[?]n Tahiti , The Drinking

Laws Work Well

From Beryl Sawyer, in Moorea If you are over 18 years of age, reasonably sober and have v francs to spend, bartenders are ready and willing to serve the drink of your choice in Tahiti. This applies to males females of any race or mixtures thereof.

:an slake your thirst in town > from 7 a.m. until 11,30 d in certain bars outside the lits until 2 a.m. bars have music—from the places where it is de rigeur me’s own guitar, to the larger establishments like Quinn’s here is an orchestra for from 8.30 p.m. irst juke box has recently appearance at Papeete’s Bar ere for ten francs one can le’s choice between a Poly >ve-song or imported rock n’

I time is signalled in the irs by a fast Tahitian dance le tamure, when everyone lat it is time to finish that e of beer, say goodnight to les and go home. In case fulness, the local gendarmes >ably be by to make sure )ars are closing according to

Little Drunkenness

sre is little public drunken ahiti. It is forbidden by law anyone who shows signs of 2ss and bar owners are re ) evict and refuse service to “ring. ahitians favourite drink is ade Hinano beer. Second red wine punch, which is th wine, lime juice and )oonfuls of sugar. Many hitians and especialy md both men and women

ter islands—prefer to drink

ade pink fizzy lemonade, ; y sometimes mix with a beer. It is rare to see drinking hard liquor such or gin. f the water-front girls will Dtch with the tourists— > prove their sophistication Y honestly prefer the local g laws are generally re ut bar owners have to be with the under 18 age

group, and, if in doubt, will ask for evidence of legal drinking age.

Tahitians mainly go to the bars on Saturday and Sunday nights. Not specifically to get drunk—but to have fun, make new friends—and conquests

—and to dance. There being ; social life apart from the ciri Tahitians love to sit in the bam gossip and dance.

Saturdays and Sundays occasions to make or buy t crowns for the hair and flowen to wear around the neck, I together with a group of fnendc a few bottles of Hinano been lemonade, make for an eveniii sociability, Tahitians who are tempo financially embarrassed, or drinking age will crowd the paves outside the bars, listening t*J music and watching the others 1 fun.

Tahitians are served in all the tourist hotel bars, but prices higher than elsewhere and the s phere less relaxed than in the town bars.

French drinking laws are pn and work out well. There s moves being made to altes legislation—none that has

publicised.

Saturday Night

Moorea, a lovely island situs miles from the island of Tahiti,, a population of under 3,000„ villages and six bars which d«J biggest trade on a Saturday nr Saturday night begins dinner at Hotel Aimeo on Cookl Guests are invited to join aj members of the staff led 1 Austral Island chef Arii and hd Tuaro.

A large 35 seater true is for the evening, guitars and u are gathered up, and with muo ing of the pou, meaning cone: but in these days meaning the true sets off for its first nearby Paopao village.

Villagers hearing the mus join the crowd, tables are friends greeted with a kiss or cheek, and the evening begins? host Papa Teihotu brings • accordion, bottles of cold b*< lemonade are set on the tabd the ball begins.

There is a shortage of wo:( Moorea —as on many of thn French Polynesian islands. vahines are inclined to abandf unspoiled island homes temporary or semi-permanentf Papeete.

So all available women aro to dance—and it is difficult! ‘no’ to a handsome young Pm dressed in his Saturday best, s a sweet-smelling three-tier tim blossom crown on his head..

He will make a deep bow 1

in a gesture worthy of Sir as Drake as he asks a local «• a tourist for the pleasure of ce. Polynesians dance well and fully—and if he should step on toe, he is probably barefooted, is painless. ; floor is crowded with happy rs and the tables loaded with orange and white ‘lemonade’ ly accompanied by large bottles lano beer. One drinks as much e likes—or as little—and one one’s own mixture of beer :monade according to taste, sever has money pays for the , and those whe have none are I, anyway. music and singing is con s. When one group stops to l rest, another begins. Those it guitars or ukuleles tap out the is with spoons or clap their in time to the music.

Polynesian love songs, )nal songs and fast tamures are avourites, together with an mal popular French tune or ‘Alexander’s Ragtime Band”— n Polynesian, of course, e couples leave and others Old people and children will around the doors listening

to the music and joining in with the singing. An old mama rua, grandmother, arrives with a group of young children, and they squat outside or make little beds for the sleepy children on mats on the ground.

Dogs roam at will under the tables or congregate in sociable groups outside.

Then, with no given signal, it is time to up and go. The true is filled to capacity, but there is always room for one more, plus a few on the roof.

It is 11 p.m. but the evening is not yet over. A few miles down the coast at the new Matiehani Hotel, music and dancing will continue until

2 a.m.

Here, the music is perhaps a little louder, laughter more frequent, but it is Saturday night in Moorea and everyone is having fun.

If one of the men has obviously had enough to drink, his friends will pour him no more—and he will respect their judgment and finish the evening on fizzy lemonade.

Dancing continues in the open air on the outside terrace. Beyond the dancing area are grouped villagers with their children, big transporta tion trues and bicycles stacked together awaiting the arrival of their owners. Everyone is a little sleepy but few will leave until the last fast tamure signals closing time.

Guitars are gathered up, good nights are said, kisses exchanged be tween friends, sleeping children are found, and everyone climbs aboard the trues or on bicycles for the villages—and sleep.

But the music never stops and as the trues roll away, depositing a couple here and there at their simple homes, there is the sound of singing and laughter until the last tired Poly nesian—and tourist—reaches home. • For more on the Liquor re port, turn the page.

The drink is champagne and the place is New Caledonia. Photo: Fred Dunn.