A fool's journey

French Polynesia Arrival Retrospective

[going back to March 16, number two]

The time change is plus one hour, less an entire day because of crossing the date-line going East.

Fill out an English entry card for French Polynesia. And have fun helping some Spaniards with theirs. We requested forms in Spanish, but it turns out they were asking where we were from, instead of what language form we wanted. This is key.

I translated the form questions from English to Spanish, and then filled out their forms with English answers based upon their Spanish answers. My Spanish is limited, so translations had to be creative. Things like "age range" were derived by my asking when they were born.

Tahiti - on my 2nd Friday March 16th

Can smell cooking fires. Smoky. Humid. Cool. See the sun rise. Bright. Jagged volcanic mountains, which upon my return later, I recognize as neighboring island Mo'orea.

Flowers and live music and dance welcome upon arrival. But this was after Immigation.

There I had troubles. My card was collected from me while I was in line. The signs said to have your passport and onward ticket ready. When I got to the officer he asked me for my entry/disembarkation card. I had already given my card to a woman. He rounded another one up for me. It was a different card than the one I filled out. To the back of the line for me. I fill out this new card. Turns out this was the entry card for people from outside of the European Union. And the other card was for everyone to fill out - for the tourism folks.

So answering "English" on the plane resulted in me getting only the tourism card, instead of also an entry card, which I would have gotten if I had answered "American".

So I fill out this new card the best I can, leaving where I am staying blank since I do not yet know.

I get back to the front of the line, and the same Immigration officer is the next one available. He tried to avoid me with busy work for a few minutes, but finally he summoned me to his booth, since none of the others were getting available.

He wanted to know where I was staying. Mo'orea wasn't sufficient. And it wasn't good thing to ask him if he could suggest a nice place. I was digging a deeper hole. So I filled in "Mo'orea Hilton". His response - there is no Hilton on Mo'orea. Ooops. I ended with "I don't know what to say since I do not yet have a specific place but there has to be someting like a Hilton available there on Mo'orea." It seemed like a few more minutes went by. Finally he stamped my card and passport.

So next time - have a targeted place selected - even if I do not have a reservation. Intent is good enough. And believe the US State Department web-site, instead of the travel agent and the airline. The web-site said I had to have a place to stay in order to get in. When I asked the airline agent and the travel agent about this they both said no, not necessary. Well, it would have been better.

And if I had gotten the card on the plane, I may have gotten creative and asked someone for a place or referred to the inflight magazine.

This provided some laughs upon recounting. And later I hear some true Immigration horror stories, all at the hands of US Immigration folks. So I find out, that we may in general be a welcoming country, but foreign tourists can suffer an extreme lack of hospitality in order to get thorugh US Immigration.

So in these moments, I am not proud of my country's treatment of visitors.

On the ferry to Mo'orea, the sea is mesmerizing (or is it fatigue and hunger?). And such a deep deep saphire blue with glimmers of violet in the shadows. Draws me in. Calmed and transfixed.

posted by Evan @ 12:19 PM

Auckland Retrospective

[going back to March 14, 15 and 16]

What are the odds? I guess sufficient, given the number of travelers. I am triplets with a brother and sister from Bologna, Italy. She draws comics based upon her travel experiences. Upon asking me to guess where they are from, I ask her to say something. When she gestured as a prelude to speech, I guessed Italy beofre she even got a word out. I remember them from my first night in New Zealand. And they saw me where we stayed in Taupo. I didn't notice them there. And now again, for a third time, we are staying at the same place. It is the same place we started, so really it is the first place for a second time.

Excellent Thai drunken noodles from a ma and pa place nearby. Play chess with folks from France and Germany. Later grill lamb and have it with satay peanut sauce and rice that I had taken away from the Thai place earlier.

The lock on my room wasn't working properly, so I tried the simple dis-assemble, re-assemble approach, using my trusty Swiss Army knife, and it worked. The next day, the owner was very appreciative. I could have been in trouble, since I hadn't asked, but it all worked out fine.

So two days to see the rest of Auckland. Started with the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Great collection of Maori and Pacific Islander artifacts. Excellent for animals and geology. But the fish were limited to the large game fish, so the minor fish were not to be seen.

Next stop: New Zealand National Maritime Museum. My favorite display was the steerage quarters which we could walk through. They rocked to the waves. School children get to come stay for the night, with the wave maker turned off after bed time. The bunks are three high, and for space efficiency, they are simply slots that are entered feet or face first. It was great to see how most people traveled to get to New Zealand. An earlier display showed how the natives traveled to get here.

I am still thinking like a shark - big eyed tuna for dinner - extra rare.

Chess exchange travel ideas with French and Japanese.

Last stop: Kelly Tarleton's Antartic Adventure & Underwater World. Seemed like a tourist trap, especially with a name that long, so I saved it for last, in case I ran out of time. I missed my stop on the bus. I was looking for a large building on the bay side. It turned out to be a small entrance on the shore side. Like a subway entrance. And I found out why it was not what I had expected. A tourist trap, yes. And a worthy one. This fellow re-claimed some abandoned sewer works and converted it into aquarium tanks. He made use of the structures provided, most all hidden underground.

And I liked what inside. Penguins too! King penguins, at 16 kilograms, second in size to the Emperor. And Gentoo penguins, at 6 kilograms. In the fish tanks, there were sharks, rays, and local fish. Great to see the local fish, so up close, including ones that were not even in the Museum from the day prior. There were feedings too. Some of the tanks had plexiglass arched tunnels trough them, so the fish were above us. Very enjoyable design.

Then downtown. Exhaust my cash on a Brisket Noodle Soup dinner, with 40 cents to spare. And catch the bus from the Sky Tower to the airport. Luckily I hadn't lost my return ticket. On the way, the bus stops to refuel - 30 gallons of diesel.

Check in to my flight. Purchase my exit sticker (NZ$25). And have a nice flight to Tahiti.

Labels: Auckland

posted by Evan @ 10:37 AM

Auckland to Mo'orea to Home

I am home now. For some time. Spring here. Days have gotten longer. Still seems cold to me.

I did get my lost day back. Two Friday March 16ths, in place of my earlier lost Sunday.

Went Auckland to Pape'ete by plane. Traveled all day. And arrived early in the morning on the same day and date. Even though it was early, there was a muisical and dance greeting, with 12 dancers in traditional Polynesian costume.

Cash machines didn't work for me at the airport. So I got a cash advance on my debit card. I had never even thought that possible. The kind woman at the bank thought it would work, so I had her try. Only fee ended up being $0.45 that my bank passed through from the card processing company for converting the foreign currency I received to a US dollar amount.

So then I had cash for the bus to town - Pape'ete, which is the main city on Tahiti. Caught a ferry boat to a neghboring island - Mo'orea. It ended up being plenty remote enough for me. So no need to travel on to Bora Bora or the Marquesas.

From the ferry terminal, I took the local clockwise bus around to the Southwest side of the island. I had found a possible place to stay from some travel brochures at the travel center in Pape'ete.

The bus dropped me off at the driveway. I walked up and they said they had been expecting me. I said it must be someone else as I was just showing up un-announced. And if they have a place for me and I liked it I would stay for two weeks.

I liked the bungalow. I liked them. They liked me. I liked the other guests I met. It all worked out fine. It was my home for two weeks.

I did get to fish some. Off a bridge, a pier, and while swimming! Just small fish inside the lagoon. Part entertainment, part sustenance, and part instinct. Tasty too.

A few haiku . . .

Swim, rest, walk, fish, hmmm?
At Mo'orea today
Choose one, two, or three!

Sandals choose to stay.
Not swept out to sea, nor lost
in jungle, like me!

At the end of my stay in French Polynesia, I returned to Pape'ete for a few days.

Then flew home on March 30.

So that's it for this trip.

And now will start to decide: where to next?

Labels: Auckland to Mo'orea to Home

posted by Evan @ 5:08 PM