Tahiti
It quickly struck me, flying from Easter Island to Tahiti, that there's something strange about the time zones. Presumably so as to remain only a couple of hours behind mainland Chile, it gets light very late (after 8am) and the sun sets late (nearly 9pm). Another five hour flight saw me change my watch five hours back, not two. Consequently in Tahiti, the sun rises at 6, but is already going down at 6 in the evening.
Papeete is a relatively large and busy place, with plenty of traffic. It's hardly the prettiest of places, although the palms do give it a tropical feel. Whereas Easter Island didn't feel particularly Chilean, Papeete, at least, felt quite French. Every second person carries a baguette in the mornings. They have francs, though they're Polynesian ones, and they have shops like Champion. Instead of Francaise des Jeux, they have Pacifique des Jeux. Entering at the airport, EU passport holders were even fast-tracked and no passport stamp needed.
This guy in the dorm in which I was staying had this habit of speaking while sitting on his bunk, legs wide open, flies undone and wearing no underwear... Kind of offputting...
On my second day I took a bus out along the east coast, where I visited Venus Point, from where Captain Cook observed the transit of Venus across the sun. I swam in the sea on the black sand beach there. After visiting the Three Waterfalls of Fa'arumaai, further east, I was waking back to the main road when the heavens opened. Sheltering under a tree from the unexpected heavy shower, a nearby couple kindly invited me in to their house. Giving me a glass of freshly pressed lemonade, made on the spot, and some bread, they were very friendly.
Before catching the bus back I went to this famous blow-hole. The action of the waves compresses air inside a lava formation, which then spurts out a fountain of water when a high wave comes in. All accompanied by loud hissing and sucking noises from somewhere within the rocks...