NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Travel

French Polynesia: My fish are better than your fish

Herald online
22 Apr, 2010 04:14 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The view from Magic Mountain. Photo / Jill Worrall

The view from Magic Mountain. Photo / Jill Worrall

I'm waterlogged and very happily so. After three days on Moorea I've hardly been out of the water since the aftermath of a tropical storm cleared away.

I've even swum before breakfast - a time of day, I have hitherto experienced while awake only on rare occasions. It's amazing
what the lure of pottering around tropical fish and coral will do.

One of the concrete posts of the neighbouring villa seems to be a particularly popular hangout with some of the more exotic and spectacularly coloured fish.

There's no one in the bungalow so I regularly lie floating just below its deck, looking, I suspect, like a pallid piece of marine debris.

I wonder if anyone has ever snorkelled under all the overwater bungalows' glass floors. I'm tempted to try it but am deterred by the thought of an encounter with the likes of the American snorkeller who I spoke to briefly earlier. I tell him about "my fish" but he replies that the fish down his end of the row are much better... and there are more of them. Of course there would be.

Today though, I have to dry out a little because we're joining a four-wheel-drive island excursion with Teree from Moorea Explorer.

We climb into the open deck of his truck and pick up five French visitors en route for Magic Mountain, a lookout above the lagoon. Teree tells us that after Americans, the French make up the bulk of Moorea's tourists.

There are not so many Aussies and Kiwis - for one thing our exchange rate doesn't enhance this little outpost of France's prices. We'd already encountered the $50 cocktails and $60 breakfasts.

One French couple are champagne makers from Epernay. We discuss wine briefly but move on to the safer topic of the All Blacks' chances in the next Rugby World Cup.

From Magic Mountain we have a bird's eye view of the lagoon, two of the island's resort hotels with their strings of overwater bungalows hovering above the coral.

We descend into the Opunohu Valley and stop beside the Afareaitu marae. This sacred temple site consists of a rectangular platform of volcanic boulders with an altar at one end. Before the arrival of Europeans, bringing with them Christianity, marae were the centres of social, political and religious activities, including human and animal sacrifices.

Further down the road is the island's agricultural school, which attracts students from throughout French Polynesia. We inspect the pineapple plantation, the groves of citrus and the more unfamiliar plants, including soursop trees with their spiky fruit.

Along with tourism, Moorea is famed for its pineapples; many of which end up at the island's juice factory. Here, they also produce tropical liqueurs, which we sample and decide are probably more palatable when used as mixers.

Among the other wares for sale are a surprising array of postcards and calendars featuring bare-breasted young Tahitian women.

The dancers who perform at the island's Tiki Village Theatre are more decorous... sporting coconut shell bras (the women that is) and a spectacular array of skirts, from mini sarongs to flowing grass numbers designed to accentuate their sinuous hip movements.

The young Frenchmen behind us are clearly enamoured with them, but are silenced by the appearance of the male dancers, clad in very little, their skin a swirling art gallery of tattoos and glowing in the light of the flaming torches they then proceed to hurl skywards.

One item features a young woman being carried on the shoulder of a young warrior to be presented to a chief-like figure who then begins to unwrap her from a pareu like an exotic parcel. Whether deliberately or not, this contrasts rather dramatically with the appearance of a group of women clad in neck-to-knee dresses, a style introduced by the missionaries in the 19th century.

For some of the population at least, this stifling - both culturally and physically - of local traditions seems to have been forgiven. as a few days earlier church congregations were celebrating Missionary Day, commemorating the arrival of Christianity.

The show, which features about 60 dancers, musicians and singers, is the grand finale to a traditional Tahiti-style hangi.

Also on the menu, along with chicken, pork, taro and breadfruit is a Tahitian speciality - raw fish marinated in lime juice and served in coconut milk.

While we eat, two of the dancers demonstrate the 101 ways to tie a pareu. I can't remember any of them now, other than the most basic.

And anyway, the pareu, although perfect here in Tahiti, probably is not going to be a winner in Timaru's main street in autumn.

* Jill Worrall travelled to French Polynesia courtesy of Tahiti Tourisme, Air Tahiti Nui and stayed at the Moorea Pearl Resort and Spa.

Discover more

Travel

Samoa: Dip your toes in for true delight

12 Feb 03:00 PM
Travel

Papua New Guinea: Winging it in the wilds of Alotau

07 Mar 03:00 PM
Travel

Utah: Jump on in for the slide of your life

08 Apr 02:00 AM
Travel

South Africa: The lions from heaven

15 Apr 12:00 AM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Travel

Travel

The top five treats to taste on your Disneyland holiday

Travel

Why spending a night at the Rydges Gold Coast is a big mistake

Travel

My search for whales on Australia's Sunshine Coast


Sponsored

Your Fiordland experience, levelled up

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Travel

The top five treats to taste on your Disneyland holiday
Travel

The top five treats to taste on your Disneyland holiday

From blue milk to blue tongues, Disney treats never fail to surprise.

16 Jul 03:29 AM
Why spending a night at the Rydges Gold Coast is a big mistake
Travel

Why spending a night at the Rydges Gold Coast is a big mistake

16 Jul 12:53 AM
My search for whales on Australia's Sunshine Coast
Travel

My search for whales on Australia's Sunshine Coast

15 Jul 06:00 AM


Your Fiordland experience, levelled up
Sponsored

Your Fiordland experience, levelled up

25 May 12:00 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP