French Polynesia (Tahiti)

This will be this journey’s last post from a non-US (foreign) land. In reality, it’s coming from the middle of the Pacific ocean. Tomorrow we land in Honolulu.

We spent two days in Tahiti, the first on the island of Tahiti, and the second on Moorea, a neighboring island.

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Papeete

Papeete (Pah-pee-ate-ay) is the capital, and our port on Tahiti. Looking off of our balcony, was a super yacht, the Felix. It is a lowly $70 million beast that can handle 12 guests with a crew of 22. I guess it helps the economy.

We decided to look for an independent tour, as the cruise excursions are so very pricey. We got off, and across the street were a series of tour hawkers. We signed up for one and were soon on our way of the worst bus/tour of the entire trip. The guide would say things like “that’s a school on the right,” or “that’s a hospital on the left.” We did stop a few places (Venus Point, waterfall, another waterfall, another waterfall, a grotto), and I ended up with a huge backache.

It is really a beautiful Island and friendly people. But I was ready to ring the guides neck!

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Moorea

Nearby Moorea is easily visible from Tahiti island. It is, however, one of the most beautiful islands around. I’d woken earlier, and was amazed at the sunrise when I looked out the window.

We’d signed up for a snorkeling in the lagoons tour, but Ellen had developed another sinus infections and backed out.

We anchored out, and we shuttled in by some of the emergency boats. I found out tour, and we were soon on our way. Our guide, an Italian by the name of Francesca, shared more island history in the first ten minutes than the entire tour the previous day.

I asked whether the large ship anchored near ours was private. Turns out it is the late Paul Allen’s (Microsoft co-founder), and was anchored there for his family.

We went to three lagoons, the first for coral reef, the second for sea turtles, and the last for stingrays and black-tipped sharks. The coral was a bit disappointing – not many fish, I stayed aboard for the turtles, the rays and sharks were a blast. The island was beautiful.

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Stayed in bed as this infection hit hard. This is the island Annette Benning and Warren Beatty had that beautiful walk to his Aunt’s house.

Postscript

To say this trans-Pacific passage was not what we expected is an under-statement. Not only did Ellen’s sinus infection worsen (she ended up with a z-pac), but I got the same thing and also ended with a z-pac. The seas from Auckland to Tahiti were pretty rough, the weather was cloudy, and it wasn’t really all that warm.

We are now on our 5th sea-day from Tahiti, I am much healthier, and Ellen has just turned the corner. The weather, for the most part, has been cloudy. We deliberately got a port cabin so we could watch sunsets from out balcony. There has been one sunset without clouds. Not to say there hasn’t been some beautiful clouds.

We normally prefer the “shared” table seating in the dining rooms, where we are seated with random people we don’t know. This is a great way to meet people from different places. When we’re feeling under the weather, we’re not comfortable doing this, so we opt for “private” seating.

We joined the pop choir to pass the time. Our illness prevented our being part of the final performance. At least we’ve had a comfortable bed and room service.

Feeling a bit better , had a chest x-ray, on prednisone, energy coming back . We have 2 days in Honolulu and then 5 to LA, . Can’t wait !