| Tahiti sunrise |
| Tahiti sunset in the Tahiti Yacht Club anchorage in the village of Arue |
| In the annual July Festival, teams from all the Tahitian islands compete in traditional sports... |
| ...and demonstrate their expertise at tradional drumming and dance |
| First the men only, then the women, then both dance together (shown here) |
| The dances convey warrior strength and prowess |
| The javelin throw contest is always very popular |
| Slim javelins are thrown from the ground to try to hit the coconut on the pole 50 ft in the air |
| This is where you DON'T want to be in the javelin throw! |
| 30 guys each throw 8-10 javelins and most do not hit the target |
| When the last is thrown they each retrieve their own javelins |
| The coconut target is lowered and the successful javelins tallied |
| Another popular national event is Stone Lifting |
| Unaided the contestants lift heavy stones from the ground to their shoulders |
| The stone may be placed in any position to start |
| To qualify, the stone must be balanced on a shoulder and the opposite hand removed from support |
| Traditional Polynesian drums with some modern turnbuckle improvements |
| One of the oddest things in Papeete Harborfront is the weekly Truck Dinner |
| Restaurant trucks roll into the square and unload tables and chairs |
| And serve great dinners from their trucks |
| Even Papeete Harbor looks romantic at night |
| Some even offer whole veal, barbecued on a spit |