Point Venus, near the town of Arue where our rental house was located, appears at first glance to be a pretty chill little local beach. It was full of people out walking dogs, riding bikes, and bodyboarders. However, a lot of history went down here.
…we had every advantage we could desire in Observing the whole of the passage of the Planet Venus over the Suns disk: we very distinctly saw an Atmosphere or dusky shade round the body of the Planet…” -James Cook, June 3, 1769 at Venus Point, Tahiti
The above quote explains why it is named Point Venus. I had never actually even questioned this, but there ya go! there were numerous little historical signs placed throughout the park, but Jason and I just skimmed them on our way to the beach.
Random fact of the day: that black sand is pretty but it is HOT after baking in the Tahitian sunshine all day. This wasn’t something Jason and I considered as we traipsed haphazardly across it. Just a few little grains of this on top of your foot or in your sandal burns like the molten sands of hell. It’s fine when you’re down by the water, but don’t attempt to walk across this barefoot if you value the bottoms of your feet.
