Papeete - Tahiti

... and this place I am sure must be wonder island of the Pacific.

We picked up the island about midday and sailed through the Straits with Tahiti through the shadow of its mountains on one side of us and the lofty needle like pinnacles of the Morea on the other.

The coral reef encircles these islands also but Tahiti has a break in the coral 40 yards wide which forms a natural harbour for the ships and through this we sailed and berthed along side the wharf right in the town. Coming in to Papeete was the prettiest sight I have yet seen.

The water was a rich colour blue, the houses beyond with red tiled roofs and behind the great mountains covered with coconut palms and tropical vegetation of all description and then the great ravines and gorges between the mountains was sufficient alone to turn a perfectly normal suburbanite like myself into a bushman right away to explore this wonderful island. [Judging from this 1950's?? colour postcard of Papeete it did not appear to change much in 30 years.]