I took the hire car out today after yesterday's bad experience with the buses. We went south to the Presqu'ile de Taiarapu (Tahiti Itu), it's Tahiti's little sister is;land, not actually separate but quite different from the suburban sprawl that is the ribbon development around the west of Tahiti.
The northern side looked unpromising at first, just more houses on the water front. But things changed towards the end of the road and, whilst I wouldn't say it was exactly a "Faustian moment", Tautira, the village at the end of the road (kilometre zero) is the nicest place I've been to so far on this trip: calm, friendly people and great views of Tahiti and the interior of Taiarapu.
The rain storms caught up with us and it was windscreen wipers and minor floods all the way back!