Chapter 25: Fly Back to Papeete
Tahiti once more
Saturday morning at 9:10 I am back aboard Air Rarotonga for a 10:00am arrival on Rarotonga island. Leaving Aitutaki is bittersweet. My mates, after having feasted the night before, and well after having shared quiet time at Josh's house and the beach below it, sent me a farewell video as they made their way out of the lagoon and onto the Pacific Ocean for their final day on the water. It is a day I was forced to miss because Air Rarotonga doesn't fly to Rarotonga and then onward to Papeete on Sundays. The Aitutaki islanders, a religious lot, feel that Sunday is the sabbath and a day of rest and that should be taken seriously. Most everything closes up. The hotels housekeeping staff is even encouraged to take the day off and the hotel's guests are requested to be satisfied with having their usual daily service suspended on Sundays. Is that why Air Rarotonga doesn't fly Aitutaki-Raro on Sundays? I can't say.
Flying out of Aitutaki (on Saturday) is a throwback. No need for an ID. Forget about that passport; not needed. Any ID at all? Nope. Bag tag? What for? This aircraft only goes to one place, so…
Security? Well, there is a sign that says no unauthorized access—that only passengers are allowed beyond this point. But that is more so that some young Cook Islander doesn’t walk into a propellor when the aircraft pulls up to park.
The Pacific Ocean parallels the runway; we cruised past it a few times headed north in search of whales. There is a wind sock to assist the pilots about whether to land from the north or from the south. Today it doesn't matter much because there is only a cross wind--it is noticeable but not dangerous. And, they do have a fire truck.
What they don’t have, here or anywhere else on Aitutaki, is dogs. Dogs are banned on this island, much to the delight of the chickens and goats and pigs and cats which thrive here. Why? One source says, “Interestingly enough, dogs are not allowed anywhere on the island. They have been banned since the early 1900s. Three well circulated wives’ tales are attributed to this law: Some believe that the ban was because of a fear that dogs carried leprosy. Another rumor is that a dog savagely bit the child of an island chief. The final rumor is that the dogs were all eaten, but thankfully that has been basically debunked.”
The flight is uneventful and we arrive back in Rarotonga right on time. I collect my green hard sided bag and walk around to re-check it for the flight onward to Papeete. One thing they are strict about--I must prove evidence of onward travel from French Polynesia before I can fly into French Polynesia. Fortunately, I have a printout of my Delta itinerary showing I am headed back to the U.S.A. and LAX after two nights so I am cleared. The elderly couple before me could not readily produce such a document. In this day and age of electronic everything, I still carry paper copies of such things when I head outside the United States. It paid off here just now.
At Rarotonga, the Islander is right across the street and they have free WiFi so I head over there for an hour. Then, at 11:50am, I hop aboard Air Tahiti's 12:15 flight to Papeete--which leaves 18 minutes early. Can't say why. Our 3:00pm scheduled arrival back in Papeete became 2:35. I'm booked into the Intercontinental Resort Tahiti for two nights and step up to the front desk at exactly check-in time: 3:00pm. Why two nights? There was no flight available back to Los Angeles after 3:00pm on Saturdays and Air France doesn't fly to LAX on Sunday either. That leaves Monday for me to make the long flight back to mainland U.S.A. I have a day to kill in paradise.
I heard from new fine friends Olivia and Martin. They had a good day today--similar to yesterday and I am happy for them. I can't say when but I look forward to visiting Singapore and taking them up on their offer of free beer at LeVel 33.
Josh was a great leader for this adventure. He set just the right tone. Manika was a great addition as well. But the person who helped me the most, the guy who, right from the start, saw that I was older than everyone else and maybe not as spry and who, maybe, just maybe, might need a little bit of looking after--that person is Tui.
Tui is a giant of a man with a smile to match his stature. Tui anticipated when I might need a helping hand. When I got back to the ladder on the back of Bubbles, he knew I would maybe be a bit more winded than the others. So Tui made sure that Josh or Manika was reminded that it might be good to help me get my fins off as the waves tossed me around a bit.
It was Tui who knew the right blend of letting me get myself up the ladder but also holding out a hand so that I would not slip. Tui is a former athlete--rugby I think--and was good enough that he traveled the world in competition. Tui is a current father to Roman. When Roman needed to be scooped up, Tui enveloped him. Roman knew he was safe. When Onu would glance back at Tui--he was almost always stationed aft--Tui instinctively knew what was needed and he did it.
If you are ever in a challenging situation, I hope you have a Tui around. Tui has a goal to, one day, see gorillas in the wild. We spoke about it. I warned Tui that he would have to be careful around the silverbacks. Why? Because they might view him as a rival or even a threat. He is a giant of a man--someone who would even be noticed by an 800 pound gorilla.
