March 30 & 31 Tahiti

This should have been part of yesterday’s post, but I forgot, and Cathy insisted it is a story that should be told.

One of the fun times on the ship was at 4:00pm each afternoon was tea time in the lounge.  On days at sea the crew would host a trivia game.  We did not do too well at Animals or at Strange words and stuff, but when it came to Cocktails, we killed it (thanks to our mentors, RJ and HH).  After that people wanted to hang with us!

March 30 Arrive in Tahiti

This morning the ship docks in Papeete, Tahiti.  This is the capital of the French Polynesian Islands.  More than 1/3 of all the people in the islands live here so it is far more developed and crowded than any of the other places we have visited since we left Santiago. Of course, as usual we were greeted by music as we left the ship.

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We had a short ride to our hotel. We changed into our bathing suits and sat by the pool for most of the morning and early afternoon while we waited for our room to be ready.  Now we could cross one item off the bucket list, a bungalow over the water!  Of course, we had to have a swim off our dock.

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Then watch the sunset over the island of Moorea across the lagoon from our room.

March 31 Tahiti

This morning we had a tour of the island.  We drove around Tahiti Nui, the larger part of the island, visiting several sites for views, monuments, gardens and history. Our guide, Lydia, was originally from England.  She came here for a 3 day stay, still here 26 years later.  She was very knowledgeable about the local culture and history.  We learned a lot and enjoyed the tour immensely.

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One of the things Lydia mentioned was that the weather was essentially an extension of their summer, hot and humid.  It was not normal for this time of year.  So, after returning to the hotel it was time for another swim.  Tonight, dinner was at Le Lotus, supposed to be one of, if not the best restaurant on the island.  For us it was convenient as it was on the hotel property and it was raining the time of our reservation.

Tomorrow we are off again, to Auckland.