> > by Craig Tansley
Up-and-go action and breathtaking scenery form a heady flipside to the sybaritic pleasures of tropical Tahiti.
It’s an impossible thing to describe the fear that cripples you as you paddle into the line-up of the world’s most deadly surf break. It’s so shallow here I can clearly see every razor-sharp coral head below, and the flamboyantly colourful fish that feed around them. I’m at Teahupoo, the world’s most infamous surf break, on Tahiti-Iti. I’ve never seen such a beautiful, tropical world. Mountains frame a foreground so green and fertile it’s a shame to think I’ll probably be dead amongst it all in a few short minutes. Seriously. Spectator boats watch from the channel, I spy a smaller wave coming and paddle like a madman. I catch it; this is it, I’m surfing Tahiti. That’s when I learn a thing or two about Polynesian power; these waves are nothing like Australia’s, they have mana. I’m thrown head-first into the reef, thankfully I’m spared a butchering, but my hip bumps into my surfboard, causing a ‘ding’ in the fibreglass 15 centimetres deep. Washed into the lagoon, I retreat to fairer waters. Fortunately, on the eastern side of Tahiti, there are waves that break on sand, not reef, meaning no surfer need miss out on Polynesian perfection. Like most things on this island, there’s an adventure that’s custom-made for you.Tahiti offers so much more than warm lagoons and sunset cocktails. For couples who crave adventurous vacations, there could be no better destination. With an interior more striking than any other in the Pacific - mountains on Tahiti jut out at over 2000 metres - there are hikes here that invoke Spielberg’s Lost World. You can walk beside ancient archaeological sites, along never-ending valleys, jump from waterfalls, dive deep, clear waters, abseil through the elongated, pitch-black lava tube tunnels of ancient volcanoes or take a horse ride through some of French Polynesia’s wildest terrain.
It doesn’t take long to access adventure in Tahiti. One sweltering morning we’re driven just two minutes behind the capital, Papeete, into the Fautaua Valley. Just beyond Papeete’s urban sprawl the valley walk takes you into mountain ranges totally detached from any form of civilisation … modern civilisation, that is. Our guide Hervé walks us past old stone walls that were once used in battles. “There are bodies buried all around us,” Hervé says. “This is sacred land.” It’s cooler in the rainforest as we climb; through a clearing in the trees we see a 125 metre high waterfall which he calls Rupa, and behind it the highest mountain in the Pacific – Mt Orohena (at 2241 metres it’s actually 13 metres higher than Mt Kosciuszko). We walk an hour more till we’re at the top of the waterfall. Just above it there arethree mountain pools, and we ride a natural rock water slide into one pool, then jump seven metres into the next and swim to the edge, where we sit delicately close to the 125 metre drop-off. That this idyllic escape is just two hours walk from Papeete speaks volumes about the adventure opportunities Tahiti offers.
The next day Hervé takes us tunnelling through Tahiti’s volcanic interior. On the island’s barely developed east coast, the Hitiaa Lava Tubes give hikers one of the only opportunities on earth to go deep inside a volcano. We hike through thick jungle till we reach a 100 metre deep tunnel, before emerging into a secret valley. The second tube is 300 metres long with two waterfalls, but it’s the third tube, the longest and darkest by far, that’s most impressive. Protected by a cascading waterfall we hike through the falls - inside our torches pick up algae which lights up like thick walls of gold. We climb ropes and abseil down sheer rock faces till we reach a huge cave complete with lake and waterfall where we’re forced to jump five metres into a pool to go forward.
There are a thousand opportunities for rugged hikes on Tahiti, if you wish you can even climb the island’s tallest peak, Mt Orahena. Alternatively, you can meander your way along the
east coast, through tiny villages and past empty beaches. On Tahiti-Iti, whose southern coast is only accessible by boat or on foot, take a boat excursion along the hidden coast, or to the waves at Teahupoo - down here 100 metre high waterfalls cascade straight into lagoons. Or if you like adventure with a throttle, take a 4WD tour through the mountainous interior, or drive yourself on a quad bike through the Papenoo Valley. And, of course, you can always go down instead of up, take a diving excursion to some of the clearest waters in the Pacific.
ADVENTURE OPTIONS
+ Hike any mountain, find waterfalls and discover the lava tubes with Hervé at Mato-Nui Excursions, call 689 78 95 47 (no website) or try Polynesian Adventure, www.polynesianadventure.fr.st, + Embark on a 4WD adventure with Natura Exploration Tours, www.papeete.com + Go scuba diving with Scubatek, www.scubatek-tahiti.com + Surf Tahiti, no matter how big or small, with Tahiti Surf School, www.tahitisurfschool.info + Explore Tahiti-Iti’s rugged coastline with Teahupoo Excursions, www.web.me.com/teahupooexcursion. + For a full list of land and water activities visit www.tahitinow.com.au/things-to-do