A Hike to Paradise

Most cruisers are somewhat relieved when their guest’s leave the boat; life on a small sailboat is very tightly choreographed as it is and when you add two more people it only complicates things. Not so in our case when our friends Patsy and Steve left the boat. They were the perfect guests and we thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company. As the cab drove off to take them to the ferry, Meryl and I both felt a little void in our life and wish they could have stayed longer (at least it would have given me a chance to beat Steve at our favorite card game, “Screw Your Buddy.”)

Now it was time to move everything on the boat back their normal, messy places (the guest berth becomes what we fondly call “the garage.” As they say, a boat is only perfect the hour before guests arrive. The next morning we did some SUPing but generally just relaxed and enjoyed the extra square feet of boat sans guests.

On Thursday Mark and Cheryl on French Curve came over for drinks and we planned to meet them the next day at the head of Opunohu Bay for a hike. Up early the next morning we took the dingy in and hitch hiked to the head of the bay. We quickly got a ride with an older Frenchman who used to be the choreographer for the nude revue shows like Lido of Paris. Amazing the people who pick you up and amazing we’re still hitch hiking at age 69.  

What a beautiful place for a hike. From L to R: Mark, Cheryl, Meryl.

We met Mark and Cheryl (who were anchored about half way down Opunohu Bay) and hiked past the shrimp farm (more about that later), through some absolutely gorgeous countryside with the towering peak of Mt. Mouputa (the iconic peak in the famous Pan Am South Pacific poster) in the background, and up to the trail head. 

The trail was very well marked with directions and descriptions of the marae's.

There were three trails to the top, marked with the efficient French system of green, yellow and red (with red the hardest). We took one of the easier trails that wound it’s way through pineapple fields and then deep forest with ancient ruins around every bend. It’s amazing when you think of how many thousands of Tahitians lived in these valleys in the old days, where they were better protected from marauding bands of warriors from other valleys or islands. 

As an architect, I'm sure Mark was fascinated by the ancient construction techniques.

You see roosters and chickens everywhere in the wilds of French Polynesia.

One fairly large marae, called Ahu O Mahine, consisted of rock walls five rows high and about 100 feet wide. Important ceremonies were conducted on these marae’s, which typically would have some grass-roofed structures atop the platform. This marae was dedicated to worship of ‘Oro, the god of fertility and war. The chief of this marae actually met Captain Cook in Opunohu Bay in 1770.

The view of Opunohu Bay from the Belvedere. We are anchored just around the corner at the top right.

Certainly this must be Paradise?

Not sure what all the locks were about? Maybe a French thing?

Home of the best and most exotic ice cream we've ever had.

Once we reached the top we were greeted by a spectacular view of Opunohu Bay, albeit somewhat diminished by presence of tourists who rode 4-wheel ATV’s to the top of the road. We decided to walk down the road to save our legs for another day and were ecstatic to see a small side road to the Lycée de Agricole, about one-third way down. Normally I’m not that excited about an agricultural college, but this one featured a well-known cafe that serves homemade ice cream from the college, including flavors like mango, passion fruit, guava, pineapple, papaya, etc. What a great way to end a hike with wonderful friends.

At the bottom of the road we began hitchhiking again, this time waiting only two minutes until a young French woman who was local artist picked us up and took us back to our dingy. It’s funny that more frequently than not it’s single women who pick us up; so nice that Tahiti fosters a safe environment that allows this.