Tuesday, January 24, 2023 – Day 35
Hello Friends! It’s been a few days since we’ve had internet access, so we’ve a bit of catching up to do. Since we last wrote, we’ve crossed the equator and are sailed to French Polynesia.
French Polynesia is a collection of 118 islands & atolls, with a total land mass smaller than the state of Connecticut; spread out over an expanse of ocean larger than Europe. Traveling here by ship gave us a great appreciation for exactly how isolated these people here are. One of our guides (who, small world moment, was from Ventura!) told us that the islands are further from continental land than any other inhabited place on earth. It sure feels like it (and the internet connection seems to prove it!)
Over the past 3 days we have visited, Bora Bora, Moorea and today, Tahiti. They are all beautiful, but that beauty is fed by rain, rain and more rain! But, for the most part, that didn’t stop our getting out and exploring these beautiful islands.
On Bora Bora we went on a Catamaran Sail & Snorkel. We saw beautiful fish, neon blue, black and white striped, clown fish, angel fish and others. The coral was lime green and purple, but the colors were muted by the cloudy sky. As we swam in the warm waters along the coral reef, the cool rain fell on our backs, heaven. I’ve always loved swimming in the rain, and this was even better with the warm water and soft trade winds. After our swim we were treated to a snack of local fruits and fresh coconut – yum! We were well and truly soaked by the rain when we arrived back to shore and eventually our ship. It was a great time.
We sailed into Opunohu Bay, Moorea on Monday morning. Our excursion was to be a Snorkeling Safari first thing. So, we were up early and, in the theater, where we awaited our departure number to be called, but our departure time came and went, only to find out that we and several other couples were given the wrong excursion number and we had missed our boat! It looked like our snorkeling with reef sharks and manta rays was not to be. But, alas, Viking came through, got us onto another small boat to take us out to the snorkel site. But…. before we could cast off, the wind started to blow hard, and the rain came down in buckets! We had to abandon the small ship and try to wait out the storm on the dock. Well, it was not to be. The weather was not lifting, so our Snorkel Safari was cancelled. We did a little shopping at the local craft market then returned by tender to our ship.
As we relaxed in our room, watching the storm, the island disappeared into the heavy downpour, and we were immensely thankful that we were not out on the ocean swimming when the storm settled in.
Today, Tuesday, we woke up in Tahiti. Papeete, Tahiti is the capital of all French Polynesia, so it is much more populated with around 137,000 people, 27,000 living in Papeete. We took a Jeep Adventure into the jungle and up into the crater of the volcano that formed Tahiti.
It was so, so lush and green. Waterfalls cascaded around nearly every corner. But… the road was full of potholes! We had a very, very bumpy ride in the back of a truck, 5 of us belted in and hanging on trying to stay upright. It was a blast! I’m not sure I will hold this opinion tomorrow when my body tells me what it thought of the adventure!
As we bumped up the dirt road to the caldera, we came upon a group of French Marines on a training mission. Hiking up the volcano and then repelling down the side with full gear; backpacks, rifles, etc. We stopped and talked to them as best we could and learned that their backpacks alone were upwards of 66 pounds. In the heat & rain with swarms of mosquitos, not pleasant, but good training. If I understood correctly, they had been out there two days with one more to go. Suddenly our hot, bumpy jeep/truck ride didn’t seem so bad!
We have enjoyed getting to know a little of French Polynesia these past 3 days. We now begin 5 days at sea as we sail to New Zealand. We’ll cross the International Dateline and sail further into the southern hemisphere. We’ll attempt to post as we sail, but internet is spotty at best, so don’t give up on us. We miss each of you and hope you are doing well as January quickly comes to a close!
