves, they remain for life.
Little turtles - we didn't get their story but if they were in this part of the tank they were soon to be released
We
visited the adjacent public beach and found it charming. Too bad we didn’t feel better – this was
supposed to be good snorkeling and easy to get to the edge of the reef.
Temae Beach
Gil checking out the canoes
He loved these racks in the water
Someone’s back yard!
Nearly
back to our place I spotted the Octopus church!
I had wanted to attend a church service at some point as the folks wear
white, lots of flowers and it is primarily singing – it didn’t happen. But, I had read about this site where the
missionaries did what they do – built their church on top of a local shrine. This shrine was meant to revere the octopus,
important to the culture. Poignantly,
the missionaries built it eight sided.
It is beautiful though mid-afternoon, no services were being held.
We
forced ourselves to muster the energy to get in the water here. We walked just across the street. It was quite wonderful.
Beach from water
Crested Tern
Landscape
Coral
More coral
Vagabond butterflyfish
Humbug dascyllus - just adorable, behavior just like our Hawaiian dascyllus - defense!
Once
we were eating again we did a little cooking and laundry. The grounds were nice, I picked a few herbs
for our food; fruit was growing but what intrigued us was the garden
borders made of large shells. The neighbor had a ylang ylang tree.
It took forever to dry! No wonder I was wheezing, so damp
Papaya, banana, rosemary, basil, ginger, lemongrass, etc. around our cottage
Shell borders, conchs and clams
We
were finally up to eating at the pizza place owned by the cousin of an
acquaintance here. I should have taken a
picture of the menu. Fabulous – ours had
fresh tomatoes instead of tomato sauce.
Allo Pizza
We
discovered before leaving for our next reservation that our hosts at Manureva
hand make pareos. She paints the fabric
and he sews.
Our cottage was on the left, through the window
Francoise
Time
to move to Maharepa and our bungalow at Poerani. This was the nicest of all the places we had
stayed. Two Frenchmen gave up corporate
life in Paris and bought this property and renovated the villa and three
cottages. It was a great place to relax
– nice comfy bed, the lanai or chaises at the water where we watched the
squawking crested terns, or dusk brown noddies, or just the stars at night.
Tiki at our lanai
More laundry on our lanai
5059 We thought this little kitty came with the unit,
adorable little guy, big guy too
Apparently there had been a coconut tree where the table
is but they roofed it and the gutters ran around the edge of the kitchen – fun
when it rained
Loved the leaf sticking up between the wall and roof, and the shell light
The dark wood shower and aqua colors were gorgeous
WHALE SEASON
Theoretically
it had started but we didn’t know if any had actually shown up yet. We did want to go by boat out past the little
islets, or motus off the NW corner of the island. So we had an adventure of rain, rays, sharks,
and whales.
Black tip reef sharks in the lagoon where we stopped first
A sting ray in background with two good sized ulua in foreground; the tuna were gorgeous, like looking into a sparkly night sky
These ringtail surgeonfish weren't in the least threatened by the shark
Back in the boat, we headed out past the reef. There were squalls all around us and we knew we'd be hit sooner or later.
So cool. mom and calf, first of the season and they were around us the rest of the time out there, along with another adult escort.
Too bad about my lens, these many, many birds must have found a fish ball - they were sooo active
I was sure I caught the whale calf breach, damn! I can still see it now.
Really not in any way disappointed with 4-5 hours of ocean, those are the motus.
Back at the dock I jumped back in the water to get these anemones. Mostly I have video but it doesn't stay live on the blog forever so I stick with stills. Just pink blobs until they open up and turn inside out. Another first for me.
So our digs at Poerani were right on the water and a couple days later managed to swim out along the channel there as well. I found I could cough easily through a snorkel!
.
Poerani from the water
Penant Bannerfish
Spawning parrotfish everywhere we went
Juvenile Pacific Surge Damselfish
Sunset with Brown Noddies
BACK TO TAHITI
We cleaned up our snorkel gear and it fit
neatly in the long plastic bags meant for baguettes. Off to the marina, turn in the car and head
back to Papeete, staying in the city this time.
Still no cars available there, we walked down from our pristine set up
(bare room with full shared kitchen and lounge).
We walked through the beautiful park, visited the Marche again and hung out in our “lounge” before going back out for a final meal at the roulottes (many food trucks) set up every evening at the marina.
Loved this carved "fish ball," it didn't occur to me to buy it! Not operating on all cylinders
Lounging
This was a huge canoe club judging by the number of boats, a fraction in this picture
The Roulottes at the marina, many food trucks cooking quick delicious food. We had grilled
marlin with green beans (in lots of butter).
But then we saw the Creperie truck and had nutella crepes with coconut ice cream. Who needed the lousy sandwich Hawaiian Airlines served on board!
To finish off the trip, the
club had a potluck scheduled – they waited for those of us that returned a
week later. Of the three World Sprint Gold
Medals earned by Hawaiian teams, our men's 70s and our women's 70s – brought home two. Congratulations Namolokama!
Evening on Hanalei Bay, not a bad place to return to
AND WITH THAT,
DONNELLY OCEANTICS IS
OFFICIALLY CLOSED
THANK YOU FOR SIX
YEARS OF FOLLOWING OUR ADVENTURES
ALOHA
A HUI HUO
