‘Iaorana! The bush boy from Bulolo meets Tahiti

Chris Cobb travel bog: Tahiti

When it comes to bucket list destinations, Tahiti has always been right at the top of my wish list!  It's that picture-perfect postcard destination that had me dreaming of a tropical paradise where the landscapes are lined with coconut trees and the horizon merges from cool ocean blues into warm golden sunsets.  The scent of sea-salt and coconut oil drifts through the air, and girls meander down the streets in colourful pareo (also known as a lava-lava, sulu or sarong), and a lightly scented Tiare flower behind their ears.  And somewhere, there’s a bartender serving the sweetest pina colada whilst a band in the background strums away sweet island sounds on guitars and ukuleles.

So you can imagine how quickly I said ‘Yes’! to an opportunity to travel to Tahiti earlier this year alongside my partner, both in business and in life, to explore a filmmaking opportunity that would take place in my bucket-list destination!

You see, most people know me as Chris Cobb the singer.  Or perhaps you may have heard of my agency, CCM, which is more commonly known as an agency that represents local musicians and artists, providing entertainment solutions for venues and events around Port Moresby.  However, in collaboration with my partner Kalo, CCM also provides a range of media services to clients across PNG and the broader Pacific region, and Kalo and I have been lucky enough to collaborate on a number of projects that has seen us jet-setting across the Pacific region, with her leading on photography and video production and me assisting with drone production and handling all the sound recording and production.

So how did we get to Tahiti?

Well let me side-step quickly to 12 months ago when Kalo and I traveled to Tuvalu with our then 7 month old baby.  (Yes, we did that!).  On assignment with an international media agency, we flew from POM to Honiara, Honiara to Nadi (Fiji), Nadi to Suva and then Suva to Funafuti (Tuvalu)!  As we prepared to land on Funafuti, we could immediately see how little land there was below us, and it really cemented the story we were about to research on the ground, which was the climate crisis Tuvaluans are facing right now due to rising sea levels.  As part of that assignment I took the lead on producing all of the sound for the Podcast that was published by The Guardian.

Following the publication of that story we were contacted by many people wanting to know more about Tuvalu and also wanting to collaborate with us on future projects that could aid in bringing awareness to the plight of the Tuvaluan people.  Amongst those who contacted us were two filmmakers, Kate and Amelia from Australia, who were interested in collaborating on a film. It just so happened that an international film festival, FIFO - the International Oceanian Documentary Film Festival - which is held in Tahiti every year, was hosting a pitching event for filmmakers who were developing documentary films with impact.  Our application was successful and our team was invited to go to Tahiti to pitch the film live to industry professionals in hopes of securing funding to develop the concept into a film.

“Iorana and welcome to Tahiti” were the words I heard coming out over the aircraft speakers as we landed at Papeete airport.  My gosh, I thought, I’ve actually made it to my bucket list destination.  As we exited the aircraft and made our way through immigration, we were greeted with a small ukulele band and a Tahitian woman welcoming us with dance and song.  Then as we stepped outside, the festival organisers greeted us by putting tiare necklaces over our heads, and the scene for Tahiti was set!  

Most of the week was filled with filmmaking workshops and networking events, one such event was held at the presidential palace where I was lucky enough to meet the president himself, H.E. Moetai Charles Brotherson - and ask for a quick selfie!  The French-Polynesian president was more than happy to oblige and he also shared with me his travels to PNG whilst accompanying French President Emmanual Macron and meeting our leaders.

When traveling to different parts of the Pacific Islands region, there are always things that feel familiar, such as the tropical island landscapes and the delicious garden food served in coconut milk.  The Tahitian Poisson cru au lait de coco (raw fish in coconut milk) was a favourite dish during my stay.  However something that was completely new was being in a Pacific Island that is actually a French colony, and everyone speaking French!  It was quite strange to see Poynesians speaking French amongst themselves, and even to me. (They thought I was from New Caledonia!)

No matter where I go in the world, the one thing that always connects me with the people of any place, is music.  The universal language.

On one of our last nights in Tahiti, I carried my guitar with me as we wandered through the warm and humid streets of Papeete and we followed the sound of music to a lively street bar where a 5 piece band were playing.  I had Kalo, (my secret weapon for getting me up on any stage at any event) go up and ask the band if they’d be happy to have a musician from PNG join them on stage for a song, and in true humble Pasifika style, they welcomed me with open arms.

It doesn’t matter where I am, or how long I’ve known the band, the stage always feels like home, and musicians always speak the same language… so as we struggled to converse across different languages to get to a starting point of what song to sing, we let the music lead the way and soon found ourselves jamming out on some well-known Jimmy Cliff covers which got the crowd up and then ended with a special request for something local from PNG… and the boys just took to it like they’d played it a hundred times before.

This is why I love music.  One minute we were strangers, speaking different languages, and the next we were playing the same music and singing together in chorus.

Mauruuru!  (Thank you, in Tahitian).

Mauruuru boys and mauruuru Tahiti for welcoming me and allowing me to add a big green tick to my global travel and adventure bucket-list!