Day 2 in Tahiti

This was our second day in Tahiti. The day dawned warm and humid but not as humid as yesterday..thankfully
Our big plan was to go ashore before it got too hot to shop for flowers.
As we were waiting for time to meet Jan and Al we enjoyed our view of the industrial park. The cranes were not working so it was not noisy.
Suddenly an amazing ship appeared. It was too big to really be called a yacht and too small to be called a cruise ship.
Ken used his field glasses to read the name .IJE on the side and at the stern.
I went to GOOGLE right away and looked it up. It is owned by an Australian Billionaire and it was launched in 2019. It cost 200 Million to build, is 105 meters long, sleeps 22 and the details go on including the draft and the tonnage . It moved silently through the water and docked right across from us  almost.

Right after the IJE tied up this ship came into our view.

From the sublime to the ridiculous





We made our way ashore and the same vendors of tours who were there yesterday were still there. Jan was with us and she was able to lead all of us in the correct direction.

Le Marche is huge and you could buy almost anything there....but no flowered umbrella. I think I am going to have to resort to Amazon. Moorea will be my last chance to find one.
The market is much like Grandville Island in Vancouver.

We found the flower displays and they were unbelievable. Mary and Jan decided right away and had their selection put aside for them. I just could not decide so I would wait until we had looked around.

We found the escalator to investigate the upstairs.

Jan left to pick up her pearl ring and Mary was on the hunt for a tee shirt. I was looking for an umbrella.









After an hour or so we returned to the flower market and I made my choice. I could have taken 3 or more if we were at home. But I settled for one. It has a dove in the center of it. That I will be able to take off of the ship to keep as a souvenir of this visit.

Ken and Frank were elected to carry our flowers. Like it or not :-)
I could not and still cannot believe the flowers were only 20 dollars. It would be at least 100 at home

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We made our way back to the ship.
We had lunch and then went to the Spa pool for a short visit. The water was perfect. While we were there big black clouds rolled in and it threatened to rain. I returned to the cabin and Ken was not long behind.

A Folkloric show was planned for 8 and there were no seats and it was standing room only by 7:30. We came back to the cabin and enjoyed a glass of wine on the balcony.


There was music and singing happening at the park on shore so we enjoyed that as we watch the comings and going from the IJL.

Tomorrow we are in Moorea. The plan is to go ashore and see what tours are available.

Tahiti, February 18th/2020

We woke to find that the ship was headed into the harbour. We will be in Big Tahiti and will not visit little Tahiti

At first look we or I should say I was excited to know we would not be facing the tank farm and the container area. That was our view the last time we came here.

My excitement was short lived because when the captain did the final maneuver there it was, oil tanks and containers and cranes.

We had breakfast and then met Jan and Al to disembark. We posed for pictures and then met wonderful local musicians.We could see that the ship was loading a LOT of supplies. Eight sea days will probably mean a lot of food. Do you think carrots will be in the menu?

As soon as we exited the secure area we were met by a group of vendors selling tours. We decided on a 4 hour circle island tour. It was a new mini van complete with air conditioning. At first he tried to put 8 people in the van. It was so crowded that 2 people refused and asked for their money back or a new vehicle. He replaced that couple with a single lady. That made it less crowded but it was tolerable. Six people would have been ideal.

Our guides name was William. He has lived here for many years and so he was keen to answer all and any of our questions. As we drove he pointed out things of interest on both sides of the road.
We headed out of the city and headed into the countryside.



Our first stop was at the Grotto....Grotle da Maraa. It was quite beautiful. Vendors were selling all kinds of local fruits. Many of which I did not recognize.
They also had Tiki carvings for sale.

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Next we stopped at the Waterfall and Garden. There was a path which was actually on private property but we could walk to the falls and take pictures. There was quite a large flow and the water emptied into the sea which was on the other side of the highway
The garden was quite nice with lots of lovely tropical flowers. The paths were very well maintained.



There was a younger lady sitting there smoking and reading right on the edge of the falls. We had to photograph around her. Some people are strange.

Our next stop was at the double waterfall. It was really quite beautiful but I don't know if it was a rare to have a double one as William seemed to think it was..

Next we were taken to the Blow hole ...Tour du Sauffeur....It is a well developed tourist attraction . Lots of people were there. Up until now we were able to beat the big buses.They had very good facilities and of courses there were pearls for sale..
When we first walked up the path we stopped where there was a sign that said Blowhole. It just looked like a bit of wet rock. Well suddenly it blew and Jan and Al and I all jumped. It was so loud and such a surprise.
We continued along the path and viewed the major blow hole. We have seen others and this was a good one. I am always surprised by the volume of the noise they make.

We drove along viewing black sand beaches and almost vacant shore lines. The island is so tropical.

This is when we got an unexpected treat and surprise.... A LIGHT HOUSE!!!. We could not climb it but we did walk around it and get lots of pictures.

There was a very nice restaurant here. It was quite large and crowded. It sold fast food type of fare. But it also sole ice cream cones. I was able to get a double vanilla for three dollars. A grand treat.
It was called Mama's beach.

Then it was back in the van with the final stop being back at the ship.  Walking back I saw a lady with an amazing bouquet of tropical flowers. I decided that I will go to the market in the morning. I really want one of those beautiful arrangements to adorn our room for the return trip. When I inquired she said the bouquet was in the market and costs only twenty dollars.



The rest of the day and evening were normal for us. We enjoyed dinner and then went for a strool on the upper decks before we called it a night.
Tomorrow we are still here in Papeete.

Second Day in Bora Bora

I woke early and saw the pink in the sky. Because we are on the starboard side we do not actually see the sunrise. But what we did see was pretty.

We had a nice brreakfast and then decided to go ashore for the morning. I was feeling much better, well rested. We had no wait at all for the tender. As we arrived the group was being lead to the "Water Shuttle"

Yesterday we did not get a chance to explore the crafters tables but we had a good look this morning. There are pearls and pareos everywhere.

We left there and headed toward the church and the general store. It was hot and humid like it was yesterday but clouds kept rolling by and that helped. We just took our time and enjoyed the comings and going of the locals and the tourists.

There was a church that we wanted to look into but it was closed.

During our walk we came across a bus just like the one we had traveled in during our last visit to Bora Bora.

There was no glass in the windows but if you look closely you will see that they have tropical flowers decorating the sides of the openings where the glass should be.

We decided to sit on one of the benches overlooking the tender area. We people watched and enjoyed the morning. They had 6 tenders operating so almost no wait was involved..

There was a strange looking ship in the harbour. We learned that it was a combination cruise ship and cargo ship. Al said he talked with one of the passengers who reported that it was a good trip with lots and lots of ports and good food.

 On our return we were treated to a display of wake riding by a couple of young men using outrigger canoes. They seemed to be having a wonderful time.

We returned to the ship and had a restfilled rest of the day.
Sail away was at eight so we got 2 wine glasses from Crooners and sat out on the balcony and enjoyed the scene and the ship left beautiful Bora Bora. I wonder if we will be here again. We didn't think we would ever return when we were here before but here we are. One never knows.


Tomorrow we are in Tahiti in the city of Papeete. We have decided to meet Al and Jan and see if we can get a circle tour of the island in the morning. Neither of us have a Princess tour booked.