Westworld Alberta
Issue link: http://westworldmagazine.ama.ab.ca/i/198651
Tahiti's annual Bounty festival runs October 25-27, 2014 – dates that coincide with the ship's 1788 arrival. Meet Bounty family descendants, learn about 18thcentury navigation techniques and taste traditional dishes, along with breadfruit and other Polynesian staples. You'll also learn about the Bounty-related books of Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall and take in screenings of the classic Hollywood Bounty movies. and 18th centuries. Although nestled in a lush valley that's alive with birdsong, its sacred courtyard, decorated with unu (wooden sculptures), is less than comfortable for worshipers due to the rough rock surface – not to mention the pigs still sacrificed here. After a lunch of delectably flaky parrot fish in lemon butter sauce at the waterfront Captain Bligh Restaurant and Bar, I decide to view something that Bounty boatswain's mate James Morrison described in 1788: "At this diversion both sexes are excellent and some are so expert as to stand on their board till the Surf breaks." Morrison was referring, of course, to surfing. At Taharuu Beach, more than 40 local young men are braving big waves on surfboards and boogie boards, laughing and whooping in the sunshine. It's a scene of pure escapism. No wonder the mutineers shunned cold, conventional England. B y now, I've soaked up so much history that I'm ready for some escapism of my own, on the neighbouring, paradisiacal island of Moorea. I bid farewell to Papeete with one more scintillating dinner – grilled swordfish with green beans at L'Estanco, one of the popular roulottes (food trucks) in harbourside Place Vai'ete. The next morning, I sail 17 km northwest on the Aremiti 5 ferry to Moorea. Teleflor 1/2h 20 W e s t w o r l d a l b e r t a | w i n t e r 2 0 13 p12-21_Tahiti.indd 20 13-10-22 9:17 AM darryl leniuk A Bountiful Future Ironwood trees and coconut palms rustle in the wind as the sun sets, and young families wade in the warm water. A flotilla of outrigger canoes passes outside the distant reef. Tahiti's ability to feed both body and soul is becoming evident. My cross-cultural dinner on the pier of the upscale Blue Banana restaurant later in the evening – escargots in garlic butter and shrimp in coconut curry sauce – is succeeded the next day by an unusual breakfast at the free, inaugural "Festival du Uru," or Breadfruit Festival, at Papeete's Maison de la Culture. I quickly tuck into hearty, nutty-tasting bread made with breadfruit flour at the Bounty-themed stall of Swiss-born Beni Huber. Huber is spearheading plans for an annual Bounty festival and a touring replica of the ship. (See the sidebar.) Even more delectable is popo uru, sun-dried breadfruit soaked in sugar, lemon juice and vanilla. An old woman tells me, "We need to preserve these traditional recipes before they're lost. This is what mothers gave their children before we had candy." Intense drumming by heavily tattooed Marquesan Islanders (hailing from a Polynesian island cluster north of Tahiti) reinforces the sense of history and pride. A bumpy midday drive brings me to Marae Arahurahu, a restored Polynesian temple constructed from black volcanic rocks between the 15th