Mark's Pages

"As canoes flocked around the ship, bringing out large quantities of pigs, breadfruit and coconuts, the sailors, who had heard vivid tales about the glories of Tahiti from their shipmates, were ecstatic. Alongside, the crews of the canoes asked eagerly whether the sailors were taio (friends) and whether they came from Peretane (Britain) or Rima (Lima). When Bligh assured them that they were British, the islanders clambered on board, making it difficult to work the ship. As he remarked plaintively: '[I]n ten minutes I could scarce find my own people.' Distracted by this enraptured welcome, the sailors failed to clear the anchor or reef the sails, and the ship drifted towards the rocks. When the wind died, Bligh was unable to reach the Resolution's od anchorage, and had to anchor the Bounty a mile offshore from One Tree Hill (Tahara'a). As they gazed inland, her crew could see jagged mountains soaring high into the sky, their ridges covered with reeds and the tops of the hills with trees; and waterfalls tumbled down into the valleys, glittering in the sunlight. They had arrived at the promised land."

— Anne Salmond, Bligh

Matavai Bay is on the opposite side of this point.

The Hôtel Tahara'a has been closed since 1998.