Our first exploration after buying provisions is into the nearby Pā’ōfa’i Gardens, one of the reasons for us choosing this AirBnB. The entrance is right at the end of our small street but to get there we have to cross the main road circling the island. However luckily there is a stoplight here and we wait it out and then cross into the park. Unfortunately there are lots of homeless here but they do not seem dangerous so we continue in passing a fun heart shaped statue and multiple chickens.
There are some nice views of Moorea from here and of the inland mountains as we continue on the shore trail towards the Papeete downtown area.
The area is quite beautiful actually and there are lots of birds including some new ones for French Polynesia. But none that are new completely to us, unfortunately. On the way we also pass a monument dedicated to the autonomy of French Polynesia. Not independence of course but autonomy, at least for now.
We see a large flock of chestnut-breasted munias and lots of pigeons and we enjoy all the birds in the park as we explore this beautiful area. In fact here there are fewer homeless and more locals enjoying the park and it feels quite a bit safer than in the beginning.
We then reach a rocky beach, Plage Sigogne, which is not that beautiful but has some nice views of the harbor and of Moorea in the distance. We look for birds for some time but nothing that interesting so we move on.
The landscaping of the area is quite beautiful wih water features and some nice views of the downtown area and churches. We really enjoy this stretch with lots of things to see on both sides of the trail.
There are also a few restaurants but we are not hungry yet after eating some of the provisions we bought earlier so we move on towards the downtown area.
On the other side of the park is the Jacques Chirac plaza with some interesting sculptures however it feels quite empty to us, it feels like something is missing in the middle of the plaza.
Here there are a few more birds, common ones, but we are entranced by a hen that makes a dust bath. We watch it in fact for a few minutes until it decides that it had enough and moves on.
And then it is time to leave the park following a pathway near the yacht harbor towards downtown Papeete. On our way back we are planning to return via the downtown to our AirBnB and visit some city attractions along the way before taking the car and driving to the National Museum in the afternoon.
