Being based from a boat, the little bit of land we see is usually limited to exploration by foot or public transit. With the desire to truly see all of Tahiti, we rented a car.
After several days of searching, we found and rented the cheapest and smallest car we could find. A Renault Twingo. About the size of a golf cart, Will at one point remarked that he felt like we were in a go-cart.
Leaving the city and rounding the island counter-clockwise, we stopped at any point that our cartoon-like map of the island suggested. We saw a number of cool things:
- A botanical garden with a waterfall. The first of many waterfalls on our drive, this one ended up being the least impressive. It also had several Tarzan vines that were unable to support my weight.
- The 'Grotto', a set of freshwater caverns at the base of the mountainside. Inside, natural spring water literally rained from the ceiling and the swim was incredibly refreshing. Gauguin claimed that the cavern was so large that he swam for an hour before touching the far wall. He must have been a slow swimmer, because it only took Will about five minutes.
- The Paul Gauguin Museum. So far my second Gauguin museum of the trip (the first being at his final home in Hiva Oa). This Tahitian museum had less paintings than the first (albeit they were all reproductions), but did a better job of telling the story of the man who quit his job as a Parisian stockbroker at the age of 35 and decided to become a painter.
- Teahupoo - the world famous surf spot and site of Laird Hamilton's famous big-wave ride shown at the end of the movie 'Riding Giants.' We met several Americans that had come down and had spent several months living there, just to surf. You can see the famous outer-reef curl from the beach. We spent time body surfing at the shore break with the local kids.
- The 'Trois Cascades' - a massive waterfall that begins as two falls at the top of a mountain, hits a ledge, and then continues to the bottom as one. This is the largest and most impressive waterfall I have ever seen, and the valley surrounding it is reminiscent of the opening scene in Jurassic Park. All the rocks are covered in thick moss and the air is thick with a cool mist.
- 'Venus Point' - we made it to this spit of land just after sunset. This point was made famous as the site where Lieutenant James Cook chose to observe the transit of Venus during his first Pacific voyage. Much of the land we are visiting was named by Cook (The Society Islands were supposedly named after the 'Royal Society of London' that funded his first voyage).
It was a good and productive day. It felt great to see things from a new perspective, but I must say it felt a bit odd being behind the wheel of something that was moving faster than 8 kts.