Tahiti

 

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Many of us had not heard of the island of Tahiti and we complained that we were going there instead of to Buenos Aires, but those complaints soon disappeared after we arrived. No Navy ships had visited Papeete for years and the cruise ships were not yet arriving in the numbers that would happen later.

My only experience with tropical islands had been from the movies and Tahiti lived up to all those expectations. I traded the duty (standing watch) with married guys so that when we got back to Norfolk I would stand their watches. This gave me a lot of free time in Tahiti.

There was not much room at the pier for our ship and so we had to moor alongside the pier, but we had to take a launch to get ashore.

After mooring the ship, we suddenly experienced a welcome that reminded me of some of the scenes from "Mutiny on the Bounty." A throng of Tahitians came swimming out the ship and hung onto the mooring lines.

The island was more beautiful than I could ever have imagined. The beaches were a kind of black sand that I was told was from lava.

We went on a tour of the island and found that it was everything we had ever expected from the tropics. We were shown how to open coconuts and drink the milk which was not as good as beer, but very tasty on a hot day.

 

 

A friend and I were lucky to meet an ex-marine who invited us to a luau at his house.

The women of Tahite were very beautiful and welcoming. They showed us how a hula was danced and made very critical comments about the way Hawaiians danced.

Not everyone wore traditional costumes. We didn't mind, however I made friends with this woman who was part French and part Polynesian. She was very sophisticated.

I believe that the following picture was taken during the luau that I was invited to, but I don't remember a lot about this party. We had a wonderful meal with raw fish, fried plantain, octopus and, something called Tahitian punch. I do remember two of the women helping me back to the whaleboat where I promptly fell into the bottom (filled with muddy water) and when we arrived at the ship, I had to be carried aboard. The foibles of youth.

Although we were not in Tahiti a long time and had been gone from Norfolk for a very long time, we were not eager to leave Tahiti. There were some problems with the engines that delayed our leaving, but the Captain finally put his foot down and we got under way for Norfolk.

 

 

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