We pulled into the lagoon at sunrise using the main pass, which is in downtown Papeete. Since we approached in the dark, we didn’t get to see the views from the distance, but from here it looked like Tahiti is a single large mountain that slopes down to the water. It is much less imposing than the Marquesas, which are taller, steeper, and clearly had many mountains. There were buildings all around, including many big buildings that were 4 and 5 stories tall. There appeared to be buildings all the way around the shore and most of the way up the mountain. A bunch of trash floated past us. Yep, we are in a city.

We got permission from the port captain to pass the airport, which is near the entrance to the lagoon. Just beyond the airport is where the anchoring area we were going to begins. We went to the opposite end of the anchorage, as far from the airport as we could get. We kept our last boat right next to the airport at home and know how dirty jet fuel residue can make your boat. Driving through the anchorage, we recognized three boats whose occupants we are friendly with, including Special Blend. We also noticed the farther away from downtown we got, the less dense the construction up the mountain. Here is a view of Tahiti from where we are anchored.

We anchored and headed over to Special Blend to get the low down on a restaurant. As we loaded into the dinghy, we heard a siren wailing in the distance. We haven’t heard that for a long time. It turns out that there are two more boats parked right next to Special Blend that we are friendly with, too. Special Blend sent us over to the mall.

We parked the dinghy in the marina and walked out to the street. It is an extremely busy 4 lane highway with tons of fast moving traffic. Seeing the traffic just reinforced what we were already feeling. We have become accustomed to small town life and weren’t ready to be back in the big city again. The mall is just a few blocks to the left. It is small, but it is definitely a real mall.

We sat down at the restaurant. Our favorite way to celebrate the completion of a passage is with a huge meal in a restaurant. The placard on the table told us they proudly sell Starbucks iced coffees. We had omelets, pancakes and pineapple juice. The pineapple juice was whipped and tasted just like a pineapple Julius. The omelets were small. The pancakes were different. They are the fattest pancakes we have ever seen. They were actually more like a round Belgian waffle with no ridges than a pancake. They were good. We wandered around the mall a little. There was a grocery store there, so we decided to get some food. The grocery store easily rivals the nicest of grocery stores we have been in at home. It is enormous. We were surprised to find out that this grocery store charges you $1.00 per plastic bag, encouraging you to bring your own bags. We think that is brilliant. We should do that in the US.

After grocery shopping, we headed past the marina the other direction for a couple blocks to see what else was close by. There is a McDonald’s, a small market (well, big compared to the markets on the other islands but miniscule compared to the one at the mall), a gas station, and what looks like condos beyond. Then we made the rounds, going to visit all our friends to get the low down on what there was to do, transportation, etc. We noticed yet another boat that we are friendly with. Everyone seems to be here. There are a few reasons. One, all boats are required to stop here for check in/out of French Polynesia. Two, everyone stops here for supplies since it is the biggest city in the south pacific. Three, there is a cultural festival going on now. It just began and runs until July 14 so it is a neat time to be here if you are interested in the culture.

Neither of us got much sleep on the passage, so we laid low the rest of the day and went to bed early. All late afternoon and evening tons of outrigger canoes went by. Outrigger canoeing is the favorite sport of French Polynesia and plays heavily in the festival going on now. The sunset was spectacular, maybe the best of all time. The island of Moorea is very close, and from where we are anchored we have an excellent view of it. The sun sank behind Moorea, making the entire island glow. The sky turned gold and had streaks of blue through it, almost like a spotlight in reverse.