Papeete, Tahiti Saturday February 16
First of all Sea Days.....February 14, 15....Shipboard Meanderings
Well we have 2 more sea days until Papeete, and since we did not get off in Easter Island we have been ship-bound for 11 days, and going just a little bit stir crazy. The south Pacific is a very lonely place. Miles and miles of nothing but water. When we sailed here last in 2012 we saw tons of flying fish getting stirred up by the wake of the ship. Now, very few, and have no idea why. I was hoping for a few clear nights to look at the southern sky, but we have had cloudy skies. I am now reading my 5th book.....
Bruce is becoming known on the ship as the "coin man". Apparently he has everyone on the ship...including the crew, collecting coins for him from all over the world. They are giving him handfuls at a time. Piles show up on our dinner table, and fellow passengers are always looking for "that man with the great mustache" ( I keep telling him that he is confusing "great" with "gray") so they can give him some spare change. Just today when we got back to our room from lunch there was a pile of them on the bed from our room stewards. I think we can now open an International bank on the ship. But, they have been really sweet and nice, since they know he is collecting for our Grandkids. We do repay them with a drink or soda. Or for our room stewards we have been giving them some money if they are going ashore for a few hours.
We have turned our clocks back one hour every night for the last five nights.....we are now waking up at 4am and going to bed at 7pm. Geez....It will take a few days to get caught up with the current time zone. But next week we will lose a full day crossing the International Date Line....and I'm sure be crossing a few more time zones. At least they are back and not forward.
Papeete, Tahiti February 16, Saturday
Yea! Land Ho....well I think so, since it was raining so hard that we could see nothing of the Island. We arrive at Papeete and docked around 8am. It was going to be hot, humid with a 90 % chance of rain. We did not have any tours planned, and it was a good thing because it rained, and poured during most of the sail in. I'm sure the scenic, and diving tours of the island were not going to be very good today. When we docked it cleared up, but not enough to trust not going without an umbrella. We were going to go through the huge market and walk along the waterfront....anything to get off the ship for a few hrs. The dock is right next to the busy downtown area so all we had to do was walk across the street, which was a perilous feat in itself, walk up a block and there was the huge market. Tons of traffic, people, honking....I think the whole island population was right here. The market was filled with everything you could imagine. Local fruits, veg, flowers, fish, colorful fabrics, vanilla, tons of native black pearls, with everyone speaking their native French language. I was thinking about buying some vanilla beans, but man, they were expensive....everything in Tahiti was expensive, and no deals to be found. A coke was 5 bucks a can....more expensive than the ship! "We can buy this cheaper on Amazon" was heard frequently as we passed by our fellow passengers who were also bargain hunting. We still had a great time in the local Saturday market experience. We then walked along the waterfront where there were families picnicking and kids playing on the playground equipment. After walking 3 hrs. we were ready to go back to the ship. The rain held off, but we were soaked with sweat. It wasn't very hot...about 82, but the humidity was brutal, and the breeze was hot off the water. The rain hit just after we got back to the ship about 1pm. Since we were docked here until 5am the next morning we were planning on going out again after dinner to see if there was any nightlife, but the rain did not let up at all. And I mean rain.....rain so heavy you could not see the next block. I got my wish.... I wanted to see if it was true about which way the water drains in the Southern Hemisphere....It's true. We had a great time despite the weather.
Well we have 2 more sea days until Papeete, and since we did not get off in Easter Island we have been ship-bound for 11 days, and going just a little bit stir crazy. The south Pacific is a very lonely place. Miles and miles of nothing but water. When we sailed here last in 2012 we saw tons of flying fish getting stirred up by the wake of the ship. Now, very few, and have no idea why. I was hoping for a few clear nights to look at the southern sky, but we have had cloudy skies. I am now reading my 5th book.....
Bruce is becoming known on the ship as the "coin man". Apparently he has everyone on the ship...including the crew, collecting coins for him from all over the world. They are giving him handfuls at a time. Piles show up on our dinner table, and fellow passengers are always looking for "that man with the great mustache" ( I keep telling him that he is confusing "great" with "gray") so they can give him some spare change. Just today when we got back to our room from lunch there was a pile of them on the bed from our room stewards. I think we can now open an International bank on the ship. But, they have been really sweet and nice, since they know he is collecting for our Grandkids. We do repay them with a drink or soda. Or for our room stewards we have been giving them some money if they are going ashore for a few hours.
We have turned our clocks back one hour every night for the last five nights.....we are now waking up at 4am and going to bed at 7pm. Geez....It will take a few days to get caught up with the current time zone. But next week we will lose a full day crossing the International Date Line....and I'm sure be crossing a few more time zones. At least they are back and not forward.
Papeete, Tahiti February 16, Saturday
Yea! Land Ho....well I think so, since it was raining so hard that we could see nothing of the Island. We arrive at Papeete and docked around 8am. It was going to be hot, humid with a 90 % chance of rain. We did not have any tours planned, and it was a good thing because it rained, and poured during most of the sail in. I'm sure the scenic, and diving tours of the island were not going to be very good today. When we docked it cleared up, but not enough to trust not going without an umbrella. We were going to go through the huge market and walk along the waterfront....anything to get off the ship for a few hrs. The dock is right next to the busy downtown area so all we had to do was walk across the street, which was a perilous feat in itself, walk up a block and there was the huge market. Tons of traffic, people, honking....I think the whole island population was right here. The market was filled with everything you could imagine. Local fruits, veg, flowers, fish, colorful fabrics, vanilla, tons of native black pearls, with everyone speaking their native French language. I was thinking about buying some vanilla beans, but man, they were expensive....everything in Tahiti was expensive, and no deals to be found. A coke was 5 bucks a can....more expensive than the ship! "We can buy this cheaper on Amazon" was heard frequently as we passed by our fellow passengers who were also bargain hunting. We still had a great time in the local Saturday market experience. We then walked along the waterfront where there were families picnicking and kids playing on the playground equipment. After walking 3 hrs. we were ready to go back to the ship. The rain held off, but we were soaked with sweat. It wasn't very hot...about 82, but the humidity was brutal, and the breeze was hot off the water. The rain hit just after we got back to the ship about 1pm. Since we were docked here until 5am the next morning we were planning on going out again after dinner to see if there was any nightlife, but the rain did not let up at all. And I mean rain.....rain so heavy you could not see the next block. I got my wish.... I wanted to see if it was true about which way the water drains in the Southern Hemisphere....It's true. We had a great time despite the weather.
 |
| The Marche Municipale |
 |
| Along the waterfront |
 |
| Fish stalls |
 |
| Along the waterfront with Moorea in the background |
Comments
Post a Comment