Mar 22 Central Pacific

 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 sweltering day, and we were glad to be back in the air-conditioning.  Our visit was short, and at 4pm, we set sail for Tahiti, our final destination of this segment.  We were again inside the coral reef, but the reef had a wide opening at the bay, well-marked by buoys, to assist safe access.  I suspect this opening is man-made.

We arrived in Tahiti at the city of Papeete at 6:30pm, a nice sail-in to observe, with the port located right downtown.  Compared to the small island we recently visited, this seems like a big city, but it is listed as having a population of 20,000, with buildings primarily in French architecture… It is large enough to have many shops and conveniences for Tahiti and the surrounding islands. 

The island was originally one large boggy landscape, and Papeete translates to Water Basket.  As the island has developed over the last 150 years, the narrow streets have become very congested. The traffic has become one long gridlock. Cars sit for long periods, waiting for the traffic light, only to start the process over again at the next one. Even the many scooters could not navigate the traffic any more easily. The city has a wonderful, busy vibe.

Tahiti has 25% unemployment, and housing costs are $500K and up, up, up. 16% health insurance tax and 40% import charge for everything except local fruit. The tide is only 4″, which is just as well, as the city is all at sea level. The water depth quickly drops to 6,000 ft.

Mar 23

We had no tours booked for this port, but decided to explore the city on our own.  It was overcast and not as hot as we expected as we headed ashore.  Again, singers greeted us as we left the ship and each person was given a flower.  No sooner did we get to the shops than the heavens opened.  We thought it was a typical tropical shower and would be over in a few minutes.  NOT.  It poured and poured.  Fortunately, I always carry two folding umbrella’s and many of the sidewalks have awnings of one kind or another.  We just used the brollies to cross the streets and spent much more time in the shops than usual. 

Merry needed a med that was about to run out.  She needed a three-month supply.  The first pharmacy had only a two-month supply, and the second had only a one-month supply and was reluctant to sell to her because, in the US, it requires a prescription.  Merry convinced them to sell the one-month supply, and we returned to the first store for the other two months' supply!!  We also stopped at an art supply store.  I needed a tiny watercolor brush [00, which is really tiny for detail work].  We also spent time in an indoor market to stay dry.  As the rain eased up a little, we scurried back to the ship. 

Today is turnover day: 437 guests from the previous segment leave, and about 400 new guests arrive, traveling to Sydney, Australia, and beyond.  Time to make new friends.  Six hundred world cruisers continue our expedition.  

Many segment guests are very interested in asking about the world cruise.  Most say they would not want to be away for six months.  I explain, I was of the same mind, but once on the world cruise, something changed.  We were no longer on vacation; we had a new home for an extended period.  This creates a completely different frame of mind.  For six months, we leave our old life behind and live this new fantasy life.  Pampered hand and foot.  Entertainment all day long.  We see and experience many wonderful places we dream of, and we tend not to think about places that aren't so nice.  Our first world cruise changed my life– for the better.  I gained a lot of confidence talking to strangers.  I now have a new attitude in life.

In the evening, we had a reservation at the Polo Grill, our favorite specialty restaurant.  Just the two of us this time.  During the day, we tend to dress for the beach vibe, but in the evening, smart casual is mandatory, which changes the tone of the day.

Mar 24

When we dream of traveling the South Seas, we imagine warm, sunny days and cool, refreshing swims in tranquil, warm waters.  This is most often the case based on past experiences, but so far on this trip, it has not been the case.  The fact is, in this region, tropical storms are frequent, and this has been the case this trip so far.  It is part of the experience, and it has not spoiled our trip. We know it will likely get better.

We arrived at the port of Uturoa on the island of Raiatea, which is known as a society island. The usual group of cultural singers greeted us. 

The archipelago is believed to have been named by Captain James Cook during his first voyage in 1769, supposedly in honor of the Royal Society, the sponsor of the first British scientific survey of the islands; however, Cook wrote in his journal that he called the islands Society “as they lay contiguous to one another.”

We had an afternoon tour, but being at the dock, right in town, we were able to go ashore in the morning. Uturoa is a delightful little town. The first area by the pier was tourist shops and tiki huts.  When we visited four years ago, they were open, in use, and were charming.  Today, they are heavily damaged and not in use.  We were told they will be repaired next year; that remains to be seen.

In town, we visited a hardware store, a market, souvenir shops, etc. Very easy to walk around and meet the very friendly locals, except, again, it was raining heavily, so our time was limited.  Back to the ship for lunch, then back out for our tour. The town population is under 3,000, and the whole island has 7,000.  It has been visited by Charles Darwin. Cultured pearls are a very big industry in French Polynesia, and especially in Raiatea. There are two islands located within the coral reef. Raiatea and Taha’a. The water within the reef, they call “the lagoon,” and on this island, the lagoon has wonderful shades of turquoise. The island also has a lot of rain, as we found out, creating a wonderful, lush green landscape. The rainy months are November to March, so we were prepared for rain.

The tour was on an open-air bus with a roof.  

 

By now, the rain was light and spotty.  We headed along the coast road that hugs the shore in this very rugged landscape. 

  

We stopped at the Tropical Botanical Gardens.  Under umbrellas, we enjoyed the less familiar tropical plants we can only dream of at home.

  

    

We continued on with our tour along the coast road and stopped at what was described as a sacred site, Opoa.  Our tour guide was a native who was completely absorbed by the culture of the past. 

He told us stories of ancient customs that have never been written down but have been passed down by word of mouth, with historic symbols to punctuate the culture.  He explained the belief that plants, the ground, rocks, and the ocean all have meaning and healing powers.  Observing nature keeps them happy and healthy, helping them avoid disease and modern society's ailments, making hospitals unnecessary on the island.  We visited sacred worship sites and heard of the healthy lifestyle.

   

We ended our visit with fresh fruit straight from the trees, and we traveled back on our bus, the same way we came, but the guests seemed to have a trance of harmony as we retraced our journey back to the ship.  An excursion that has to be experienced to understand.

Mar 25 Seaday

Mar 26

Rarotonga is our scheduled stop.  This is part of the Cook Islands, a lush volcanic atoll with a turquoise lagoon, according to AI.  It is an anchorage, and we had an excursion planned for 8am.  At 7 am, I opened the curtains and noticed rough seas, rain, patchy fog, and gusty winds at the anchorage.  The tenders had not been deployed, but we made preparations for our tour, including rain gear.  One tender was launched at 7:40, and at 7:55am, the Captain announced that the weather and sea conditions made it unsafe to tender ashore.  It took a while to safely reload the tender back on the ship.  At that point, the anchor was lifted, and we proceeded towards our next destination, Pago Pago, American Samoa, in two days' time.  Meanwhile, the ship quickly organised the usual everyday activities.

At 6pm we received the shore excursion list for the updated itiniary Seychelles to Captown.  At short notice, the ship's head office put together 99 excursions for us to choose from for the first eight new ports.  The instructions stated we should select the excursions we liked with a 1^st and 2^nd choice and hand in to destination services before 1pm the next day. 

Overnight, we had another time change, one hour back.  We are accumulating a lot of days with an extra hour, but very soon, this will catch up with us as we cross the international date line.  We will skip March 29 and go from March 28 to March 30 [like another leap year in reverse].

Mar 27

We had little time to study the excursions last evening due to dinner and the evening show, so this morning we knuckled down and studied them, then started selecting the most important.  At 10 am, we were invited to a Q&A session about the process, where it was made clear that excursions were on a first-come, first-served basis and that spaces were limited.  After the meeting, we quickly submitted a few safari bookings, then spent more time on the remaining choices, getting our final list in at noon.  We were very impressed with the number and quality of the excursions.  Now we must wait for the ship to let us know which excursions have been successful.

As stated, our first priority was getting a good booking for a quality safari.  At first, we were only given the option of one-day safaris, but soon we might have the option of a multi-day land tour [safari], which we can upgrade to.  We will see.  A bit of a crazy system, but quite exciting.  After today, the excursions will go on sale to the general public booking this new segment.

Mar 29

We arrive in Pago Pago on the island of Tutuila, one of seven islands in American Samoa, with a population of 45,000, which is an unincorporated, unorganized territory of the United States.  Five of the islands are volcanic, and the other two are coral atolls.  Residents born here hold US passports but are US nationals, not citizens.

We were greeted by the biggest welcome yet.  About 40 high schoolers dance in local costumes to the beat of drummers.  An announcer stated, “Welcome to American Samoa, while you are here, you are family, your home from home.”

 

We took an open-sided truck/bus around the islands. 

The first stop was called Flower Pot Islands.

   

We were told the coconut tree is called the tree of life.  They use every part of the three in daily life, including the roots for medicine and the leaves [frans] for weaving and roofing.  The island is famous for its massive Tsunami in 2009, which took the lives of about 100 people.

The weather was blue skies, warm and sunny [and humid] when we left the ship, but during the day we were subjected to several sudden heavy showers, lasting 10 or 15 minutes.

We arrived at a memorial to the tsunami, the Healing Garden, along the shore.

  

Then on to Vila’ village, a demonstration of the culture of the islands, including sampling the local food, drink, music, and dancing.   

  

Of course, it was raining when we got back to the ship, so we needed our umbrellas.  We collapsed in our stateroom hot and wet, but thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

Tune in next Sunday for the next post.