Seeing The Old Year Out In Style

Sunday 31 December

New Years Eve

The last day of 2006 – a day for reflection – and we couldn’t have envisaged the experiences we would have this year when we danced the New Year in, with friends in Stafford at the end of 2005. I don’t think at that time that I truly believed our adventure would actually come to fruition, even though we had booked some early parts of the trip. It was still a pipedream. The early months of the year went through dizzying heights as the journey became longer and more countries were added to the itinerary, and through the depths of despair as the “wish list” didn’t always pan out as we wanted. Obstacles were overcome right up to leaving, as we were hit by train strikes, train tickets being posted back and forth to Wales and visa applications taking forever. What to take and what to leave behind so that our luggage was not overweight was a problem never quite solved – my case still weighed over 25 kgs at the last check in at Rarotonga. But since 22 July, when we waved goodbye to Nick and Adam, and left with Jean and Ray for Waterloo, with our shiny pink and blue cases (to ensure we could always find our luggage easily – and it has worked) we have not looked back. It has been one adventure after another – recorded in the blog, of course – not always exciting, but constantly interesting, experiencing new cultures, witnessing a fantastic array of scenery and customs and meeting so many lovely people. And now sitting in Tahiti on a beautiful sunny day with temperatures well in the 30’s, we have a further four months ahead to continue our epic journey, to Easter Island, around South America and onward to Barcelona. Someday, we will be returning to London. Many of the people we have met have asked us how we can enjoy traveling so much, living out of a suitcase – you get used to it, and the benefits are colossal – and do I miss cooking, cleaning, shopping and ironing? – not a bit!

Enough of this reflective nonsense . . . on with the blog . . . .

I thought we would sleep in longer this morning, after arriving late last night, but we woke soon after 09.00 and opening the curtains were greeted by palms trees waving very gently against a sapphire blue sea and a cloudless azure sky – I know now why Dave and Juz have altered their bedroom to look out over the river when they wake – its such an uplifting start to the day. The hotel here is situated on 34 acres beside a lagoon, far, far bigger than the one in the Cook Islands – the waves breaking over the reef are well out on the horizon. The water is almost motionless, and it is so peaceful. There are lush gardens around all the buildings, which have been constructed with some thought to the beautiful setting – not boring concrete blocks, but thatched roofs, wide rooms with intricately designed balconies and dark wooden beams between each to alleviate any boredom and give a feeling of space. Thatched individual villas on stilts in the water can be further round the shore – they cost a fortune to stay in. The only sounds are the wide variety of birds constantly chirping, interrupted only occasionally by an odd jet-ski or speed boat whizzing by, or the arrival of a plane at the nearby airport.

It was after mid-morning by the time we were ready to go out and our first stop was at Reception to sort out our meal for tonight. We had pre-booked a New Years Eve meal before we left home, but on looking at the programme there were two dinners tonight – a buffet and an á la cart meal. Looking at the á la carte menu which offered free champagne and contained lots of yummy sounding food, we felt sure that we should be at the Lotus restaurant. The reservations lady wasn’t so sure. It took several telephone calls to the hotel manager, restaurant manager and in-house manager to sort it out, but eventually they agreed, we should have been booked in at the Lotus. The menu for the buffet looked great too – lots of oysters and shell fish – but when we saw the size of the restaurant, beside the large main pool, I felt it could easily turn into a ‘bun-fight’ with several hundred people trying to help themselves to the goodies. The appeal of this meal for lots of guests– apart from being cheaper – was that it included a live Tahitian show as well as a live band and disco. The Lotus restaurant held only about 50 people – so would automatically be quieter – but also included the band and disco. That being settled we explored a bit more around the hotel grounds and buildings (shame they haven’t got a hairdresser on site – I might have succumbed) before making our way to the local shopping mall. Papeete is a bus ride away, and being Sunday all the shops would be closed, but the reservations lady was sure the nearby mall would be open. We needed to get some Pacific French francs, and the exchange rate in the hotel is exceptionally poor.

We wandered down one of the main highways on the island, hugging the coast, and were surprised at the amount of traffic – a perpetual stream of cars and buses in both directions – until we came across a huge grey concrete structure that could only be shopping mall. Of course, no banks were open today – it’s Sunday – and my credit card still wouldn’t work in the ATMs. So we decided to move some money on to our travellers cheque card – fine all the way till my bank card was refused – the poor lad – he sounded about sixteen – tried a couple of times with no success. Not to be thwarted I phoned my bank to enquire about the problem, only to be informed that VISA’s computers all over the world had gone down half an hour ago, so no transactions could take place. I think there must be a jinx on my travellers cheque card as every time we have tried to reload it so far, there has been a problem. But we had plenty of US dollars we could exchange in the hotel if necessary, so penniless (or rather centless) we returned to the hotel for brunch.

During the morning we had received several messages of greetings for the New Year, as of course, it was midnight at home when it was 14.00 here, so Colin spent a little while returning our best wishes to family and friends. As the other two restaurants were preparing for the evening’s jollities, our only “choice” for brunch was the Hibiscus restaurant on the first floor. We sat at a table overlooking the ocean, feeling somewhat surreal – it was all so perfect. There was lots to choose from on the menu, but in the end I opted for a ‘tuna Caesar salad’ - with the tuna being flame grilled very rare according the blurb – while Colin couldn’t resist the tagiatelle with bolognaise sauce - both dishes were extremely tasty and the fish was almost raw. By this time it was mid-afternoon, so we returned to the room to try and connect the computer and post some blogs.

While Colin snoozed, I finished the entry for yesterday, and then after several attempts with the GPRS card, gave up and connected with the LAN line in the room. At first it would not let me into the blog site – panic, panic – it seemed to have lost my google address – so I checked the emails and tried to access the blog again. Going in through my old blog address (the one I had when I left home, but had had to change to a google address a couple of months ago) I eventually got connected, so was able to post entries for about 16 days, back to the time we were in New Zealand – that seems ages ago now, and I suppose most of our tour group have spent Christmas at home – although I remember Alan, the tour leader, was going to be at Franz Joseph again, on his second tour after ours! There was then just time for a half-hour’s rest (Colin had woken up by this time) before a long hot shower and preparations for dinner.

We wandered to the restaurant – the opposite end of the hotel grounds to our room - through a balmy, ink black night lit only by the stark white moon – only a little way off being full -beaming down on the ocean. There were only a few stars out – we had expected to see star studded skies and be able to try and pick out the various constellations. We arrived at the restaurant to be greeted by a glass of champagne at the same time as another couple and an older lady alighted from one of the “buggies” that carry people from place to place around the hotel. We appeared to be some of the first guests and started chatting whilst canapés were handed around – the pigeon breasts, tapenade tartlets and duck rillettes were absolutely divine. The couple came from Canada and the older lady – a relation we think (she brought the couple on the trip to keep her company) was originally from Amsterdam, before moving, via Liverpool, to Canada. She had outlived two husbands, and when another trip blew out, she decided to cruise through the “Society Islands” staying here on Tahiti at the start and end of the trip. All three of us ladies were called Stephanie and the wife was another Stephanie Anne – that hasn’t happened since I was at primary school and there were four Stephanies – Taylor, Hesketh and one surname I cannot remember – with one other Stephanie Anne. Soon after this discovery we were called to dinner and we sat at a table by the water’s edge in what reminded me of a tall Mongolian gur” – a large round construction with a tall conical thatched roof from which dangled the largest shell chandelier I have ever seen – it was beautiful. The room was open-sided to let in the sound of the water lapping underneath and any night breezes that may stir the air. We were given menus in a small booklet form, with hand made covers decorated with glitter and raffia. It listed scrumptious sounding food with intriguing combinations of flavours. The wine Maitre D (a lady) brought us a bottle of champagne, that we could drink with our meal or save to have with the dessert – couldn’t wait that long, so opened it at once with our wine – a French rosé. All the waitresses were wearing fantastic headdresses made from jasmine and birds of paradise flowers and leaves.

I took photos of all the courses – some better than others – but here is a verbal description of the meal (sorry if this is boring, but in case I lose the menu before I get home at least I will have a record):

Appetiser: Scallops and Mushroom Rolls served with truffled “Polenta” – the scallops had been opened out and stuffed with mushrooms and rolled into a fat cigar shape, resting on a layer of soft creamy consistency which was the polenta (which usually comes as a soggy lump of semolina – boiled or grilled) puréed with mushrooms and presumably the orange roe of the scallops – it was a pinky colour. This was served in a small oval glass ‘vase’, only a couple of inches tall, with the cigar just appearing from the top.

Lemon “Blanc mange”, with marinated and smoked Salmon served in a sea urchin shell - a small round “disk” of blanc mange covered in black caviar (not salty) with a flower shaped twist of smoked salmon, covering a mirepois of celery, cucumber, tomato and more salmon in a light sauce. I can only describe the sea urchin shell as half a “horn of plenty” shell, covered in a silver latex coat!

Crusty Pastry of Lobster, with curried Fennel Salad; This was a crisp coated, shelled lobster claw with more lobster underneath on a bed of curried fennel – these flavours worked extremely well together.

Panfried “Foie Gras” served on a “Tarte Tatin”: A nugget of foie gras about 1 ½ ” x 1” x ½” grilled lightly and served with a small tartlet containing poached apple, with a small “flake” of deep fried apple on top, surrounded by wisps of a sweet balsamic sauce around the plate and a small round of apple sorbet served on a sundae spoon to one side of the dish. Loads of flavours going on here. We had never had foie gras before, so were interested to taste it – like a soft liver jelly consistency – just set – but very rich. I liked it, but wouldn’t be able to eat a lot of it. Colin wasn’t impressed by it at all. The simplicity and cool flavour of the sorbet complimented the richness of the foie gras and apple tart.

Peach Sherbert and Champagne: Served in a sundae glass, another scoop of this time peachy sorbet, floating in champagne. Very refreshing and cleansing.

“Grand Ducs” Venison marinated in a red wine, celery, fig, and mango compote: The venison was the size of a medallion of beef – about 1 1/2 “ thick and 1” across – wrapped in a white gooey layer of ? – not sure – not fat, nor pastry, unless it was uncooked – which tasted of nothing – I am sure it was some expensive ingredient, but I didn’t eat this coating and left mine. The venison was a bit overcooked for me, as I like it very rare like beef, with the blood still dripping! – but I suppose most people would prefer it cooked a little more. This was served under a large cane food dome - the waitress removing both domes together. The table next to us had nine people sitting at it, and it took five waitresses to march in, set the platters down together and then remove the domes all at the same time, before marching off again – very impressive.

New Years Eve Dessert: A very rich triangle of torte consisting of two layers of thin raspberry cake sandwiching a layer of very rich chocolate (tasted like melted plain chocolate) with a berry compote and vanilla ice cream, and a “spill” of chocolate with Polynesian patterns engraved into it. The torte was very rich and lots of people couldn’t manage to finish their serving.

Followed by Earl Grey Tea with dark chocolate petit fours and small net bags of tiny rich Viennese pastries.

* * * * * * * *
From halfway through the meal, the DJ had been playing a selection of first jazz music, followed by more middle of the road tunes. By the time we had finished eating, the music had changed to modern disco and people were up dancing. So we joined them, gyrating to songs like “Dancing Queen” and “I Will Survive” – all the usual English favourites. As the time neared the bewitching hour of midnight, the music changed to French “pop” songs, all with similar beats to those from home, but which everyone else knew the words to, while we just kept on dancing. The waitresses handed out hats, and whizzers, streamers, and other party accoutrements, and by the time the countdown came we were all ready to throw, blow and toot the New Year in. The countdown was in French! – that seemed weird – but of course Tahiti is a French province and French is the main language. Almost all the guests speak French, there is only a very few Americans and Brits. So dix, neuf, huit, sept, six, cinq, quatre, trois, deux, une . . . Midnight and 2007! Everyone was euphoric and we continued dancing whilst flinging, tooting and clapping noisily to greet in the new year or “bonne année!!!!

While he danced, Colin managed to send messages home to wish everyone Happy New Year again – even though it was about 10.00 tomorrow morning for them and many may not have been up yet! We continued our “rave” till about 01.00 when the music showed no signs of slowing down at all – a few smoochies to let everyone get their breath back would have been good – so we decided to wander back and see what was happening at the other venue. Most of the other people here were also drifting (or had already drifted) away by this time.

The music at the other venue was just as fast and furious, with loads of people dancing on a stage built out over the pool, so we decided to end our celebrations, while we could still stand – there was french onion soup to be served at 02.00, but we didn’t have room to eat – or drink - anything else, so made our way back to our room. The revelry was due to continue through till 06.00 for the not faint-hearted. Being a little away from the centre, the continuing music was barely above a whisper in our room, so did not disturb us going to sleep. We were both so tired, we just fell into bed, and slept without reading a word!

We had really enjoyed our meal, with new tastes and different flavours, all presented in a sumptuously appetizing way. With a few dances after, we had celebrated the start of 2007 in style. I took photos of each of the courses of the meal, and we are going to try and make a separate entry on the blog with the piccys.

This island is definitely paradise – waving palms, sapphire or turquoise waters, and azure blue skies. The whole ambience is slow and peaceful, with great food and high standards, for a complete break from the world this is the place to come.