Mar 22 Central Pacific We tendered to the island Moorea in the morning. A singing group greeted us. This island is only a few miles off Tahiti, but I likened it to Kauai in Hawaii, the Garden Island. This is an extremely rugged mountainous island about 10 miles across.  Population 18,000 in 5 villages, each with a primary school, but the high school kids need to take the ferry every day to Tahiti or go to boarding school. The island is very wet with 12-15 ft of rain per year.  The real “Bali Hai” from the movie South Pacific is located here. The island is surrounded by a barrier reef that can dissipate a tsunami over 30 feet tall. The island is shaped like a heart, so it is known as “the island of love”. The island is well known for its surfing, with waves up to 20ft. Because we had visited this island before, we just took a walk around the area near the pier and visited the local church. We had an ice cream and returned to the ship.  Another swel...

    Mar 16 - 18 Seaday.  This is our typical view all day while at sea.  We rarely see another vessel and will not see land until we are within about 30 miles of our destination.  The sea is not always as calm as this photo, however. On March 17, the ship celebrated St. Patrick's Day.  Most passengers wore green, and many had specialty shirts.  In the evening, we had a good old Irish singsong with standing room only.  Merry was part of the flash mob of singers who suddenly sprang up and showed the rest of the passengers how to raise the roof in song. On March 18th, we crossed the equator for the third time on this trip, but for those new on board, the Pollywogs must go through the initiation ceremony, bowing to King Neptune and his wife, who looked suspiciously like a man, kissing the fish, and being doused with very cold water to become a shellback.     Mar 19 We finally arrive at Nuku Hiva, the largest of t...