When you dream of sailing the world, Tahiti is one of the places you dream of arriving. In normal times. During the Covid pandemic, it is less inviting; the infection rate is high and you have to wear masks – something we had avoided living in the wilderness.
But we have bought an appartment in Allgäu and needed the German consul to witness our signatures. He lives in Papeete so we sailed the two days downwind to see him.
Our first view of the island was a mass of cloud on the horizon but as the sun climbed the mountains began to appear and realization dawned – we had sailed from Scotland to Tahiti! Amazing!
We anchored off Venus Point where in 1769 James Cook anchored to observe a Venus transit. He was met by women in grass skirts, we were moved on by the police.
Next we moored in the middle of Papeete and enjoyed a week of city life. Consulate, shopping, dinner out, meeting loads of friends, drinks on other boats, pizza on Artemis, showering in the park and more shopping.
We also fitted in three bike rides up the mountains and along the valleys – the longest was 100km – so now we need to do some sailing to recover.
I am writing this as we are anchored alone just behind the reef off a small village. Locals were surfing in their canoes and headed home at sunset with cries of “Yo-Rana” (hello). Now it is dark and all we can here is the massive surf crashing on to the reef. It is wonderful to own a home that can be in the middle of the city in the morning and behind a coral reef in the evening