My Birding Blogs

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Tahiti Trip 2007 - Day 1 - Fri 03 Aug 2007 Sydney - Thu 02 Aug 2007 Papeete

Due to crossing the international dateline, we gained one day upon arrival in Tahiti.

Arrived Tahiti’s Faaa International Airport at 9pm local time. Despite situated in one of the most remote corner in the world, the airport can be crowded even at late evening. As advised by my colleague who had been to Tahiti a month earlier, we did not book for pre-arranged hotel shuttle and walked straight out of departure hall to the taxi stand less than 20m in front. The taxi fare at this hour can be very pricey. We had to pay XPF4300 (~USD43) to get to Radisson Resort which is only 10 km away. We could have got XPF4000 but the XPF300 was added for the 3 extra luggages that the taxi driver has the right to charge. The lady taxi driver drove us past the Papeete town centre and gave us a brief introduction of the city landmarks in French as we drove along. It would be helpful if you have done some research at home beforehand and understand some basic French. By the time we checked in at the Radisson Resort (newest resort on the main island), it was already past 10pm. No more room service as the kitchen has closed at this hour. No shops outside of the Resort and even though there are, do not expect this is Bangkok where you can find food easily in late hours. Luckily, the cup noodles tucked in the luggage became very handy in this type of ‘hunger’ emergency.








Restarant and Pool at Radisson Resort, Tahiti.