On Saturday we got up nicely rested, packed our mountain climbing gear (including the aforementioned 4x6 photo prinout of the relevant part of the map from the shop), got breakfast, told Club Med reception where we were going (in case we didn't come back that night) and hopped the shuttle to Vaitapee.
There, we checked on the available of a 1-day cell phone rental (none) and let the gendarmerie know that we were heading up the mountain and planned to be back by 4pm. GPS calibrated in both compass and altimeter (being _at_ sea level is mighty convenient...), and pictures taken of the mountain, off we went at about 10:05 am.
Through the magic of Google Earth Overlays, you can see our path up the mountain here in 3D. The straight line jump from the top to the bottom is an artifact of the poor reception on our return.
Initially the trail _was_ the road, but toward the road's end, a local man who was busy weed whacking his yard (and the road) pointed us off to the left to the trail. After a bit of casting about through melon fields we found the path and started up. We had a couple of false starts on unnecessary bushwhacking, but soon found ourselves on the mostly easy to follow, somewhat blazed trail up the west side of Mount Paihia/Hue.
We climbed for two and a half hours, and this time the guidebook was right on. It was a tree-root to tree-root clamber punctuated by occasional scrabbles up rocks, and even rarer flattish portions on which to rest. Once or twice we got a bit sidetracked (particularly when the trail took an unclear jog to one side or the other) but all in all it was a very direct climb.
We'd agreed that we'd climb up for two and a half hours and allow three and a half to get down; though down is usually easier than up, we would be more tired, and we wanted the extra safety margin. Unfortunately, by 12:10pm, we had only reached the start of the northward traverse around from the west to the final ascent on the northeast side. At that point, Megan was getting a bit tired, so we called off the final ascent (which also happens to be the steepest and most dangerous part of the climb), and simply traversed far enough to enjoy the great view of Faanui with our lunch.
Just after 12:30, we started back down, still getting off trail here and there - again, mostly at trail-jogs where straight down looked 'right' until it was "I don't remember this rock". Then we'd clamber back up to the last point we remembered, find where we'd gone astray and continue down the trail. At one point we ran into a group climbing down being led by a guide who seemed quite displeased to find us on the mountain. His charges translated that he seemed to feel he has some authority over the trail (despite it being a public trail) and didn't we know about the American who fell and broke his leg on the mountain last week, spending the rest of that day and night and into the next day on the hill, injured, and had to be helicopter-ed off the mountain?! And how could we think!? to climb the mountain without _him_, and _he_ would take us down off the mountain!
What an asshole.
Yes, we know about the stupid American who went up the mountain _by_himself_, without proper preperation or supplies and without telling anyone where he was going and got hurt and had to be rescued, but no, we don't need your indignance at someone not paying you to guide them up a mapped and marked trail while making sure to start back before they got too tired. Anyway, he was pushing his people down the hill much faster than we felt comfortable going, so before too long we'd lost sight of him on the trail below. Later, while on another false side trail, a single local coming down called to us from 10 yards over and motioned to join him on the main trail. He said nothing else - merely walking ahead once we made the trail, and stopping to see us catch up whenever he went out of sight ahead. Simply a quiet gentleman. When we reached the bottom at 2:30pm, I handed him a $50 note (5000 XPF) and said thanks as he headed off into the brush.
Back at the road we again encountered the asshole, who was stuffing his customers into a compact car for the ride back to their hotel. He seemed to have calmed down a bit, and it came out that what he was probably most pissed about was that we were from Club Med. It seems he had tried to get them to take some of his flyers for his guide service, but they weren't interested - despite not yet having any mountain guides listed on their excursions catalog. So we parted more amicably than we'd met, but I didn't really have any question about why Club Med turned him down. Not a first-class operator. (But then neither is the current head of Excursions here, but then she's also Italian, and we've unfortunately come to expect a bit of snottiness from most of the Italians here...)
Anyway, it was only 2.5 hours up to 480m elevation (out of 600m) and 2 hours back with side-trails and lunch included, so we had 1:45 until our shuttle would be back for us. We checked in with the gendarmerie to let them know we'd come back safely (and early), and went to get something cool to drink at the snack shop below the excellent boutique with the map. An Orangina and vanilla milkshake never tasted so good. :) With plenty of free time left, we did some shopping and picked up gifts for folks back home, along with making sure we hadn't missed anything important in that little town. After shuttling back to Club Med, we showered the mountain out of our hair and off our bodies and then went to enjoy our 30 minute massages before dinner at Bloody Mary's.
Bloody Mary's is an institution at this point, having been opened by American ex-pats back in 1979. The floor is sandy beach, with cubbyholes by the entrance for your footwear. All of the tables and stools (there are no chairs) are hewn from local wood long since polished to a shine, and the ceiling suspends fronds and leaves with the best possible impression of being outside without having to worry about the rain... The menu is presented in a unique manner: Just beyond the matre'd is an open iced case with all of today's fresh meats arrayed for viewing. All of the fish is fresh caught today, and the steaks and chicken are flown in today. You actually pick your piece of entree meat, along with what appetizer you want. The owner writes down your order and off you go to your table to enjoy the atmosphere, fresh bread, and a drink while (if you're us) your sashimi tuna and teriyaki tuna kabobs are prepared. A simple salad preceded excellent dinners of marinated Oho/Owaho and Mako Shark. I now second Jen's recommendation of their maitais as The Best, and share her and Rob's fascination with the sink fixtures in the restrooms. To wit: Pulling a large wooden ring releases water down a well-flowered, free-standing rocky waterfall which ultimately provides a space for one's hands to receive the water. Unique describes damn near everything in the place. The meal was exquisite and the perfect end to a day of exercising vital powers along lines of excellence.