Hawaii to Tahiti and onward (including Stan's Tahiti Trip Report #3)
So, five days later – we had two very stormy days before
Hawaii – the first was mostly choppy while the second was really rocking and
rolling. The outside walking deck was closed for safety and tablemates from one
level up (Deck 5) reported having a layer of salt on everything on their balcony.
Day 3 & 4 – Sea days – One day did not have a line dance
class, but on the rocking and rolling day, we were all in the Queen’s Room,
ready to dance. So far, each day has different instructors from the ship’s
dance team. I do wonder what these very talented professional dancers think of
us, but they are doing a great job of teaching novice dancers. Some of us have
a little experience on the ships, some, obviously dance more frequently, but we’re
all ready to learn and laugh together. We haven’t repeated a class but maybe in
the next week, we’ll just dance without having to learn each one. Great
exercise.
Yesterday, Day 5, was Hawaii. I was a beautiful day after a
week of rain and thunderstorms for them. Our friend, Kim, met us at the ship
and drove us out to Makapu’u point to check out the trail to the lighthouse. We
stopped at a few viewpoints and saw some whale spouts, mostly in the distance. The parking at the trailhead was very crowded
but we were able to go just a short distance further to the viewpoint and walk
back. I had read previously that the trail was pretty rough, but recent
information was different. The path is now probably about 6 feet wide (with
wide white stripes to warn of the edge (which actually drops off quite bit at
some points). I had expected to go up and up, then down to the lighthouse and
back up again. It actually goes up for a mile and ends with stairs looking way
down at the lighthouse. It is not a difficult walk/hike but climbs rather
steeply for a paved path. It was a very nice way to spend a morning on Oahu.
We spent a little time in Chinatown where they were
beginning celebrations of the Year of the Dog. It is apparently a very old USA
Chinatown, but rather small from what we could see. We then met family friends who
we hadn’t seen since their young teenagers were toddlers. It was good to see
them – visiting over a simple lunch while the teens roamed around a local mall.
All in all, a really nice day ashore.
So, Day 6, again at sea on the way to French Polynesia –
first stop Bora Bora. It’s another four-day sail – beautiful seas again and
lots of sun. There are lots of sun worshipers on the pool and upper decks. We
had a quiet day – laundry, line dancing, lunch with our snorkeling tour group
for Bora Bora (and a Papeete walking tour I have organized). Nice lunch in the
dining room and good visiting about places we’ve all explored through the
years.
After lunch we went to a Cunard Insight Lecture on the ocean
– mostly an introduction lecture but will see more of these between here and
Sydney. We then spent a little time walking around the lower promenade deck –
watching flying fish and seeing quite a large group of dolphins. No whales
today, though.
Wow, all the way through our sea days and our three days in
French Polynesia (Society Islands, Tahiti, etc.). There seem to be many place names
for this place. We’ve had pretty nice sea days and arrived in Bora Bora to the
first nice day after two days of rain for them (again).
Our snorkeling excursion was nice – though a bit confused as
some wanted to snorkel one more time after lunch while other vocal persons were
ready to just go around the island back to the port. I’m not totally sure which
group I was in – my understanding was that the water part was in the morning
and a tour around the island in the afternoon, so wasn’t really thinking to swim
again – but would have enjoyed that if it had been better organized. We did
have a nice time snorkeling with the stingrays and black tipped sharks – really
pretty, non-threatening – some almost as long as I am tall (5 foot). So, I can
say I swam with sharks 😊. Our second water stop was a coral area with
lots of fish (saw an eel for the first time as it was slithering back into it’s
hole). Some saw an octopus but we missed that. It was a beautiful day in the
waters around Bora Bora.
Our second Tahiti day was in Papeete. We had a walking tour
booked but with less than clear instructions, so half the group didn’t manage
to find the starting point. Eventually we connected and it was a simple but
nice walk to the highlights of the town – lead by two sisters. Later we walked
along the waterfront and saw an interesting outdoor aquarium along the yacht
pier. We checked out the “Roulettes” – food trucks along the seafront every
evening. We wanted to be back on board for a local folklore show and dance, so
chose to walk the other way to see if there would be a nice sunset over Moorea
(there wasn’t). We watched some outrigger canoes come in, then went back for
the show and Chinese New Year buffet dinner in the Lido. The show was excellent
– highly trained dancers (we suspect since 3 or 4 years old). We were in bed
shortly before the ship sailed at 11:30 p.m. (only to wander slowly around the
ocean until morning when we could have daylight to enter the bay on Moorea - it’s
about a ½ hour ferry ride from Papeete).
Moorea is wonderful – large, scraggly mountains surrounded
by water. We had read that you can bike around the island in a day (though it
would be a stretch for me at this point – we drove about 50 miles). We rented a
car from Avis, which worked much better than expected. While they indicate that
the cars are about a third of the way around the island at the ferry dock, they
actually have cars at the Intercontinental Hotel about 5 minutes from the
cruise tender port. We had a mix of sun and heavy rain squalls but the clouds
thinned a bit once we got up to the Belvedere overlook. The car rental was a
bit expensive but it was nice to have our own time to explore at our own pace.
We were back on-board by about 3:30 – after perusing the inexpensive
options for purchase at the pier. The cruise line had indicated there wasn’t
anything at the pier, but that was not accurate. This is not a place to get
high quality black pearls, but there were reasonable souvenir level options. In
addition, there were lots of taxis, small tour options and shuttles to a local
snorkeling beach that worked great for those who came ashore with no plans. We
did meet one couple who are here for a month and seemed to be less than
thrilled with their choice. I wouldn’t mind coming back again, but maybe not
for that long unless I had my own boat.
We are used to hourly time changes overnight, but tonight we
lose a whole day (international date line). We have one gal at our table who is
really very confused and just can’t get her head around the whole idea. At any
rate, we go to bed on Monday, February 19 and wake up on Wednesday, February 21st.
For those who would like the pictures, here is Stan’s Trip
Report #2.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T3wNeEOC9qGfJ1f9CbEFaE5mkGGtqUTu/view
Tahiti - Stan's Trip Report #3
Tahiti - Stan's Trip Report #3
New Zealand is a couple of days away yet – more fun to come.
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