Day 59 Drive around the island

A skyline of green mountains
Although the Yacht club was a reasonable mooring, we needed shore power and water so we moved the boat to the other side of Papeete to a harbor called Marina Taina where we were able to tie up to the dock. Two boats away was the catamaran Gato Go that we had seen in the Marquises. It was nice to say hello again to Paul and Lee Ellen.
One of the most prestigious surfing competitions in the world was being held in Teahupoo (pronounced like Cho Poo) and Kurt wanted to do some spectating so we rented a car and headed South along the road that encircles Tahiti Nui. Tahiti is two islands joined together in a small isthmus. The larger is Tahiti Nui and the smaller is Tahiti Iti. (I get the impression that nui and iti are polynesian for large and small - Duh)
Teahupoo is on Tahiti Iti at the end of the road. Kurt had been there a few years ago and was surprised to see canopies and concession stands lining the road. Obviously, the competition has become more commercial. The best surfers in the world arrive to ride a very unusual wave. Kurt showed us a picture in a surfing magazine that shows how the top of the wave is flat and the same height as the ocean. At the reef, the bottom drops out creating a wave that can be tens of feet high.
On this day, there was no significant wave and no competition - the event having been postponed for lack of wave. The weather reports indicate that the swells should return in four days so the competition is scheduled to restart at that time.
We returned to the road that encircles Tahiti Nui and continued our circumnavigation in a counter clockwise direction. Kurt looked out the right window and described every cove, reef, rock and wave. I looked out the left window at the spectacular canyons, waterfalls and lush vegetation. By combining the video and the audio, I got a complete picture of the island.