Fakarava
French Polynesia consists of 118 islands from five Archipelagos, the Society Islands, Tuamotu, Gambier, the Australes and the Marquesas. It is what France calls an "overseas country" which allows for it to have a great deal of autonomy but not independence. It does have its own government but it has been somewhat ineffectual - they have had 14 presidents in the last 14 years and the current president has been in office for four of them. It is a marvel that he may actually finish his full, five-year term, something his 13 immediate predecessors have not come close to.
The primary language is French and the currency is the Polynesian Franc. The exchange rate is roughly 100 Francs to one US dollar.
This part of the Pacific was mostly untouched by World War II. Bora Bora had a US base that was mostly used for supply purposes but the islands themselves were untouched by war.
Seventy percent of the population of French Polynesia is in Tahiti which is also the center of the tourist industry. Tourism is down in this part of the world mainly because of the cost of actually getting to and from here. Unlike, Hawaii and the Caribbean, most people do not return for multiple vacations.
When people talk about the South Pacific and call it paradise, these are some of the islands they are talking about. The islands are actually atolls - ring-shaped islands formed of coral. The beaches on the inside of the reef are protected from the Pacific and are some of the most beautiful and calm found in the world. One of the funny stories we heard from our lecturer on the ship, James Grant-Peterkin, was that some people are surprised that there are not more people who come to these islands because it is paradise. His assumption was that many people come here, forget about their problems and live in paradise and then realize that the reason it is not paradise is that they brought themselves with them.
One of the other interesting things Grant-Peterkin told us was when the Tom Hanks movie Castaway was first shown in French Polynesian most of the children laughed when the Hanks character did not know how to find food, open a coconut or start a fire and actually survive on an island. They actually thought it was a comedy.
Today we made landfall for the first time in six days. We arrived in Fakarava, a small atoll with 855 residents in the Tuamotu Archipelago. After a short tender ride from the ship we arrived in the town of Rotoava, rented bicyles, toured the island, and stopped at a small beach for a very refreshing dip in the Pacific. We did have a flat tire that required us to walk for about a half of a mile or more but fortunately, a couple who hand rented bikes from the same company saw us and informed the vendor when they returned their bikes. The vendor drove out with a new front wheel and had us back on the road shortly.
On our ride we saw coconuts being harvested and the shells carefully stacked in very neat piles.The colorful buoys were used as decoration.
The primary language is French and the currency is the Polynesian Franc. The exchange rate is roughly 100 Francs to one US dollar.
This part of the Pacific was mostly untouched by World War II. Bora Bora had a US base that was mostly used for supply purposes but the islands themselves were untouched by war.
Seventy percent of the population of French Polynesia is in Tahiti which is also the center of the tourist industry. Tourism is down in this part of the world mainly because of the cost of actually getting to and from here. Unlike, Hawaii and the Caribbean, most people do not return for multiple vacations.
When people talk about the South Pacific and call it paradise, these are some of the islands they are talking about. The islands are actually atolls - ring-shaped islands formed of coral. The beaches on the inside of the reef are protected from the Pacific and are some of the most beautiful and calm found in the world. One of the funny stories we heard from our lecturer on the ship, James Grant-Peterkin, was that some people are surprised that there are not more people who come to these islands because it is paradise. His assumption was that many people come here, forget about their problems and live in paradise and then realize that the reason it is not paradise is that they brought themselves with them.
One of the other interesting things Grant-Peterkin told us was when the Tom Hanks movie Castaway was first shown in French Polynesian most of the children laughed when the Hanks character did not know how to find food, open a coconut or start a fire and actually survive on an island. They actually thought it was a comedy.
Today we made landfall for the first time in six days. We arrived in Fakarava, a small atoll with 855 residents in the Tuamotu Archipelago. After a short tender ride from the ship we arrived in the town of Rotoava, rented bicyles, toured the island, and stopped at a small beach for a very refreshing dip in the Pacific. We did have a flat tire that required us to walk for about a half of a mile or more but fortunately, a couple who hand rented bikes from the same company saw us and informed the vendor when they returned their bikes. The vendor drove out with a new front wheel and had us back on the road shortly.
On our ride we saw coconuts being harvested and the shells carefully stacked in very neat piles.The colorful buoys were used as decoration.
We missed sharing our first Polynesian swim
ReplyDeletewith you, but we did get our steps in early today!