After a bit of a scare, I made it back from my three week trip to French Polynesia safe and sound yesterday afternoon. What did I learn after visiting Tahiti Nui, Moorea, Huahine, Tahaa, Bora Bora, and Riaetea?

• The people who live here are just about the nicest people I have ever met. Of course, this is a gross generalization however I was overwhelmed at how many friendly and generous people I encountered, French and Polynesian both. If you do go be sure to pick up some tahitian phrases, I got the impression the indigenous people really appreciated the effort when you try and speak their language. French is also spoken, but from talking to locals there still are some undercurrents of hostility towards the French amongst some.
• I like sailing, however I’m not so sure open ocean sailing is my thing – I just like a bit more to look at and calmer seas. Turns out big waves, strong wind, and water crashing over the deck isn’t as scary as it sounds after a while and really makes one appreciate the fact that they don’t get sea sick.
• Cruisers are a pretty tight knit community of people of all ages and backgrounds not just a bunch of rich old folks like you might suspect. Everywhere we went I swear Jason knew nearly all the other boaters we encountered and people were always lending each other a hand and giving others the 411 on the local scene. We had a great time hanging out with with Greg and Bonnie, Eric and Ivonna, Ben and Matt, Brett and Naomi, and many many more.
• Due to the declining dollar and the fact that so many goods must be imported into this tiny economy, French Polynesia can be pretty expensive for Americans. I found that prices for some of the basic staples to be more expensive than even what things cost when I visited Tokyo.
• Food here can be, well, interesting. You get a fusion of the three main ethnics groups (Polynesian, French, and Chinese) that I don’t think you see else where. For instance, they make these baguette sandwiches you can get for only 180-300 CFP ($2-4) stuffed with ingredients like deep fried fish and chips, meatloaf and french fries, or chow mein. At night there are these food trucks (much like taco trucks) that roll in where you can get dishes like steak frites (just what it sounds, usually several pieces of grilled meat on a giant plate of french fries) or poisson cru for around 1000 CFP, well in the range of cheap skates like us to eat out now and then.
• Snorkeling in French Polynesia is just like what I would imagine it would be like to swim through largest aquarium you have ever visited. I saw literally hundreds of different kinds of fish, sometimes in school of thousands and thousands, and often in crazy shapes and colors we just don’t get here in the pacific northwest. The water temperature is in the 80s and the seas so clear that in some areas you can clearly make out the bottom while standing on the boat from depths as much as 30 feet.

Pictures are up over on my Flickr account…

Just checking in really quick. We arrived in Papeete safe and sound, although our luggage didn’t arrive until more than 15 hours later. We spent the day meeting Jason’s cruising buddies, wandering the town, and checking out the local brewery.

After a rocky night in the harbor, we pulled out and headed over to Moorea. It was wet and windy sail in the largest seas I’ve ever been in, but then again I’ve never done much sailing outside of puget sound before.

Moorea has been great. Where we are moored we can swim right out to the reefs where the snorkelling is incredible. I can’t believe the variety of fish I’ve seen, from big ol sting rays to little fish that look like tetras – its like swimming through a well stocked aquarium display. Yesterday I joined up with some of Jason’s friends and went hiking up to a viewpoint where we could overlook both of the bays on this side of the island. It was a long trek even when you factor in the couple of rides we were able to hitch and the kind stranger who lent us his car (!) to get to the top, but it was well worth it.

Today we are probably going to pull anchor and head over to Huahine – its a 90 mile sail, a good deal of which we’ll do overnight, so this should be interesting.

Pictures and more information over at Jason’s blog.

Enough of this lousy weather, time to head off and meet my brother where the weather is warm. Youngest brother and I be getting into Papeete around 5AM tomorrow and after meeting up with Jay and spending a couple of days seeing the city we’ll be sailing off towards Moorea and eventually up towards the Leeward Islands. I’ll try to stick up a blog entry now and then, but no promises.