Travel Guide Moerai

Rurutu is undoubtedly promised to a certain tourist future. For the warm welcome of its inhabitants, their simple and healthy lives, its artisan heritage worthy of attention, its colourful and easily accessible landscapes, as well as the magnificent ballet of humpback whales from July to October, the privileged opportunity of (perhaps) swimming in company with the mastodons of the seas, in a symbiosis with the unforgettable natural elements. In addition, the accommodation is pleasant. In short, the island no longer expects travellers to make themselves known to the world.Rurutu (the soaring rock), 572 km south of Tahiti, is unique in Polynesia by its geological configuration.Appeared in the middle of ocean vastness 12 million years ago, a hot point raised it 100 million years ago. A little like Makatea (Tuamotu), it has found itself without lagoon, and bordered by cliffs around it. Thanks to the erosion due to the rains and the sea, it was also ravaged by some thirty limestone caves, supplied in stalactites and stalagmites.As a result, Rurutu is rather a land-oriented island, by its isolation and its absence from the lagoon, thereby reducing the possibilities for bathing.The island has a large plateau, Tetuanui, dotted with various plantations: coffee, vanilla, oranges, pineapple and avocado, but mostly taro, grown to old in tarodières. Many trails run through the mountains and cultivated plots, and enjoy spectacular views across the island.Rurutu was one of the first islands to be discovered by Cook on his first great voyage in 1769, but the hostility of the islanders prevented his berthing.At the time, nearly 6 000 inhabitants reportedly inhabited Rurutu, who today inherited particularly ancient marae, and rurutu, the island's dialect, gradually replaced by Tahitian. Meanwhile, the island has had a similar history to many other islands. It has been christianised. In addition, many diseases have reduced its population to 2 104 today, after falling to less than 200 by 1830.Eric de Folorunso said from Rurutu that she was the island without past. Indeed, missionaries have done everything possible to erase the traces and beliefs of the past. Most of the objects were confiscated for the benefit of foreign museums, such as the statue of God A'a, today at the British Museum in London. This 112 cm idol, decorated outside of thirty small effigies in relief across the body, had a small trunk in its back, where we discovered twenty-four little gods inside. It is said that the statue represented the first ancestor at the origin of the settlement, and that the little gods evoked his progeny.It will be noted that the farms are well parcellées in Rurutu. All are in ownership, which has allowed islanders to conserve their land, making it almost impossible for multiple owners to sell unanimously. Despite all this, social cohesion has been perfectly maintained thanks to the rotation of working groups, and once in the traditional system of chronic chronicles (nothing was written).Rurutu is an island of medium size (10 km long, 5 km wide, 36 km of tower), whose shape clearly evokes that of Africa, oriented in the same direction. Four villages, connected by concrete roads, comprise the majority of the inhabitants along the coast. Moerai, the largest, is located at the north level. This town is home to shops, administrations and a recent port allowing the Accostage Pae II to be boarded up to the island's only navigable pass. In the west, you discover Avera, which also has a dock, but for small boats. Tuhaa Pae II sometimes dumps here a whaling. To the east is the village of Hauti (or Auti) increasingly abandoned, and to northwest the airport. Some inhabitants also live in Naairoa, isolated in the south of the island, along a very beautiful beach of white sand (named Popa'a Beach, due to the regular influx of foreign tourists). Finally, the island is dominated by three peaks: the Taatioe (389 m), the Manureva (385 m) and the Teapei (369 m), all close to each other.Every year in January, the festival of tere takes place in Rurutu. The entire population takes a tour of the island, on foot or on horseback, as during a pilgrimage, with visits of marae. We evoke ancestral legends. The feast reaches its peak in oa oa'i, a force test where participants must wear a huge volcanic stone. The strongest raise 150 kg. In May, it was the Me, a great religious party with visits to houses and gifts to the temple.The island's artisanal activity revolves around tifaifai, large floor mats (peue), chefs and pandanus weaving. To better immerse yourself from the legends and history of Rurutu, we advise you to read the book presented and annotated by Michel Brun, Eteroa, myths, legends and traditions of a Polynesian island, Gallimard, Paris, 2007.