Mauruuru & Nana, Papeete – Thank you and goodbye, Papeete

Last day in Papeete. We return our car to the rental company at the airport across from the hotel and then take a taxi into the city a little later. We want to spend our last cash on taxi rides – that was the goal of the day ;-)

The ride to the city takes some time due to heavy traffic, but we have time. We wanted to take a look at the promenade and the marina one last time. We hadn't really noticed it when we arrived, as it was drizzling, hot, and humid, and we were dragging our complete luggage. At that moment, we were just glad to get out of the laundry …

Today, with sunshine, the promenade looks much more inviting. A large, well-maintained green area with playgrounds and places to linger. In the marina, they have created artificial coral reefs next to the promenade, which are already nicely covered with growth. As usual, you can also find some colorful fish there. The clear water (yes, harbor basins can look like this!!) allows you to look deep into the blue-green water. Another passerby threw a piece of bread into the water, and soon the colorful fish were swimming to the surface for lunch.

We visit the shopping center. Maybe we'll find something for ourselves …

We find some items, but the price expectations of the sellers and potential buyers drift very far apart. Ultimately, we find a Tahiti magnet that we were missing …

On our wish list was also a matching bracelet with a black Tahitian pearl. There are many shops that offer these pearls, which are mainly cultivated in the sea in front of the islands of French Polynesia or harvested naturally. Naturally grown pearls are too expensive for us. A real Tahitian pearl is formed from every 15,000 shells, hence the high value. However, a cultivated black pearl is also sufficient for us. We actually find a nice leather bracelet with a pearl just as we imagined and decide to buy it.

We take a taxi back to the hotel very satisfied and spend the last banknotes in French Polynesia on our last day. We keep 500 Polynesian Francs as a souvenir.

Now a bit of work remains, and then we pack our suitcase. Tomorrow morning, our flight to Auckland is at around 9 o'clock.

Au revoir, Papeete – hello, Auckland!