Rimatara – Rarely Visited Island Of French Polynesia

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Tara

Very few people make it out to Rimatara other than birders – which is a real shame. It may be small but it’s a beautiful, friendly island. The surprising thing is that it is geographically closer to Rarotonga (indicated by its capital Avarua) than to the capital of French Polynesia – Papeete. Although you can get to Papeete with miles, you will have to pay cash for this domestic flight.

Air Tahiti flies there on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I wanted a 3 night stay so out on Friday and back on Monday was the best option. If you are pressed for time or can only manage a 2 night stay, you will still see the Rimatara Lorikeets. The island is small and they are easy to see.

The first thing I noticed as we approached Rimatara is that the island is much flatter than the islands of the Marquesas.

The island has 3 small villages. I’ll give a more detailed tour of the island in a future post.

Once we arrived at the airport, we were met by our hostess and had a quick look around. I was really pleased to see how protective they are of their native birds!

Goodbye Marquesas, Hello Papeete

Posted on August 5, 2014 by Tara

After 3 fantastic days on Ua Huka, sadly it was time to go. Our next destination would be Rimatara to see the spectacular Kuhl’s Lory. Since Air Tahiti only flies there 3 times a week, we had a day layover in Papeete which I will blog about soon. In the meanwhile, let’s farewell the Marquesas with a few shots from the plane and while changing planes in other islands. The Marquesas are stunning islands and if they weren’t so far from Tahiti (and Bora Bora much closer) they would be a top tourist destination, so maybe be glad they are remote!

Brief layover at Ua Pou – stunning island!

Friendly crew!

Changing planes at Nuku Hiva

Brief layover at Hiva Oa, they also have interesting endemic birds!

Back to Papeete, Tahiti!

Last Chance Birding – Ua Huka

Posted on August 1, 2014 by Tara

After a wonderful birding excursion with Geoffray, we returned back to our bungalow……..and we weren’t alone! Much to our surprise, a pair of Ultramarine Lorikeets followed us all the way to the tree outside our room!

We spent a lazy afternoon just hanging out watching the other birds. Goeffray waved goodbye as he walked to his house just down the hill.

These Chestnut-breasted Mannikins are called “vini” by the locals which is confusing as the lorikeets are scientifically called “Vini ultramarina”.

Pictorial – Birding From The Pension, Ua Huka

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Tara

Lazy birding is kind of my thing and there is nothing better than kicking back on a peaceful verandah with a cold drink watching exotic birds fly by! OK, seeing them up close is better, but still! Here’s an idea of what to expect if you stay at Maurice & Delphine’s pension, Ua Huka. The Ultramarine Lorikeets mostly just whizzed by in the valley. You can see how far they were by how much I had to crop the photos to get them enlarged. My husband had gotten up for an early morning walk and was chatting to some locals while I was looking for birds before breakfast. Sorry about the blurry shots, I tried to hold the camera as steady as possible!

Marquesan Traditional Dance & Handicrafts – Ua Huka

Posted on July 26, 2014 by Tara

After leaving the museum, we headed back past the airport to the festival grounds. We were lucky the Aranui was in port, otherwise we wouldn’t have gotten a chance to see the traditional Ua Huka dancers! On the map below, I have indicated where this is with the blue arrow. We drove past a small shop, saw how the Arboretum (which we had had all to ourselves!) was now swamped with tourists, then made a quick stop at the airport.

Here is the entrance to the showgrounds, a huge Tiki and lots of tourists! The dancers were young and enthusiastic and of course at the end a few tourists (including me and Ina) got up to join the fun! Leaving the showgrounds, we enjoyed a scenic drive, once again running into the traffic jam. It is shocking how the ship passengers completely overwhelm this island! I was glad that tomorrow we would have a nice quiet day to go birding!

There were two markets available. The one in Hane was only arranged for the ship passengers. The wood carvings are beautiful but not cheap!

The shop in Hokatu is in a permanent shop but opens sporadically – definitely when the Aranui is in port or on request for people staying on the island. Since I didn’t want to have to deal with AQIS (Australian quarantine), I didn’t buy any wood products, just a DVD of Marquesan dance.

Vaipaee Port & Museum, Ua Huka

Posted on July 25, 2014 by Tara

Continuing on from yesterday’s post, we left the Arboretum and headed into the main town of Ua Huka – Vaipaee. The Aranui cruise ship in town was causing a traffic jam as all passengers seemed to be in regular vehicles and we must have passed at least 30 leaving the port as we were entering.

A couple tourists avoided the traffic jam by riding horses!

The Aranui is too large to come into port so goods and passengers are ferried in on smaller boats or barges. The Aranui also serves as a cargo ship and the local Manu bird guide, Geoffray Sulpice also serves as an inspector to make sure no black rats can get into the island.

Here is the Aranui anchored further out.

Looking back towards the port. UA HUKA MUSEUM

A few metres back in the village, there is a small but very interesting museum showing the history and culture of the island. As you enter, there are some Tikis and a nice carving that looks like a coat of arms with some birds on it!

Inside, you can see artifacts and photographs of traditional Marquesan people. There is also a taxidermied Ultramarine Lorikeet called Pihiti in the local language. It is very clear that this beautiful bird means a lot to the locals and they are very keen to conserve the birds.

Taxidermied Marquesan Fruit Dove

Outside the museum is a poster to show the new currency which has been recently re-designed. The new bank notes are a bit smaller and each one has a reference to the culture, flora and fauna of French Polynesia.

Ua Huka Orientation & Arboretum

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Tara

I had been hoping to go birding the next day with the guide, Geoffray Sulpice but because the Aranui cruise ship was in port, he was already occupied for the day. Let’s start with an orientation of the island of Ua Huka. In the map below, I have used red arrows to indicate the 3 villages – Vaipaee, Hane & Hokatu. Each village is at the mouth of a small river or stream that flows through the valley into the sea. The beautiful endemic Ultramarine Lorikeets can be found in these valleys.

Ua Huka highlights map

The northern side of the island is uninhabited, the entire population is in the southern coast where the villages are. There is no public transport. Tourists can either rent a car or horse and go around by themselves or get your guesthouse owner to organize something for you. Maurice did this for us. I forget what he charged for about a half day tour, it was around 2500 XPF-ish.

UA HUKA ARBORETUM

The first stop was the Ua Huka Arboretum which is a botanical garden and one of the best places for independent birding as it is open to the public and there is no entry fee. It is located between the airport and the main village of Vaipaee, see the green arrow above.

There is a trail that leads pretty far back towards the mountain, the further back you walk, the narrower it gets and the more birds you will see. As you walk through, enjoy many beautiful tropical flowers and plants.

Those tiny dots are Ultramarine Lorikeets, must have been in a hurry to get somewhere!

White-capped Fruit Dove

Marquesan Monarch, the other Ua Huka endemic

This little guy is called a “vini” by the locals which is confusing as the scientific name for the Ultramarine Lorikeet is “Vini ultramarina”, but these birds aren’t even close. I think they are Chestnut-breasted Mannikins.

Long-billed Warbler

First Impressions – Ua Huka

Posted on July 19, 2014 by Tara

We arrived right on time, I was very impressed with Air Tahiti’s punctuality. Since Ua Huka is a smaller island, we had to change planes in Nuku Hiva. The airport is small but it was nice to stretch my legs after the long flight from Papeete.

Always ready to watch birds, I spotted a Nuku Hiva pigeon near the airport.

The plane to Ua Huka was much smaller. It turned out that the son of my guesthouse owner was on the plane so I was looking forward to a smooth transfer to our bungalow.

The rugged topography of Ua Huka soon came into view.

We touched down at the tiny airport and “surprise” no one was there to pick us up! The son had taken off with his friends. Everyone seemed to know everyone else and assured me that Maurice, the guesthouse owner would be along shortly.

When everyone else had taken off, an airport employee took pity on us and gave us a lift to Hokatu. The scenery along the way was amazing! If these islands were as close to Papeete as Bora Bora, they would be over-run with tourists so I was starting to appreciate the long (albeit expensive) journey to get there!

We were dropped at Maurice & Delphine’s home where Maurice came out, apologized for not being at the airport and took us to our bungalow. Review coming!

Rare Birds & Ramen Noodles – Birding Remote French Polynesia

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Tara

Last month, I snuck off to two of the most fascinating islands in French Polynesia for birders – Ua Huka and Rimatara. Although I was pretty much unplugged for this trip, I did have blog posts queued up for auto posting so no one probably even noticed I was away. But now it’s time to ‘fess up and introduce you to two amazing islands that most travel bloggers have never heard of, let alone traveled to!

Location of Ua Huka and Rimatara in relation to Papeete and Bora Bora

This map shows where we were in relation to the two French Polynesian islands most other bloggers have been posting about – Tahiti and Bora Bora.

This trip was a bucket list journey for me in which I got to see one of the world’s most beautiful birds – the Ultramarine Lorikeet for the first time………………….

Ultramarine Lorikeet

……………………and to see the beautiful Rimatara Lorikeet, previously seen in Atiu in their original homeland of Rimatara!

Rimatara Lorikeets

I have many more photos of these gorgeous birds, I haven’t really sorted through them all yet so as this journey progresses you will get to see a lot more………………and yes they will be clear shots!

This is one trip you can’t do totally with miles and points. I had originally planned to do it in Feb 2015 with AAdvantage miles redeemed on Qantas and Air Tahiti Nui but brought it forward to June 2014. All the recent devaluations have spooked me a bit and this is one trip that could be vulnerable to the new US/AA merger. Air Tahiti Nui is a partner of AAdvantage but not US Airways and even then they are only a half partner. You can redeem but not accrue miles on Air Tahiti Nui using AAdvantage and they are not in OneWorld or any other alliance. Theoretically, I should have been able to do this trip with Star Alliance partner United or even US Airways before they merged but it’s been over a year since Air New Zealand has released award space in ANY class – economy or business on the Brisbane-Auckland route and space between Auckland and other Aussie airports is extremely limited. I felt it was a situation of book now or possibly lose my chance to get the flights to Tahiti on miles period!

Once in Tahiti, we still had to get to the islands of Ua Huka and Rimatara. The only way to do this is on Air Tahiti (not the same as Air Tahiti Nui) and you can’t use miles, you MUST pay cash and these flights are not cheap! I’ll be going into detail in a later post but now you know why we ate ramen noodles for most lunches (and will be eating them a lot at home for the next couple months)!

Rottnest Island – Perfect Day Trip From Perth

Posted on July 4, 2014 by Tara

Rottnest Island makes a great day-trip for eco-tourists and just about anyone! It is easily accessible from Perth and Fremantle by ferry. Rottnest Express departs from Perth’s Barrack St Pier, calls in at Fremantle where you may have to change boats, then docks at Rottnest Island. It’s a very pleasant trip down the Swan River and most people sit up on deck to enjoy the views.

Ferry to Rottnest Island

If you have the flexibility, there are often Tuesday specials for this day trip from Fremantle.

For a day trip, if you can’t do Tuesday special it’s probably better to book a ferry package that includes whatever excursions you want on Rottnest. The Adventure Tour is great because it includes a trip around the island on a smaller tour boat that gets you very close to fur seal colonies and other wildlife.

Rates for 2 adults

Here’s a few pics of what you can expect – ospreys, fur seals, dolphins and more!

You will arrive back on land in time for lunch. Rottnest Island has several options such as Subway for those on a budget and a few nicer sit-down cafes.

We came here hoping to see Rock Parrots which are known to be present near the lighthouse (see photo above taken from the boat). It’s easily walkable from the restaurant area. While you are walking, keep an eye out for other wildlife such as quokkas, peacocks and other birds. Check out the bird list here.

Unfortunately, we didn’t see the Rock Parrots this time, they are pretty elusive and even the local Quokka Tour Guide didn’t know anything about them. Watch your time as you don’t want to miss your ferry back, it’s a long way to swim! Of course Rottnest does have some nice accommodation if you prefer a longer visit!