This morning I woke up early (sunrise is at around 5 AM). As expected it was still raining. The visibility was not ideal and clouds covered the mountain.
The hotel had a map of the downtown area.
I took a picture of the exterior of the hotel – pretty basic.
I decided to walk around the harbor. I walked past the ferry terminal and then came upon a small park where the cruise ships were docked.
Apparently Halloween is big here. There was still an inflatable decoration up on a building under construction / renovation.
Holland America had a ship in port since last night.
There was a guy selling tours of the island for $65. The island is 120 km in circumference and Hertz wants to charge me 61 CPF (essentially 50 cents) for ever km I drive. I did the math and before fuel it would cost me the same to drive myself, so I decided I would do the tour at 9:30 AM.
I walked over to the Papeete public market. There were a few merchants with fish, some with fruits and others with touristy items (shirts, etc.)
I checked out the Cathedral next. It was built in 1875. The stained glass windows were interesting, but it wasn’t overly ornate.
I walked back to the hotel because I had initially packed light, but the tour was going to stop at a waterfall, so I wanted my tripod and camera for the island tour. I took a few pictures along the way back.
A little after 9:30 AM the tour left with myself and four others in a minivan. The first stop was the lighthouse at Pointe Venus. There was also some information about the ship the HMS Bounty which was on a mission to take breadfruit trees to the Caribbean to feed the slaves.
Apparently it is possible to snorkel here and they have markers showing where to swim.
There was a nice church on the way to and from the lighthouse.
I took a picture of one of the rivers.
The next stop was waterfalls, but it was raining very hard so it was a brief stop. There are walking paths to it, but it just wasn’t very fun to be outside.
The next stop was the blow hole. It was interesting as a small hole had a rush or air and water vapor come through. It was also next to a black sand beach.
We finally reached the Isthmus and there was a church with 2 towers like Notre Dame.
Another waterfall stop with some nice flowers
There was also a chicken trying to keep her chicks dry, or maybe the chicks were just hiding under the chicken to stay dry.
Here is a picture of the kilometer markers that are on the main road that circles the island. PK 0 is at the Cathedral.
A few more photos during the ride.
The next stop was a lava cave called the fern grotto. The water in the cave was a really nice blue color.
I took a few more pictures along the way back.
After arriving back I walked to Parc Bougainville.
I continued walking through the waterfront park.
At this point I had enough of being outside and the rain had started to get bad so I walked back to the hotel to rest.
Today’s timeline:
