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An uneventful five and a half hour flight took us to Easter Island, getting us there in the dark. Most of the other passengers disembarked but about a dozen of us remained on for the second leg and were joined by many more, though there were some spare seats.
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After an hour on the ground refuelling we were on our way again for another five hour, arriving around 11pm local time, having slept a good deal of the way.
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Our watches and bodies still set to 6am Chilean time told us it was almost time to get up, not go to bed.
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The owner of the hostel we were going to stay at had told us to phone him when we arrived, but this provided a little difficult as the only phones available only worked with a phone card. The post office was shut and the bar which was still open had sold out. In addition the ATM that took Cirrus cards was empty, fortunately our backup VISA card worked in another machine. So we took a short but expensive taxi ride to our accommodation.
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The night was warm 230C and humid. In our room was a powerful electric fan which at least moved the air about. After an hour of lying still we felt much more comfortable and even cooled down a little during a night of dozing.
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After an early breakfast we walked into town. We hadn't been able to find a descent map and so we had to do the best we could by following the shoreline. They didn't seem too bothered with street names or foot paths either. After a few false turns we finally reached the centre and tried a few ATMs with our credit card. None would accept them so we ended up with changing some travellers cheques. Also discovered the tourist information office and picked up a few leaflets which we perused at the only Internet cafi we could find. Just to confuse us the keyboard was in French, which has a different layout to English ones. Prices in Tahiti are high; the cost of our soft drinks in the cafi were around #2.50 each. The weather became more humid until we had a shower that cleared the air a little until the sun came out, evaporated the rain on the ground and put the humidity back up again. For lunch we picked up a couple of snacks in the market and also food for diner, before returning to the hostel for a siesta.
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Before we could make any arrangements we had to by a phone card. The cheapest card was 2000 fcp (#12), but we only wanted to make a few calls to trip organisers.
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We had planned to go by ferry to Moorea for the day and take a trip around the island but when we phoned we were told that the trip was full. As an alternative we contacted Tahiti Safari Expedition (www.tahiti-safari.com) and arranged to take their full day trip through the interior of the island.
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Quickly made our way to their pick up point, grabbing a snack for lunch on the way, and then waited around for them to arrive. Once they had arrived we had to wait around some more for four more passengers travelling on a container ship.
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But at 9.45 we were off, first stop was a view point just up the coast. As we arrived the rain started. On and off throughout the day it would alternate between rain and about to rain. When the rain started it would fall heavily within a matter of seconds. Turned off the main coast road to head south on a track, constructed by the electricity company to service the several hydro electric power stations in the valley. Followed a flooded river, some of which had spilled over onto the road. Weaving round water filled pot holes we slowly ascended beside a muddy, fast flowing river surrounded by lush green vegetation valed with wispy white clouds and over all hung threatening dark clouds. Spring fed crystal clear waterfalls cascaded down along with some muddy ones which were fed by surface water. Tahiti does not have much in the way of animal life, what there was having been introduced by the Polynesian or European settlers. But in its warm damp climate the vegetation is thick and lush, though again some of the species had been introduced - papaya, hibiscus, purple palm orchid, African tulip tree.
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Our guide had thought that due to the high water level it might not be possible to cross the river even in the landrovers in which we were travelling. But after careful inspection he decided it was safe and proceeded, leading 3 other vehicles from the same company.
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Continued to climb to a point where we would have had a view of the volcano in front of us - if it wasn't for the cloud. And then on to the Restaurant Maroto for midday. As we had brought our lunch with us we just bought a couple of hot drinks as we sat in their lounge, out of the rain, eating our sandwiches, the roar of falling water was all around us.
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After lunch we set off up an even rougher track crossing over a river where the driver first got out and waded across, probing with a stick as he went, before driving across. In a while we reached a temple platform where we all got out and stood in the rain whilst we were told about pre-Christian religion in Tahiti, as far as is known, because most of it had been forgotten with just a few taboos remaining. As there had been a landslide on the road we were not able to complete the journey through the mountains to the south side of the island but had to return to Papeete they way we had come, getting back at 4pm.
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Wednesday 18 February 2004
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During the night the rain fell heavily and again at breakfast. We learnt that the trip we had gone on the previous day had been cancelled. However, as the morning progressed the weather improved and by the time we started our round the island trip at 1.45pm, the sun was shining. We started off with four of us in a minibus and then picked up four more at an hotel just out of town.
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Drove around in an anticlockwise direction with our first stop being the Lagoonarium, a netted area within the lagoon with an underwater viewing room. Managed to get some quite good fish photos, making up for the Hawaii photos that got zapped by airport x-rays the previous year. Protecting the island was a reef, providing calm waters for swimming, fishing and boating. Where there were gaps in the reef waves came rolling in, which were attracting surfers.
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Our second call was to the Fern Grotto, a cave whose floor was completely taken up by a cool pool and said to have been a favourite spot of Gauguin's. The area was rich with flora, many with different plants types but with red being the predominant colour and XL the only size, as well as ferns, palms, coconut and banana. Sharing the road with us seemed to be the cars of most of the 250,000 population of the island.
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Next we stopped at the Gaugin Museum. We were given 30 minutes but could have done with twice as long. The exhibition told Gauguin's life story as well as showing some copies of his and other artists work. Also there was a tiki, a stone statue similar to those found on Easter Island.
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Continuing round we passed by Tahitiiki, an island joined to Tahiti by a causeway. The government had built a hotel at the highest point of the island, but as it was almost permanently in clouds it was not a success and so was shut down. The eastern side of the island was more rugged than the western part with very little flat ground around the edge on which to place a road and as a consequence the road had to bend around hugging the cliffs. A blow hole which was part of the itinerary wasn't blowing as the waves weren't large enough, so we gave it a miss and moved on to Vaimahuta Falls. Although the other passengers enthused over the view we didn't find it any better than many falls we had seen.
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After a very short stop at the Taharaa Lookout, the sun was in the wrong position to get a photo, we returned to town.
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Thursday 19 February 2004
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Up at 4.30 to get to the airport for our first flight of the day at 7.50 to Auckland - a comfortable but uneventful flight.
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