Tahiti!

It was hard for me to believe that we were actually in French Polynesia. I had always wanted to go to Tahiti, but never thought I’d ever get here. Brian was up early, and I watched our sail in from our balcony.

We had joined a private shore excursion with two other couples months ago. I belong to a website called Cruise Critic and there was a message board for our cruise which we could use to connect with other passengers to share the cost of a shore excursion. We took a 5-1/2 hour tour around the northern part of the island. The weather was hot and muggy with intermittent rain showers that cooled everything down for a short while. Our guide, Natalia, has lived on Tahiti for 36 years. She was from Italy. However, she spoke fluent French which is the official language of the island.

There were so many beautiful sights to see from black sand beaches to waterfalls to maraes (ancient Polynesian temples). Here are a few pictures.

The flowers were amazing and their scent was unbelievable. I had never heard some of the bird songs before. We went to the Vaipahai Water Gardens and saw the most amazing water lilies and lotus flowers.

We got back to the ship about 3:00 and stopped at our favorite bar for a Diet Coke for me and a beer for Brian. We had missed lunch, and didn’t have the energy to go hunt any food down on the ship (there was plenty available), so we went to our room to eat some Cheetos while enjoying our very cold beverages. After showering, we went to dinner and then stopped in the theatre to check out the Polynesian Folkloric show. The theatre was entirely full, so I watched for a while from the back and Brian went to listen to some music.

All aboard tonight is 2:00 am. I’m sure Brian and I will be fast asleep. We are in Moorea tomorrow and we have a catamaran snorkeling trip planned. Brian will snorkel and I will enjoy being on the water!