AdventuresAboardAvatar: Taupapa's Dream and Tahiti

Since we were still mourning for the loss of our dear Sophita, we were told of a play that takes place on a Marae (sacred site) that was part of the Heiva celebration. The play was called Taupapa's Dream. As we were in need a a little spiritual uplifting, we decided to go see it.

To get there we decided to hitch hike. This is one of the best ways to get around and to meet locals. They love giving rides and hearing about where we are from and our sailing adventures. So once we put out our thumbs, it did not take long for a fellow to stop. Michael was a nice young man in his late 20s or early 30s. He was well educated and spoke English a little bit. His main business was raising a particular kind of fish and sea slugs, for export to SE Asia. “Yuck, they eat sea slugs?!?”, I asked.

'Yes and they pay dearly for them”, he said with a grin. He has fish pens where he raises them out in the Tuamotu and ships them by plane to Asia. But today, he was on his way to referee an American Football game. We were quite surprised to learn that American Football is quite popular here, and is seen as a way to get off the island to go to University or play professionally. He was so nice, he drove us all the way up to the Marae and dropped us off right at the entrance to the show.

We got there a bit early, not knowing how far it was from the marina, or how long it would take to hitch a ride. So while we waited for the show to start, we explored the Marae. There are two replicas of the Tikis found in the Austral Islands set up near the entrance. The originals of these are in the Paul Gauguin Museum, which is closed now. Kind of a bummer. So we at least got to see the replicas up close. There are many areas of stones placed to make a flat space. At the far end where the bleachers were set up, was the big Marae Arahurahu where the play would be held.

As the worker bees showed up, I was admiring the dresses they wore. The three young girls adorned in lovely traditional Tahitian dresses, were the ticket takers. There were several ladies dressed also traditionally who showed you to your seats. I also love their flower crown arrangements which are worn only on special occations.

On the far side of the Marae were several types of plants growing up the hill side. These are sacred plants that are used as part of their costumes and in certain ceremonies. The biggest, Marae Arahurahu, had a pyramid like tower at one end. We saw a drawing of Marae Arahurahu from when Capt. Cook was here and I think the original was even taller. The stoned area was raised up and had a corner stone to signify the space. There are also several wooden “stick” structures with designs carved and painted on them. Still not really sure of their purpose or meaning, but they appear to be like Totem Poles from the NW indian tribes, but these have sea creatures and other local wildlife on them.

Taupapa's Dream was a beautiful story of a king who was on his death bed and is remembering his wonderful life. The musicians and singers were all in their own costumes. The king was wearing a big head dress and traditional feathered tapa cloth covering. The main part of his dream was remembering his wedding and his lovely wife. There were the parents of the girl who came to the wedding. There were the ghosts who were with him praying for his soul as it crossed over. All of the ghosts had red faces, so you knew they were not of this world. The young man and girl who played him at his wedding were both, drop dead gorgeous specimens of the human race. Then all the girls showed up and all the guys showed up and the ceremony was beautiful. At the end of his dream, the big double hulled sailing canoes came and picked him up and sailed him away to the other side. When the dream was over and the king was dead, the ghosts carried him to the pyramid and placed his body on their offerings.

And of course after the show, all of the actors were available for photos with the crowd. My friend Tehani, who owns Tahiti Crew and helped us with our French paperwork, was in the show. She is the tall beautiful one next to me. And just to let you know how sweet the Tahitian people are, when the battery in my camera died and I had not gotten a photo with the king and ghosts, a girl offered to take my photo and email it to me. And she did! The costumes were very authentic and all of the tattoos were real! What a great evening! Plus, we got to see a little bit of what a Tahitian wedding ceremony will be like.

Our main focus now was to work on the wedding. We had to keep thinking about that, so not to be depressed, which is really pretty hard to do here in Paradise! Tehani's aunt, Corrine drove us to the South end of the island to Tahiti Iti where we looked at a possible location to have the wedding. It was a lovely place, which is a private home and bed and breakfast type location. They can sleep up to 12 people in several different cabins around the property. There is a separate kitchen and eating area as well. It is out on a point and they have a mooring where a friend keeps his catamaran. They have a great view of Tahiti Nui and the South Pacific Ocean.

After lunch, Corrine drove us up the hill for a spectacular view of the isthamas of Tahiti, where you can see where the two pieces of island come together. We also had a great view of the pass thru the reef where we would come in with the boat, if we go there.

The property was a lovely place, but there really is not a lot to do there and it is kind of way out in the country from Papeete. We eventually decided to have the wedding in Moorea.