Papeete Welcome (Update 30)
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Date: Saturday 15th May;
Position: Boulevard Pomare, Papeete

Bula Viti kei Rotuma

We received another fitting welcome yesterday from Papeete.

First let me tell you about our return visit to the Atitia Cultural School
on Moorea. As I said in my last report, we were invited back to the school
following our welcome lunch at the school on Thursday.

Only the boys went along as Salome and Unaisi were busy washing clothes at
a nearby home and they also had to wait for Lomaloma Mataika, our newest
crew member who was catching the ferry from Papeete.

There were two reasons for the visit. One was to perform a kava ceremony
for the mayors of 3 of the districts on Moorea so that the students of the
school could witness the ceremony.

The second was to plant a Uto seedling that Ratu Manoa had bought with us
on the Uto ni Yalo.

Even though we take Kava Ceremonies for granted in Fiji, the people of New
Zealand and French Polynesia have been fascinated each time we perform the
ritual.

It was no different on Moorea and the elders and children were very
attentive throughout. Once we had completed the ceremony, many of the
people gathered to watch including the children wanted to taste kava so
Paul mixed more for them to sample.

Then we moved on to the lawn outside the Bure to plant the Uto seedling
followed which we performed the Fijian song, Bula Malaya reworded with
"Bula Moorea". I think they thought we wrote the song just for them.

The thank you speech from the Priest was touching. He used very few words
to make a very powerful connection with our two cultures and the bonds of
the past. All his words were trasnslated by our host, Teurumereariki Hinano
Murphy, the director of the school.

I kneeled to respond to his speech trying to match his words, but feeling
totally overwhelmed by the presiding speech.

The Mayors then presented each of the crew members with gifts.

Papeete Welcome

We departed Moorea at 4am to try and be in Papeete by 9.30am. Knowing there
was not going to be much wind, we left ourselves plenty of time to get
across the 10km channel.

On reaching Papeete, a 12 knot North Easterly helped us through the narrow
Pass where we had to dodge two ferries heading to Moorea.

Once inside the Pass, Faafaite led the five canoes on a course along the
waterfront where people had gathered to watch our arrival.

If you have ever been to Papeete, the waterfront has been transformed in
the last few years into a beautiful park like area with well kept lawns,
children‚s playgrounds, and bures that are used for picnics, art
exhibitions, or family gatherings.

Amongst the park area is an area for boats to tie up so the five canoes
berth bow in so we could disembark on the bowsprits.

Again the Tahitian drums greeted us and a decent crowd gathered around
barricades set up either side of the five canoes.

Dancers in bright Yellow and Red costumes swayed to the drum beat as we
cast our lines ashore.

A flag with each canoes name was placed on the ground in front of each
canoe with two girls waiting to show us to where we would be seated for the
ceremony.

An announcer welcomed each crew ashore and thankfully we sat in the shade
as the sun was scorching hot.

The ceremony was very brief compared with the other welcomes but had it‚s
own unique feeling.

A Priest stepped forward and welcomed us. This was followed by performances
from three different groups. Then an elder from the Tahitian Voyaging
Society made a speech, which was translated by the President of the
Voyaging Society, Matahi Tutavae.

This was followed by a response from each crew. Our response was led once
again by Ratu Manoa who made a speech in Fijian followed by the Bole from
the boys. Then the rest of us joined in to sing, you guessed it "Bula
Tahiti". Johnathan and Kai'afa played their guitars and the crowd joined in
by clapping to the beat.

The last to respond is always the Hine Moana crew who have crew members
from Samoa, Vanuatu and Tonga. Because the crew is predominantly Samoan,
the Samoan boys lead their performance.

The item they perform has been learnt on the voyage and they try to
represent the three different cultures.

This being their third performance, they are starting to perfect it and
really rounded off a beautiful ceremony.

And with us having reached Papeete, we have ben able to send through a bunch
of new pictures. Our website fijivoyaging.com has just been updated with a
bunch of shots of our travels through French Polynesia so far. Keep checking
back regularly as we will be able to update a bit more often from here on.

Until mataka,
Moce mada.

Report by Satellite Phone courtesy of Digicel.