Astrid and Francis

We're back in Papeete. Tomorrow we'll catch a plane for Tikehau, an atoll in the Tuamotu achipelago. We don't know whether we'll have Internet access over there. If not, expect an update in two weeks from now. Nana !

Tonight we will fly back to Papeete. The days on this beautiful island just flew by. Next time we will stay at least a couple of weeks!

The car we hired was a bit rusty and old, but it did the trick. The island is not very big, but the roads are bumpy so it takes some time to get from one site to another.




We learned a bit more about the past of the island, its moai (the statues) and its infamous Bird Cult. It confirmed our suspicions that the people here were completely crazy. Actually, one can still feel the craziness lingering in the air. We feel right at home over here!











On Easter we launched an expedition in search of chocolate eggs and low and behold we did find two chocolate bunnies!




Astrid did her art as usual. One great spot was the beach where art and pleasure were conveniently combined. :-)











The sun has bleached Astrid’s hair so much that she can almost pass as a blonde. We haven’t noticed a change in her Intelligence Quotient but we are not sure whether that is a good sign or not. (Thank you, Francis, for this nice remark. – Astrid)



We of course continued our research on the local cuisine. There are a number of species of fish that are found only around Rapa Nui. Apparently this is because of the exceptional purity of the water around the island. Indeed, the major shipping routes are thousands of miles away from here. Whatever the reason, the fish we tried tasted great!

Thursday we arrived in Rapa Nui, Easter Island. The flight was uneventful but tiresome because it was a night flight. We immediately liked the island, its cool breeze, laidback people and free running horses. There is a beautiful contrast between the smooth hills and the eroded cliffs.




Yesterday we took a guided tour of the island. We were not sure of the correctness of our guide’s explanations, but then no one really knows what has happened on this island. It is truly one of the remaining mysteries of the planet. This mysteriousness makes the moai, the giant statues, all the more impressive! We will rent a car to explore the island at our own pace over the coming days.




Yesterday also, we went swimming in the ocean and relaxed on the beautiful beach Anakena that has its own collection of royal moai. And, oh yes, let’s not forget to mention that the food and the Chilean wine are excellent!




Today we went to visit the anthropology museum, which has some interesting exhibits (like a female moai). On the way over there we passed a beautiful cemetary. Some of its tombstones combine Christian elements with elements from the local cults (like the Birdman cult).

Today we flew back from Maupiti to Papeete. We’re sad to leave our little paradise behind. What will happen to our friends Hinano (Trois Pattes), White (Princesse), Blacky and Grognon now that we are gone? Luckily the sunrise was magnificent this morning and that took our mind off things. Moreover, tomorrow we are flying to Rapa Nui (Easter Island), something to look forward to!

We’ve found out that there is not just one shark in our part of the lagoon, but that there are at least five of them. It’s pretty spectacular to see them take off!

A couple of days ago we discovered that a relatively big shark (pointe noir, 1 to 1.5 meters long) has its hunting grounds not too far from our motu. Every evening we try to get as close as possible. One of the dogs here, a white female called White (we call her princess because of her snotty behavior) is obsessed by sharks and she joins us every time we go chasing the shark. Once we get close enough she jumps in the water in a pretty absurd attempt to catch it. The shark just takes off as a rocket once we or the dog get too close…

Astrid is trying long time exposure portraits. It takes a lot of patience, especially from the subject!

Today the whole pension went on a fun picnic on another motu. We caught fish (using a net), cleaned it, put salt and lemon on it and ate it. Delicious! The women gathered some clams which we also ate raw. Not bad, but rather chewy.

We kayak a lot over here. We’ve visited a couple of other motu’s by kayak and sometimes we even peddle to the village to do some shopping.

Two times already we have climbed the Mont Hotu Paraoa, one of the hills of Maupiti, The first time we did the trip with a couple of other visitors. The second time it was just us. The view from up there is spectacular. The path has some pretty steep parts in it, but at places it is lined with mango trees with delicious fruit for grabs.

Today (28 March) we flew from Raiatea to Maupiti. As expected there is no Internet here, but we’ll write our blog anyway and we will publish it when we get back to the civilized world.






We are staying in a bungalow on the beach. Audine and Alain are running the pension. Audine is a great cook, meaning that we have to do a lot of sport to keep reasonably slim. We kayak, we swim, we snorkel, we walk and climb all day long. This makes us so hungry that we devour all of Audine’s food. Meaning of course that we have to exercise even more the day after. Help!



The pension is located on Motu Tiapaa, a beautiful motu to the east of the island. It’s as if we are living in a commercial for Bounty. Most people that visit the pension stay only a couple of days, so we see a lot of tourists come and go. Some of them are really cool, but unfortunately all of them are French. ;-)

We’re back in Papeete, capital of Tahiti, meaning that we have Internet access. Time to update our blog!

We sent our last message from Raiatea. As you might remember we were staying in a bungalow up in the hills.



The day before we took the plane from Raiatea to Maupiti, we kayaked up Raiatea’s river into the jungle. We didn’t discover any cannibal tribes, but we saw some giant eels (sacred ones, of course) and more beautiful flowers.