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FRENCH POLYNESIA
July 3rd - July 15th 2010
Eclipse on July 11th 2010
This is one of the most exotic eclipses I have seen. I loved discovering the fascinating Polynesian culture, tasting exotic fresh food and really enjoyed speaking French with the friendly Polynesians. The eclipse in Hikueru atoll, between palm trees and turquoise waters, was just breathtaking.
DAY 1 - FAKARAVA
July 3rd
After a very very long trip via Los Angeles and Papeete, we finally arrived in Fakarava, an atoll in the Tuamotu archipelago, 450 Km northeast of Tahiti, with about 800 people. It was paradise! The sea had such a beautiful turquoise translucent color. The lazy palm trees were swinging with the gentle pacific breeze with monotonous indolence, in the impeccable cerulean sky. I had to pinch myself to make sure it wasn’t a dream!
DAY 2 - FAKARAVA
July 4th
Life in paradise is busy between building sand castles, cycling to the village to buy some fresh coconuts, and swimming in the crystal lagoon. However, my favorite pastime was kayaking. It was so hot during the day, our little hut without any aircon was unbearable. Gliding through the transparent shallow waters of the lagoon was pure bliss. I wasn’t surprised to learn that Fakarava is part of a UNESCO-protected biosphere reserve.
DAY 3 - FAKARAVA
July 5th
This is Jojo, the 4m long nurse shark. My mum and I were frolicking in the water when suddenly we saw this gargantuan black mass swimming slowly towards us. We rushed out of the water screaming believing we were about to be attacked by a giant shark… We soon learned that Jojo was “just” an inoffensive nurse shark. Its small mouth cannot even swallow large prey, it just slurps sea snails, crustaceans, mollusks, and other small fish from the sea floor. Afterwards, we waited every day with impatience to spot Jojo! Interestingly I learned that sharks are “tāura” for Polynesians, which means “totem animals and guardians”.
DAY 4 - FAKARAVA
July 6th
In Fakarava we learned about Tahitian pearls, which are exclusively cultured in the Polynesian lagoons. Although they appear black at first when you look closely their iriscedent color shimmers in hues of teal, bronze, green and silver. Among all types of pearls, Tahitian pearls have the largest range of colors. In the past, pearls were found only very rarely by fortuitous accident but thanks to determined entrepreneur Mikimoto Kōkichi and professor Kakichi Mitsukuri, pearl cultures emerged in Japan at the end of the 19th century and expanded to Polynesia in the 1960s. The process of pearl culture is a real art: a professional grafter seeds the black lip oyster with an irritant (which is not a grain of sand contrary to popular belief but a bead made from a mollusk shell). The oyster naturally coats it with layers of aragonite (a carbonate mineral naturally occurring crystal forms of calcium carbonate) and conchiolin (nacre), and six months later the gem will miraculously form.
DAY 5 - FAKARAVA
July 7th
We went to the Pink Sands beach in the south of the atoll. It was a mesmerizing experience, and undoubtedly the most beautiful beach I have ever seen in my life. The pink sands with the iridescent sea reflecting the sky and clouds were enchanting. I naturally started running around with my arms open before splashing there with my little brother with lightness and happiness. This beach has become my mental escape place. When I am stressed or anxious, I go exactly there and everything gets better. This place was magical.
DAY 6 - MOOREA
July 8th
We left Fakarava with a heavy heart and flew to Moorea to join our eclipse tour. Moorea is the closest island to Tahiti and it is completely different from the Fakarava atoll. Moorea is a volcanic island dominated by Mont Routui.
DAY 7 - MOOREA
July 9th
In the morning we took a jet ski to see the stingrays that swim freely in a particular spot. At first I was a little scared of those flat viscous creatures circling around us, but I ended up enjoying playing with them. It was funny how curious they were. In the afternoon we went horse riding inland. It was so green and lush amongst the pineapple plantations and coconut trees.
DAY 8 - HIKUERU
July 10th
In the morning we took a flight to Hikueru, our eclipse location. Hikueru is a beautiful oval atoll with a deep turquoise lagoon. Despite its natural beauty, Hikueru is not a touristic place as a horrible hurricane destroyed the island and killed three quarters of its population in 1903. There are less than 300 people living on the atoll now. Jack London vividly describes what the hurricane may have been like in his short story entitled “The House of Mapuhi”
This is our modest accommodation for two nights. Under the stars, by the whisper of the ocean, it was definitely five stars for me!
DAY 9 - HIKUERU (ECLIPSE DAY)
July 11th
Most of us gathered on the beach to watch first contact and totality. It was a little stressful as large clouds were forming as the air was cooling down when the moon started covering the sun. Fortunately we had a fortunate hole during totality and witnessed a marvelous eclipse. We were very lucky as a group who came to watch the eclipse from the airport field was completely clouded out. See this video montage of Stephen Voss taken from pictures in Hikueru.
After the eclipse we spent the day celebrating. I learned to weave banana leaves and made crowns with palm leaves. That day we were all kings and queens!
To celebrate the successful eclipse we were treated to a beautiful dinner and a local show with drummers and dancers. We all joined in! At the end of the party, all the tourists were given many beautiful shell necklaces, which is a tradition for everyone leaving the "fenua" (territory). Those necklaces symbolize good memories.
DAY 10 - BORA BORA
July 12th
It was very sad to leave Hikueru and its welcoming inhabitants but we were looking forward to our last place: idyllic heavenly Bora Bora. Interestingly it was previously called “Pora pora mai te pora” in Tahitian language which means "created by the gods", and it really felt that way.
DAY 11 - BORA BORA
July 13th
The island is truly paradisiacal: long coconut trees, turquoise shimmering lagoon, white soft sand and of course a ton of colorful fish and turtles.
DAY 12 - BORA BORA
July 14th
I loved visiting the Turtle Centre, which looks after injured turtles. It was great to learn about green sea and hawksbill turtles. Interestingly green turtles are called as such because they eat green sea grass (and not because of their color). I didn’t know that turtles are meat eaters at the start of their life but at the age of 25 they become vegetarian… They travel between Fiji and Hawaii and always come to nest in Bora Bora between October to January.
DAY 13 - BORA BORA
July 15th
We spent the last day in paradise soaking in the sun and warmth of the Pacific, admiring the turquoise lagoon, enjoying the gentle breeze and the lazy palm trees. This magic place is so far away from bustling London, I really don’t know when I will be able to come back, sadly the next total solar eclipse there is not before 2063.
