Moorea, French Polynesia



Yesterday, February 10, 2011 we visited the very tropical island of Moorea, French Polynesia. The island covers 51 square miles and has a population of a little over 14,000. It is only 15 miles from the large city of Papeete, easily accessible by high speed ferry. Moorea is an uncrowded island with jagged mountains, lush forests, turquoise lagoons, and beautiful beaches. Over the years the pineapple industry has taken hold and now flourishes as the leading business.

We went ashore at Cook’s Bay by the ship’s tender and spent the day looking around the island. On previous trips to this beautiful island, we has ventured up into the mountains for views from the Kia Ora and Le Belvedere lookouts. However, on this visit we preferred to venture along the shoreline and visit the numerous pearl shows. The weather was perfect with a temperature of 82 degrees and clear skies. Of particular interest to us were the wonderful 5 star hotels with their over-water bungalows.

A champagne sail away was planned by Brett, the Cruise Director for on the open upper decks. To everyone’s surprise, the Captain decided to leave early catching all by surprise. But, sail away was still great with beautiful views of the island as we made our way back into the Pacific Ocean for our trip to Auckland, New Zealand some 5 sea days away and a loss of February 13^th as we cross the International Dateline.

Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia



Tahiti is our destination for today. It’s an island paradise surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and other islands that makeup French Polynesia. Tahiti is the most populous island within what is called the Society Islands first settled by the Polynesians in about 800 AD. It is made up of two islands: Tahiti Nui (Big Tahiti) and Tahiti Iti (Little Tahiti). Our port city today is Papeete which is a very large metropolitan city.

We decided to go to the local market this morning to do some shopping. Here are some photo we took while out and about in the market. The weather today started with rain and overcast skies. It has remained overcast for most of the day. Hopefully we won’t get any more rain for the rest of today and tomorrow.



Rambontans



Pitcairn Island

A beautiful blue ocean and clear skies awaited our arrival here at Pitcairn Island this morning.  Pitcairn is an extremely remote island halfway between New Zealand and the Americas.  There is nothing to the south of Pitcairn until you reach the ice caps at Antarctica.  It is located at Latitude 24.30 N and Longitude 133.00 W with between 50 to 70 inhabitants depending on whether some of the people are in New Zealand or not on any particular day.  To truly understand how remote this island actually is, you need to travel as we have for days without seeing any ships, planes, wildlife or any land whatsoever.  And, of course it is the setting for the famous story surrounding Second Officer Fletcher Christian and Captain William Bligh onboard the H.M.S.A. Bounty and the subsequent mutiny that occurred in 1789.

A small whaling boat loaded with between 35 to 40 inhabitants traveled from the island to our ship carrying their supply of wares and handmade goods for sale.  They were welcomed onboard by all the passengers and crew.  The setup shop in a forward lounge and stayed with us for about 4 hours as the ship did a scenic cruise around the island.  Even though you can’t go ashore, it is always a great experience to visit Pitcairn Island.  Of special note is the number of Amateur Radio Operators Curt met this morning.  This is one of their primary means of communication off of the island. 

When we sail away later today we will head northwest toward Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia.  It will take us 3 days to make the voyage to Papeete.