Post #737535 by Club Nouméa on Tue, Feb 17, 2015 3:55 AM

Taiohae - A Tiki Tour: Part 1

This fine family grouping of Marquesan tiki folk sits outside the Fare Artisanal (Crafts Centre):

The mamma tiki seems to be changing the baby while dad and the kids provide a shield...

The Fare Artisanal is a great place to get carvings: I was so overwhelmed at the high density of cool stuff I completely forgot to take a photo of the interior while I was buying things there.

Behind the Fare Artisanal is the town market, one of the few areas in Taiohae that is well-lit at night, thanks to these individuals holding up the lamp posts:

Girl and guy versions.

If you do intend to wander around Taiohae at night, take a flashlight as, like most places out in the islands, street lighting is not a high priority.

The market entrance. This post looks like wood but is in fact painted concrete:

And in case you want to deck out your slippery tiki bar floors with appropriate safety signage in Marquesan, the caption reads "Tohua peeno" (slippery floor).

The market has a colourful garden:

With these guys as the centrepiece:

And with this guy lurking in the foliage nearby:

And this guy facing them, near the Fare Artisanal:

Beyond the market place, there is a wharf with a few shops, including a yachties' supply store. Its posts are real wood:

Nice use of found materials. Close-up:

Up the hill from the market is the Vallée des Français, which is where the first French settlers lived, and is still the site of various administrative services. Back in the day, this fine piece of colonial architecture would have been the headquarters of the local French colonial administrator; nowadays it is the office of the Marquesas Sub-Division of the Territorial Government of French Polynesia.

Blink and you would miss them, but I was paying attention: outside this 19th century piece of colonial architecture are some small but old and weathered tikis:

Behind the market and up the hill a bit is the local cemetery. Given the Catholic Church's traditional antagonism towards pagan symbols and its local representatives' historical penchant for destroying, defacing and emasculating tiki carvings, I was not optimistic about finding any tikis there but, lo and behold, however stylised and unobtrusive, there was one:

Climbing up to the top of the Vallée des Français, I spotted this tiki, boxed in alongside a garage - perhaps to deter thieves, or maybe to stop him falling over? (he does look a bit top-heavy)

Walking back along the waterfront, the promenade is practically lined with tikis. This piece was intriguing:

It was here that I was first tooted by a passing pick-up truck and people waved at me as I was taking photos. Over the next few days, various locals noted my documenting of their tikis and were very welcoming as I did so.

The local Air Tahiti office a bit further along the waterfront has tikis outside its entrance, looking weather-worn and mossy:

And the Banque Socredo has tikis to greet its customers:

Beyond the bank, a bit up the valley, is the local high school or lycée:

Detailed views of the sign:

The sign is housed in a structure supported by concrete posts - front and rear views:

And beyond the high school is the pétanque facility:

Well that covers the first 800 metres of our tiki tour around Taiohae. As you may have noticed by now, the town has more tikis than you can shake a stick at.

Our next stop is a visit to the Temehea historical site, just a bit further along the waterfront:

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Toto, j'ai l'impression que nous ne sommes plus au Kansas !

[ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2015-02-17 03:59 ]