January 8-9, 2023
“Surfing is the most blissful experience you can have on this planet, a taste of heaven.”
-John McCarthy
“April 28, 1789: The real-life mutiny that inspired John Boyne's novel, Mutiny on the Bounty, took place aboard the HMS Bounty 224 years ago today. Half the ship's crew, seduced by several months of good life on Tahiti, rose up against Captain William Bligh. Some of the mutineers' descendants still live on Pitcairn Island”
― John Boyne, Mutiny on the Bounty
We drove further around the island today. Two stories emerged worth telling.
If you look at a topographical map of Tahiti you will see that much of the Island is ringed by coral reefs. These lie anywhere from a dozen yards to half a mile off shore. These hardened walls act as break waters to the the pounding surf of the Pacific. As such, much of the water close to shore is clear, shallow, and quite calm. The waves break much farther out.
So we were curious when we came upon Teahupo’o. This area on the southern tip of the island is known world wide as a top surfing destination since the waters close to shore are tranquil.
Teahupo’o is known for “Perfect waves” that form a long hollow tube for dozens of yards and can at times be quite large.
Think of the waves in the opening credits of the old “Hawaii Five - O” TV series and you will get an idea. —- There - I have now throughly dated myself
We talked briefly with a couple of surfers at the shore who gushed about the quality of the waves that can be found here. But there is a catch….
These waves break right on the coral reef which is only a few feet beneath the surface!
“It is some of the heaviest waves anywhere”, one surfer commented.
So, it is extremely dangerous to surf here and should only be done by professionals with a support team. (Or by people who use the phrase ‘Gnarly’ in speech a lot.)
The waves were low today but below you will see in a drone fly by over the reef to give you an idea where the breaks occur.
The peninsula that jets out close to the breaks offers good views of the competition which is at its peak in August.
Here is the thing. The next summer Olympics will be held in Paris. Surfing is now an Olympic sport and since Tahiti is a French protectorate the surfing competition will be held here. This quiet small corner of the island will be transformed to a world stage.
Do you know what a Bread Fruit is? I didn’t either.
This is a breadfruit. It grows seasonally here - and that fact is an important part of the next story.
There are few who have not heard of the story of “The Mutiny on the Bounty”. It is a true story and much of the action is centered on Tahiti.
The HMS Bounty was a Royal Navy ship under the command of William Bligh. The Bounty set sail from England in 1789 with a mission to bring back breadfruit from Tahiti where it was known to grow.
Why breadfruit?. It was felt that the fleshy melon would be a good and cheap food source to feed slaves. England wanted their own supply. Slavery was very profitable and you wanted to keep your “stock’ alive. —- Sort of casts a different light on the whole tale doesn’t it?
Anyway, Bligh brought his ship around the Cape at the tip of South America and ran into heavy weather. So he decided to go the other way, around Africa. The decision added 10 months to the voyage. By the time the exhausted sailors reached these shores it must have seemed like they had found Eden itself.
Once they arrived they found out the Breadfruit was out of season so they would be forced to wait 5 months for a new crop. The crew was delighted and came ashore to live and rest.
And their was another prize - women. Lots of them.
Many settled down and Flethcher Christian, the eventual ringleader of the rebellion married a Tahitian woman.
Time passed and eventually it was time to go. Reluctantly they returned to their 120 foot prison to sail away. A short distance from the Island a portion of the crew, around 20 men, led by Christian took command of the vessel and put Bligh and the 18 loyalists on the long boat and left them. It was very likely they would die. The mutineers returned to Tahiti.
Bligh survived, eventually made it back to England and was exonerated for the mutiny. He was promoted to Rear Admiral.
The Royal Navy could not tolerate the mutineers actions and sent a warship to collect them in Tahiti. They only found a handful remaining. They rest had escaped to Pitcarin Island, that was not on the charts. They burned the Bounty and spent the remainder of their days there.
Today Pitcarin Island has around 50 people living on it. All of them can trace their heritage to the mutineers.
And the Breadfruit? It never survived the trip back to England.
We drove around the windward side of the Island the next day. It was Sunday and families were out on the beach and local swimming holes enjoying the day. We have encountered few tourists on our journey. Most places were not crowded at all. We did what we usually do when we travel. We got out and simply walked around
Here are some images
A friend of mine sent me a mesage recently commenting on the photos that were posted. She asked, “Is this the loveliest place you have been?”
That is hard to answer. So much depends on context. I can say this -
I woke up this morning to the sound of rain. A tropical shower was sweeping over the island. Our windows and front door to the bungalow were open and you could hear the patter of the drops on the porch. The breeze was gently blowing in bringing with it a moist fragrance.
Outside you could see the palm trees swaying and the banana leaves glistening in the downfall. Tropical birds flittered about and In the distance the waves were breaking on the coral reef. It was like one of those screen savers you buy for your computer.
Except it was real.
Our time in Tahaiti is short, only a few days before moving on. I doubt in what remains of our lives we will ever return. I think it is better that way. Sitting here, drinking coffee with my beautiful wife, you dont want to get up. You are in no hurry to go anywhere. Sights like this are sensual and rare. They are to be remembered, lingered over, and savored.
And yes, it was lovely
Our time in Tahiti will start to end tomorrow as we prepare to travel to New Zealand.
The next posting will be from Middle Earth.
I am telling you, you should take some time out of your life and write travelogues! Your photos are gorgeous, and the accompanying descriptions and stories are first class! I so appreciate them! Can’t wait for New Zealand!