Westworld Alberta
Issue link: http://westworldmagazine.ama.ab.ca/i/198651
poisson cru – a hefty platter of white tuna cooked with lime juice and coconut milk and served with fresh vegetables – but I also taste my my first bottle of Hinano, Tahiti's signature beer, with its lovely redclad island maiden on the label. (this page and opposite) darryl leniuk t hat primes me for a visit to James Norman Hall Museum, 15 minutes away in Arue. Visiting this replica of the Iowa-born Mutiny on the Bounty co-author's Tahiti home fulfils a childhood dream. As requested, I remove my shoes before entering the green-painted house, which is surrounded by tropical foliage. A scale model of the Bounty greets me. A warm, middle-aged Tahitian woman named Hina gives me a personal tour of the place, including Hall's First World War veteran memorabilia, portraits of the captains who presided over the 1792 court martial for the captured mutineers, and Hall's study, with his original desk and Royal typewriter, plus bookcases brimming with translations of his 20-plus books. In the gift shop, adorned with a huge Brando movie poster, I buy a $15 biography of Hall and Nordhoff. Hina kisses me on both cheeks before I leave. To wrap up my day, I drive to the Fa'auruma'i Waterfalls. Vaimahutu, the highest, cascades majestically down a greenery-strewn basalt cliff. A vendor sells grass skirts, garlands and gifts at Papeete's public market. Then, heading to the seaside, about a kilometre north, I marvel at the Arahoho blowhole. Its ocean spray, produced by compressed air, is so powerful that it once blasted a hole in the now-closed road that runs overhead. At nearby Point Venus, a Bounty memorial erected in 2005 marks the ship's 1788 arrival here, in Matavai Bay. (Captain James Cook, with whom Bligh sailed on Cook's final voyage, observed the transit of the planet Venus from this lighthouse-graced peninsula in 1769.) A bronze plaque lists the Bounty crew's names. Experience Polynesia for under $2,700. Includes return airfare from Calgary, five nights at Le Maitai Polynesia Bora Bora and inter-island air transfers. 1-877-989-8436 w i n t e r 2 0 13 | w e s t w o r l d A l b e r tA 19 p12-21_Tahiti.indd 19 13-10-15 9:50 AM