We are travelling around the islands of Polynesia.
Tahiti's Hidden Wilderness
The big part of Tahiti is round and about 40kms in diameter. It might be the biggest island in French Polynesia, but it ain’t big. Nearly 100% of the people who live here live on the coast. The coast is lined by beaches and surf breaks, and scorched by the tropical sun. The moment you step towards the interior you may as well be on another planet.
Suddenly, you’re in majestic, high, volcanic mountains, covered in lush jungle and without a soul in sight. Most buildings there are hydro power plants. In the interior it was rainy and much colder. When we came down on the other side of the island, back to the scorching sun on the coast, it all felt like a dream. Now we know why the peaks of the mountains are always covered in clouds when you look from the coast.
The interior also has some of the best preserved sites of Tahitan culture – when the French were persecuting traditional beliefs, many people retreated inland and so there are multiple Polynesian temples and even a reconstructed village – Marae Farehape.
There is exactly one motel right in the middle, sitting on a ridge over magnificent views – Relais de la Maroto. We hiked 19kms from the coast to RdlM on Monday, and stayed till Wednesday. The hosts are some of the nicest people in the world, and the food (as all food on Tahiti) was incredible.
The biggest challenge is getting there - and we did it in the most epic way. We took a bus to Papeno'o and hiked nearly 20km right to the middle. Goggle has no idea there are even roads there, but you can in fact get there by car. The road includes many, many waterfalls and electric dams that power the island. We stays in RtlM for two nights, trapped by rain - far more common in the middle of the island than the coast. We shared it with the workers of the electric company building more dams. On the third day, the hostess arranged for one of the workers to drive us down through Papara, the area that Gaugin once settled in, back to Puna'Auia. The drive featured steep cliffs and stunning, emerald lakes. And so we traversed the diameter of Tahiti - up by hike, down by car.
