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DAY 4

MÃHINA & FAARUMAAI WATERFALLS (Tahiti, PYF)

Tuesday February 13th, 2007

TODAYS MILEAGE – 65 miles or 105 kilometres

TRIP MILEAGE – 5033 miles or 8100 kilometres

I think I'm getting on "Tahiti Time"

I must be turning local or something??? Last night I left the curtains open, woke up to view the another sunrise over the harbour then proceeded to roll on over and went back to sleep. Tough life ain't it???

Today was my last day in the Hotel Tiare Tahiti as I had arranged to stay at Fare Suisse – a local Pensioné or Bed & Breakfast. The plan was to be out of the joint by 9AM and it wasn't that hard to achieve.

Upon leaving I was accosted by the receptionist while paying for the one breakfast I had in the hotel. She wanted me to stump up another 4500 XPF ($65.69 AUS or $51.54 USD). Her justification was that it was the 11% "Hotel Tax". I explained to her that the travel agent at the airport informed me that there was nothing more to pay and that she should contact them for the differential.

I'll give her kudos for trying as she pressed me hard for the money, but I wasn't having a bar of it. She says "everyone pays this tax". I said I agreed that one must pay their fair share of taxes, but in all the years I've traveled, I have never had to pay anything like a tax after the hotel room was bought and paid for at an agent.

In the end, we agreed to disagree and I left her with the details to where I'm going to be staying and suggested she take it up with the travel agency.

I used another one of my "phone units" calling Beni – the proprietor of the Fare Suisse. He lobs on over to the Ferry Terminal to guide me to his establishment, which unless you knew exactly where it was, you'd be driving the back streets and alleys of Papéete for hours. I'm in a great location, we're up on the hill that looks out over downtown Papéete, alas there are no water views - no matter though. After the cage like stuffiness of the hotel, it's not too hard to take, sitting on the front deck watching the world go by during heavy mid–morning thunder storms. ;-)

The plan, after getting settled, was to head out about lunchtime to check out Faarumai Waterfalls. Another one of the guests rocks up, looking a little lost, so I asked if he wanted to join me, to which he agreed. Younbum Lee is a media student from South Korea who's been on walkabout since June last year. Even though he speaks passable English, he'd make a monk break a vow of silence because it's difficult to get a conversation going with him.

No worries though. We headed out along the East Coast of Tahiti, stopping at Mahina to check out the surfies and then on to Faarumai Waterfalls as this came highly recommended by Beni.

Faarumai Waterfalls comprises 3 waterfalls – Vaimahuta, Haamaremare Iti and Haamaremare Rahi. Vaimahuta is the first of the falls and is also the largest in both height and water volume. Haamaremare Iti is the smallest of the three and looks a lot like water running down a staircase, all be it a set of tall stairs. The adjacent Haamaremare Rahi was the most unique due to the "wet walls", fallen rocks and moss everywhere, which made it kind of an oasis.

After viewing the waterfalls I was to keep going around the island and check out Tautira over on Tahiti Iti. A short 40 kilometres from out goal, the road was blocked at Faaone due to what the policeman called an "avalanche". I kind of blinked twice upon hearing this and was wondering if I should have brang my ski gear. After all, don't you need snow in order to have an avalanche???;-)

A quick u-ee and we were headed to Papéete, having decided to give it a miss for the day Plan B was to blow the froth of a couple of coldies instead.

That's it for today, I'm parked up!!!

Be chillin' my villains.

Fitzy