Maupiti is an alluring island that places a hold on your heart. The beautiful blue waters transition from turquoise to dark blue and shimmer from morning until night. The locals are sweet, generous, and welcoming. The mountain proves to be challenging and offers unique experiences each time we climb it. And best of all Maupiti life seems to offer the true Polynesian experience.
With that said, it was incredibly difficult to think about departing, so we didn’t. We completed several boat projects and explored this amazing island, lagoon, and its motus.
Sewing Sweetie’s Skirt “Chaps”
Our dinghy, Sweetie came with the boat. Which means she and her “skirt” are almost 20 years old. Her “skirt” are the chaps that cover the tubes. We have patched her skirt several times over the years, but she has been in need of some big time lovin for a while. There were several rips, holes, and tears. The Velcro was off in many places, the pocket needed to be repaired, and several support areas needed help.
Matt whipped out the sewing machine and we went to work. I must admit that Sweetie looks incredibly sad and frankly (shhhhh, downright ugly). It took a couple of days, to remove old stitching and glue, then apply new stitching and glue. Now she is looking so much better.
All fixed up and ready to go
Mt Teurafaatiu
We decided to tackle the 372m mountain called Mt. Teurafaatiu again. This time we dragged our friends from Venture Lady (Andy and Allison). Many visitors attack this mountain as it is one of the top 10 things to do in Maupiti. However, I cannot imagine hiking this trail is part of the Maupiti life style.
Mt. Teurafaatiu
We took the same trail going up which is a steep ascent. There are four areas where you use ropes to pull yourself up over rocks or areas that are not conducive to climbing.
We stopped several times, mostly because I was having a hard time breathing and the steep ascent was challenging for me. About 3/4 of the way up the mountain, we stopped to enjoy the view (and to catch our breath).
The view from the top is still breathtaking. You just can’t get enough of this sight of the colors!
View from top of Maupiti
You can see the small air strip on the motu across from the mainland. It is super small AT 3,135’ long and 75’ wide!
Maupiti Airstrip
The various blues of the lagoon
Maupiti Lagoon
Getting Lost
Matt decided he wanted to find a new trail. He was equipped with his handheld GPS and we had Maps.me on my phone and his iPad. So, you would think we would easily find our way down the mountain, right? Ha!
We got terribly lost! Trudging up and down the hillside in thick bush, unstable ground, and among the dead trees. Every time we grabbed on to something to hold it would fall off in our hands. Not just limbs, but tree trunks! The solid orange line through the middle of the island is our path. The dotted line through the middle of the island is the trail we attempted to find and use. We crossed it several times but never actually “saw” it.
10-mile hike around the island and across the lagoon
Matt and I decided to do long hike. Our goal was to walk 1/2 around the main island of Maupiti to the NW side, then walk 1/2 mile across the lagoon, then explore the Motu Auira, then cross back over the lagoon, and complete the circumnavigation of Maupiti.
We started the walk like we have done many others, we turned left from the dinghy dock, headed up and over the mountain and arrived at Chez Mimi. This is about 1.5 miles. We had seen a few people walking across the shallows of the lagoon and it looked easy enough. Before we left, we looked up “low tide” and it was supposed to be at 10am. We arrived at 0930, just perfect. However, it was not low tide. In fact it looked like high tide. Hmmm, well we forged ahead, because what else do we have to do?
The lagoon we are going to walk across
Motu Auira
The walk across the lagoon should be knee high during low tide. However, we found ourselves in water up to our chest. About 1/4 of the way across we felt the strong current which was about 1.5 kts pushing us further from our destination. It was a water aerobic work out that is for sure! A mile and a half later we made it to the other side.
Motu Auira is like most other motus. In the uninhabited areas there is a lot of over growth, palm fronds, coconuts, crab holes and broken coral on the ground. The tall, palm trees provide shade and everything grows wild.
This is a rather large motu. We had not planned on hiking all around it as it is way too big. However, we did want to hike around the bottom portion of it so off we went. It was really pretty with sandy beaches and turquoise waters lapping up against our toes.
We made it around the bottom portion of the motu and crossed through the center back to where we started. Now, we had to cross the lagoon again. No issues crossing, but it sure was a work out. You have to take giant steps to push through the current. You must position your body pushing forward to give you the trajectory you want.
Back on Maupiti we headed around the island to complete the circumnavigation. A total of 10 miles and over 24,000 steps!
If you look at this map….we started at the red arrow on the right. We walked toward the bottom of the island to the 2nd red arrow. Then we crossed the lagoon to the where the blue arrow is pointing. Then we walked around the bottom portion of the Motu to the other blue arrow. From there we crossed across the island (green arrow) back to the starting point. Crossed the lagoon and walked around the upper part of the island past Fa’ataufi, past Patutarova and back to Vai’ea.
Magasins on Maupiti
Most of the locals make small purchases daily instead of large purchases to last them a week. Part of the Maupiti life is to go to the market or magasin which are only open 0800-1200 and again 1600-1800. Strange hours – wouldn’t you love to have a 4 hour lunch break!
At the center of town, Vaiea, you will find the post office, le maire (mayor’s office) and fire station. In addition, it is where the locals congregate for wifi, camaraderie, and fresh produce. Typical Maupiti life is to enjoy the company of others.
Every Monday and Friday, the local farmer (one) will bring what they have to sell. Items range from cucumbers, bach choi, cabbage, green bell peppers. tomatoes (rarely) and eggplant. It is a strange assortment, but you take what you can get.
At the busiest time, there are 4 small folding tables selling items. One table sells pareos (Polynesian cloth to use as clothing), one sells fresh produce, one sells baked items, and one sells random stuff (eggs, cakes).
Maupiti has several magasins in the main town of Vaiea. Most magasins (small markets) here are counter service. Meaning you cannot browse through the store and make impulse buys. You have to tell them what you want which can be challenging when you don’t speak the language.
One magasin is a market, hardware store, and bakery. Multi-purpose shop. You can get hair color, bread, nails, and sugar!
Maupiti life is growing on us.
This is an interesting photo I found that shows the different languages in French Polynesia. The schools teach French because France owns the islands, but there are other spoken languages within each archipelago.
Post written August 2020.
