Island life

As we sailed towards Tahiti we had a bit of time 🙂 so I broke out the quilling that I brought and invited some friends to learn to quill. I also had time to look for another post card. You may remember from Dale’s earlier post that Bob and Audra had been on this ship in the Fall in the Mediterranean and had hidden some post cards, addressed to me, in books in the ship’s library. The first one was found by Bob and Brenda on the first day of our cruise, amazingly and quite by accident, as neither they nor I knew of Bob’s game at that time. The second one was never found as the book it was in came up empty and now I have found the third one. I loved the game!

Seeing Tahiti was fun for me because I have a college memory of the “Tahitian Holiday” banquet which our women’s group put on and for which I wrote to the tourism bureau of Tahiti to get part of the decorations. I know it must have been vastly different then but what we saw was not what I was expecting.

But I liked it anyway. I especially enjoyed the ride into the hills with all of their green beauty.

Our guide was informative but the guide we met when we stopped to wade in the river was our best friend. He gave us what was left over from the fruit feast he had brought for his patrons; avocado, grapefruit, papaya — all from his back yard and every one the best we had ever eaten.

The market in town wasn’t busy but it did sell some interesting things. And if I had been in the market for fabric I would have had plenty from which to choose.

And so ended a lovely day in Tahiti.

When we woke up on Wednesday we were in Bora Bora. We spent the day on and in the water and experienced more of the Polynesian hospitality and attitude.

The morning’s included (i.e. free) tour was excellent but my afternoon was amazing. Bob and Brenda and I went snorkeling. I’m sure I saw at least 25 different kinds of fish and many different colors of clams imbedded in the coral. I am truly sorry that I had no way to take pictures! We swam with the sharks and the stingrays first and then went out to the coral reef.

The water really was amazingly aqua where it was shallow and the huts in the water looked idyllic.

The teams were everywhere practicing for an upcoming inter-island race. We had to race, too, when I got back, to get un-sticky enough to go to the reception and picture taking for the world cruise group. Heather, our cruise director, said someone on shore gave her this beautiful wreath of real flowers. We don’t have a wreath but we are having a good time anyway.