NOTE: After much frustration with the ship's internet connection -- which has never been good but seems worse now -- I've decided to post this entry without pictures (so you will know that everything is good with us). I will post photos when we have a better connection.
Monday January 24, 2016
Monday January 24, 2016
Today is a day at sea thus giving me a chance to catch you
up on the last couple of days. We spent Saturday in Tahiti and Sunday in
Moorea. It was news to me that these two islands are separated by only a seven
minute airplane ride or a forty minute ferry ride. In other words they are very
close to one another, at least geographically speaking. In many other ways they
are quite far apart.
We began with a tour around the island of Tahiti. Our ship docked
in the capital, Papeete. Now I don’t want to say Papeete is a dump but … well,
let’s just say it’s dump-like. Or at least the parts that I saw while on the
bus were. I did see a promising looking walk along the sea and I also
understand that the local market includes some amazing flowers but the
buildings while still low-rise are nevertheless tired looking and depressing.
Our first stop on the bus tour was the Museum of James
Norman Hall, an author (with Charles Nordhoff) of the Mutiny on the Bounty
trilogy. The house, a typical French Colonial, is loaded with memorabilia from
Hall’s eventful life (war hero, aviator, etc.). Next stop was a viewpoint
overlooking the Tahitian coast. It was a spectacular spot where you could get a
good look at how the reefs protect the coastline by forcing the waves to break
way out to sea. It’s an interesting feature that is common to both Moorea and Tahiti.
We also stopped at a beach that was loaded with Tahitians enjoying a fine
Saturday in the water.
Our tour continued with an hour’s drive along the coast
before we arrived at our lunch destination, the Restaurant Paul Gaugin (called
this due to the close proximity of the Paul Gaugin Museum and Botanic Garden
where we did not stop because it was closed). Lunch was a buffet featuring
local delicacies such as breadfruit and other unidentified “meaty” fruits(?) of
varying shades of gray (there was other stuff to eat too so don’t feel too bad
for us). After lunch we visited a botanical garden that was just the right size
(not too big, not too small) and well-signed (in French and English). This was
followed by a visit to another museum – The Museum of Tahiti and Its Islands.
Our guide was quite knowledgeable and eager to share information but not
exactly sensitive to the fact that the drive was long, the day – hot, and the
task – of learning all about Polynesian culture – impossible.
The boat remained in Papeete for most of the night, moving
at five a.m. (don’t ask me why five a.m.) over to the neighboring island of
Moorea. Russell and I decided to take it easy in the morning on Sunday, doing a
little stitching before having something to eat and heading to the island. We
had signed up for a photography safari and we were a little nervous that it
might be too technical or intense for our level of skill and interest in the
subject. Thankfully it was not although it did turn out to be a bit more of a
safari than I was expecting. We travelled paved, unpaved and what can best be
described as semi-paved roads in search of some fine views. The tour leaders
were knowledgeable about the various cameras that people had and their were
willing to work mostly one on one to get the best possible photographs so in
general I would say it was a very good tour. The final stop in particular was
truly memorable as it involved a hair-raising drive up a steep and narrow “road”
to a viewpoint at the top of a mountain that overlooked the coastline and the
bay where our ship was anchored.
In general, I enjoyed Moorea more than Tahiti as I found it
much more scenic. It is also far less populated and developed, therefore fewer
people, fewer cars, and more nature. I am not sure we got a fair look at Tahiti
though because we stayed on the main road (the only road that circumnavigates
the island) and therefore we saw mostly main road-y kind of things such as
McDonald’s, City Halls, schools, gas stations, shopping centers, etc. Had we
gotten off the main road I think we might have been more impressed with the
place. It was funny though because throughout the day I kept saying to myself, “Oh
that place looks so Polynesian.” And then I would remember “Well, duh – you are
in Polynesia”! So I guess there is still a sense of place there despite all the
people and commercial activity.
Today, as I said, we are steaming toward the Society Islands
(no I don’t think that I had ever heard of them before either). The sea is a
little bit rougher than it has been so we are doing a lot of rocking and
rolling. The captain in his daily update mentioned that we are still in deep water
with fourteen thousand feet of water beneath us. Amazing.
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