Tahiti, French Polynesia

Hello! We’re so pleased to welcome y’all back.

In the interest of poking fun at life’s little lessons, today we are introducing a new section to our blog. This next bit falls under our new “The grass is brown on the other side too” section. Here we go…

Today is Sunday, day 84/85 of our adventures! It’s a bit confusing because we crossed the International Date Line (IDL) a few days ago. To ensure everyone was thoroughly confused, we crossed the IDL on Leap Year Day (Feb. 29). Several fellow travelers pitched a fit because it was their birthdays. So, the cruise line changed the day that they were going to change the date. (We crossed on the 29^th, but didn’t update our calendars until the following day, skipping March 1 and going straight to March 2.) My favorite part was leaving my buddy’s birthday party and saying, “see you guys tomorrow, a couple of hours ago…” At any rate, we’ll get the time back, an hour at a time, over the next several months. <— (This is a good read. Click the link to learn more.)

Earlier this week, we visited Tahiti as well as one of the other French Polynesian islands, which are all so beautiful. I’ve never seen water so clear. And the grass huts built out on the water are something. Could you imagine staying in one of these places? They don’t have TV’s, but they make up for it with their glass-bottom floors in the living room! Sounds kinda fishy…

These islands were first settled by the Polynesians in 500BC, and were “discovered” by Europeans in the 1600s. They have been colonized by the French since the 1800s. 

Moving on, it’s time for “Did You Know”.

Did you know that an atoll is a sunken ring-shaped volcanic caldera. Basically, this means that a volcano created an island which eventually formed into a caldera (mountain with a crater in the middle of it) rising from the sea. As all islands do, the island eventually settled into the sea. Sometimes (some million or so years later) a second volcano comes along and forms a second, smaller mountainous island inside the sunken crater. What this means is that the new island is (mostly) surrounded by a ring (the atoll, just below the water’s surface) about a mile off of it’s coast. (Kind of like a donut just under the water, with an island sticking up in the middle.)

This acts as a break for waves, making the coast very peaceful, and well protected from storm surges. It also means that you have to take a boat out about a mile off-shore in order to surf. It turns out that floating around on a boat, having cocktails, and taking turns surfing is a way of life here. Nice! (While I didn’t get a picture of this, below is a picture of a windsurfer. Dang young guys get to have all of the fun…)

Mo’orea (pronounced Mo-oh-ray-ah) is an island in the middle of an atoll, some 10-miles from Tahiti. We liked the island of Mo’orea much better than Tahiti. (It consists of several remote villages instead of a city, and the mountains are awesome.) The island has a single road, just off of the coast, that encircles the entire islands. The residence generally have three career-paths. The fishermen and the folks that provide water sports to the tourists tend to live between the road and the coast. Their neighbors (across the road) don’t t have beach-front properties. They tend to have large gardens, and spend their days growing fruits and vegetables. Most residence have a little booth along the road out in front of their houses. They us it to buy/sell/trade fresh seafood and/or fruits and vegetables with one-another. What a nice life! (But, no steak. These types of things have to be brought in from Hawaii or Australia, and tend to not be very popular in the local’s diets.)

With regards to the atoll, what it meant for us was that the coral was just off the coast, and the tides were mild. Quite the snorkelers’ paradise! 

We went on a snorkeling adventure with our buddies Chris and Beth from Canada. It was so nice, but let me tell you, the sun here at the equator is brutal, but well worth it.

Anyway, we had a boat take us out while in Mo’orea to swim with the stingrays. They are so cool. They act just like puppies, jostling for position for their turn to get petted. We were a little apprehensive about swimming with their buddies, the little reef sharks , but they pretty much seemed to ignore humans. Definitely one of the nicest snorkeling days desert folks like us have experienced over the years.

That evening we really enjoyed the sunset. Within a half-hour, here comes the brightest full moon I’ve ever seen. (Perhaps it is something to do with being right on the equator. I do not know, but it was very cool.)

The following day, we visited Papeete (pronounced “PAA-PEE-AY-TEE”) the capital of Tahiti. We mostly spent our time in the city, and we really enjoyed to Paofai Gardens. 

After a fabulous dinner out on the town with friends, we returned to the ship for 5 long sea days. Next stop New Zealand, but that is another story…

– Mike
”With a bit of a mind flip. You’re into the time slip. And nothing can ever be the same.” – Riff Raff & Magenta. (From “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” by RKO.)