March 23, 2026- Day #78

Today we are doing a tour of the East Coast of Tahiti from the port of Papeete, French Polynesia. Not much in the way of historical sites close to the port. It is raining again and this tour is mainly a bus tour to several photo opportunities, which is fine with the rain. Some of these photos are of a two headed tiki or moai just outside of the cruise ship terminal. There is also a pepto bismol colored church, which the guide said their claim to fame is changing the color of the church every year. Some photos of scenic views from different sites on the island. 

The lighthouse is at Venus Point. This is the site where Captain Cook observed the transit of Venus in 1769. The scientific world had figured out that in June of 1769 if people could measure the time that it would take Venus to cross in front of the sun from a number of locations around the world, they could calculate the distance from the earth to the sun. Cook was sent to Tahiti for this measurement, hence the name of this peninsula as Venus Point. They calculated the distance as 92 million miles and the actual distance is a little over 94 million miles, which is an amazing feat. From this site, I also got a really good photo of a rain cloud that approached and drenched us as I got back to the bus. 

Some other photos are taken from the site where the Hyatt Hotel once stood, until 1998. This is called Tamara’s Cliff or One Tree Hill because the original explorers of the area said there was only one tree on this hill.

Another couple of photos are from where we walked up to a beautiful waterfall in the rain or mist, or both. I only know that I got really wet, but the photos were worth getting wet. 

After the tour we took our things back to the ship then went out Pearl shopping. After shopping we ate at a really good Japanese poke bowl restaurant. Sorry, as you know I do not take pictures of my food, but it would have made a good picture.