We tendered to shore on a local cruise boat that was open and quite comfortable. Our guide met us at the dock and we all walked a short distance to his outrigger equipped boat. The tour company was Moorea Miti Tours and I highly recommend them.
Our tour was first a long boat ride into the bay behind the Maasdam and then we headed to a relatively shallow area where we swam with the rays and the black tipped reef sharks. We could pet the rays, but the sharks kept their distance which was okay. From there we moved to another location nearer the reef where it was a coral garden and we swam looking at the coral and the fish that inhabited the area. There was quite a current in the area so we had to swim against the current and then drift back with it.
We then enjoyed a terrific hand prepared BBQ lunch on the beach. One of the crew prepared the ceviche like dish by first cracking the coconuts (we got to help and I cracked two), and then mixed up the entree and used the coconut milk squeezed from the shaved coconut meat. Our meal then was comprised of the ceviche like dish, BBQ chicken, fried bananas, rice, coconut bread, and water. Afterwards another crew member demonstrated weaving hats from palm leaves and treated us with a lesson in the use of traditional plants for their medicinal powers.
Back at the tender dock, we perused the many vendors and my wife purchased an 8 string hand made Tahitian ukulele from the builder. It's made of mahogany and is quite pretty and robust. We tendered back to the ship and showered and sent another bag of laundry out for cleaning (it's free for us as 4 star mariners). There was a brief presentation on Papeete which is our final port of call for this voyage and the Captain announced that he would be leaving the ship for his 2 months vacation, and we'll get a new captain tomorrow. Also we'll arrive at the next port tonight at 8pm.
As the ship began its sail away, the passenger Ukelele band did one final performance up in the Crow's nest. Angela and a couple others played their new ukuleles. And a good time was had by all.
We enjoyed a LIDO dinner with Erik and Marilyn whom we have cruised with before. As we were finishing dinner, the lights of Papeete came into view. So we all adjourned to deck 12 and 13 to watch the sail in. We tied up across the pier from a very large luxury sailboat and on the next pier over is another cruise ship, but we could not make out the brand in the dark.
Tonight, Angela went to the Gone with the Wind movie and I updated this blog.
These 34 days have been pretty special and it may become my favorite cruise so far. Easter Island and Pitcairn Island were both special for very different reasons. Tahiti is truly paradise, and Ecuador and Peru were nice first visits for us. We'd certainly rather come to Polynesia than visit the Caribbean or Hawaii.
Tomorrow we have something special planned with another couple. Stay tuned for that.
No comments:
Post a Comment