The Maraamu wind...

Came blowing in... from across the sea...

I’m feeling flat as a tack today. Maybe it’s because everyone is a little sick. Maybe we’re all a bit tired at the middle of the year.

Maybe it’s the weather; drizzly, grey, the Maraamu wind howling through the house.

The Maraamu is the big wind that comes around July and August. You can feel it when on the ferry between Tahiti and Mo’orea as the boat dips like a rollercoaster, taking your stomach with it. You can see it in the waves that crash on the reef. It bashes doors closed at the house and shakes coconuts from the tree in the backyard.

And then everything is suddenly calm again.

I can’t find much information about the Maraamu online. Mostly navigational information and warnings about the current for surfers. What I did find came out of the book about the artwork of Bobby Holcomb:

The North Wind

The north-west wind, Mata'i To'erau, is a tropical or equatorial wind, distinctly different from another wind in Tahiti, Maraamu, which comes from the south-east and is much cooler and drier. The To'erau, was believed to bring the rain from Tumu Rupeupe, source of abundance.

In traditional Tahitian society, the people had a detailed knowledge of the winds, since they were vital in navigation and agriculture. The Maori names and directions of the winds do not always correspond to the western magnetic compass or their position on the compass rose.

– Artwork and text from Bobby: Polynesian Visions

The wind sends the waves crashing on the reef.

Along with the wind, comes the cold. It’s unseasonably chilly at night, so much so that the duvet has come out of the cupboard. The plus side is that I get to do all the things I enjoy doing in Australia during winter: make hot chocolate and warming curries, watch movies, read books in bed.

July free download - the lighthouse at Pointe Venus

It’s that time of month again, folks, where paid subscribers get a digital print download made by yours truly. This month, in honour of the Olympic-sized waves in Tahiti, I’m revisiting the time we spent a few weeks in Mahina. The boys learned to surf (on much more gentle waves than the Olympiads will find this month at Teahupo'o) while I, at 9 months pregnant, sat and painted stuff. Like the lighthouse below!

If you’re a free subscriber (or not subscribed at all) and you’d like access to the download, consider supporting my work by becoming a paid subscriber. You’ll get one free download per month along with the satisfaction of knowing that you’re helping me make more art. You’ll also get access to all of the previous free artworks… if that’s not good value for money I don’t know what is!