Raiatea & Captain Cook
We raised anchor in Taha'a and cruised the short distance to
Raiatea, an island so close it is enclosed within the same
barrier reef. We docked at the pier overnight and in the morning, our
group left for a kayaking trip on the Faaroa River, the only navigable
river in all of French Polynesia.
The road hugged the scenic coast for a while, passing small, one-story
homes and an occasional business. As on Bora Bora and Taha'a, what
little development we saw was along the coastal highway.
In Polynesian mythology, Raiatea was considered to be the birthplace of
the world. As our van turned inland, we saw lush green mountains rising
to peaks of volcanic rock, shrouded in clouds. It was easy to understand
how that sight would have fired the imagination.
Raiatea was the center of religion, royalty and culture for the ancient
Polynesians, who departed from these shores to discover and colonize
Hawaii, New Zealand and Easter Island. They built boats for long voyages
with trees floated down the Faaroa River, a practice noted by Captain
James Cook, the first European to visit Raiatea, in 1769.
We put in at the mouth of the river, where the famous explorer once
stood, and paddled upstream. In the dry season there was very little
current, and the going was easy.
It was not long before the channel narrowed and the foliage on the banks
turned to jungle, overhanging the water from both sides and sometimes
meeting in the middle. The air grew still and very warm, and there were
frequent switchbacks. I lost sight of the back half of our line of
kayaks.
It was an Indiana Jones-like setting, perfect for snakes or crocodiles
or giant poisonous spiders, but these creatures don't exist in French
Polynesia.
We drifted by a wild hibiscus, or purau, the flower of which blossoms
bright yellow in the only morning of its life, turns crimson in the
afternoon and falls from the tree at sunset. The prior day's flowers
still dotted the surface of the Faaroa.
Leaving the kayaks for a guided walk through a tropical garden, we found
freshwater eels slithering in a trickle of a creek and a wide variety of
trees and plants. Within a few hundred yards we saw wild ginger,
vanilla, birds-of-paradise, cocoa beans, chestnut and mango and banana
trees and "touch-me-not" plants that slammed their leaves
closed when disturbed.
Back on the Paul Gauguin, we gathered for a delicious lunch at the pool
grill (this extensive buffet became a tradition) and in the afternoon,
several members of our group took the Discover Scuba class, which
included an hour of classroom instruction and another hour in the ship's
pool.
My dive certification had expired and there were others in the class who
had never been certified, but after this easy, two-hour lesson we were
all eligible to participate in subsequent "beginner" dives in
Bora Bora and Moorea. The instructors were competent and friendly and I
highly recommend the class to anyone curious about diving.
In the late afternoon we were entertained by Polynesian singers and
dancers on deck, and we sailed for nearby Bora Bora just after another
spectacular sunset.
When Captain Cook arrived on Raiatea, the people of the island had just
fought and lost a bloody battle with fierce warriors from Bora Bora.
Conflicts between islands and even between the tribes on a particular
island were common in those days.
Exploration was a hazardous undertaking, and if the sea didn't get you,
the locals might. There were numerous reports of cannibalism among the
Polynesians in the Marquesas and New Zealand, and Cook witnessed part of
a ceremonial human sacrifice in Tahiti.
Cook was later stoned and stabbed to death by the natives on the shore
of the Big Island of Hawaii.
Cook was rightfully celebrated in Europe for his courage and leadership,
and for his extraordinary skill in mapping great unknown regions of the
planet, from the Antarctic Circle to the Bering Strait, and from
Newfoundland to New Zealand. In a world where some do and some don't,
Cook did.
It may have been a bit of a stretch, however, to credit Cook with
"discovering" Raiatea, the islands of Hawaii, the eastern
coast of Australia and many other places that had been inhabited by
thousands of people for hundreds of years.
As Cook himself came to understand and lament, the Europeans brought new
diseases to these islands, against which the natives had no natural
immunity. By some accounts, epidemics reduced the population of the
region from 250,000 to 40,000 in a short time.
After tales of paradise reached Europe, French and British settlers
began to arrive, and before long, tribal religions, rituals and dance
were outlawed. On some islands, children were separated from their
parents and kept in boarding schools to prevent the transfer of history
and traditions that had been passed orally from generation to generation
for centuries.
In recent decades, there has been a resurgence of interest in ancient
Polynesian culture, but it's reasonable to suspect that some aspects are
forever lost.
I have searched in vain for any vestige of resentment in the faces of
the islanders. Aside from a few politicians who gain personally by
stirring things up, most Polynesians don't worry much about the early
Europeans, their "discovery" or the aftermath. The people
we've met have been kind and friendly.
Maybe that's because the world spins more slowly here, or perhaps the
Polynesians have been soothed by the same panoramas that draw visitors
from around the world.
I would capture all these moments if I could -- the sunsets, hikes and
moonlit swims -- and take them home to savor. But they are as fleeting as
the flowers of the purau, burst forth in all their glory just this
morning and tomorrow, floating to the sea.
To see photos from this portion of my cruise, please click
here.
Cruise prices to Tahiti and French Polynesia have never been lower than
they are right now. For a complete list of discount cruises on the
Paul Gauguin, please click
here.
Sincerely,
R. Alan Fox
Chairman & CEO
