French Polynesia

1/18/2023 Nuka Hiva

A small island, with not a ton to do, but still a fun day.

This is a tender port, which was a new experience! We had to get “tickets” to get off the ship since they can only take a set amount of people at a time. It was still a smooth and quick process!

Shauna, myself, and our newfound friend Abby walked on the black sand beach before high tide to start the day. There was a local sitting outside of his van, feet kicked up, singing and playing the ukulele… what a life!

We checked out many of their sculptures they had throughout the walkable town as well as the unique Cathedral there, named Notre Dame funny enough.

We found our way to a resort, which had a great view of the bay we were in. Shauna and I ventured even higher trying to get to Colette bay- where the filmed the fourth season of survivor. It was all blocked off but we did get a beautiful view of both bays- and an unexpected hike out of the deal.

** it should be noted here that Nuka Hiva consists of very steep, rocky hills… **

The three of us spent the latter part of the day swimming in the ocean which was fun! We were joined later by one of our friends that is crew on the ship- aldrin.

When night fell we decided to explore the shore one more time, and we ended up writing a wish a putting it in the bellybutton of Tuhiva… it’s meant to last eternity. The only paper I had happened to be a business card from Andy Fletcher- a speaker onboard the ship who has been talking about space and time and quantum mechanics (it all goes over my head).

Tuhiva statue sits on top of a hill where a fort used to be in the 1700’s to protect the island. The statue was only built in 2017, by 6 people in only 6 months! Impressive!

1/21/2023

Papeete, Tahiti

Overall highlights included:

• the market, where shauna and I got fresh papaya, pineapple and banana juice with ginger… so so yummy. I ended up having to exchange my usd for their currency CFP franc, and got a souvenir coin out of it that converts to, essentially, $1 USD.

• I also got a souvenir ring with a black Pearl, what they’re know for. (Of course, later in the evening when I was applauding after a traditional Tahitian folklore dance concert back on the ship, the ring broke… it was dainty and cheap.)

• Black sand beaches! So neat, my first time visiting one. Happy to check it off my bucket list! It was beautiful! The water was warm, the sand was soft.

• On an excursion we were able to see how lush and dense in greenery the island is. It’s mesmerizing. We saw locals jumping off bridges into the water for a fun day in the sun, people on Vespas, lots of chickens and roosters, a few waterfalls, the only lighthouse on the island of Tahiti, and of course, beautiful flora and fauna.

1/22/2023

Moorea

Snorkeling with sharks (black tip), stingrays, and lots and lots of fish!!! A very fun day, and an absolutely beautiful island. Looks like Jurassic park could’ve been filmed here…

They were chumming, so the rays and sharks know exactly where to go. I was able to pet a ray… all you worry worts I’m sure are bursting right now.

1/23/2024

Raiatea

We planned on just hopping off the ship and casually checking stuff out… we getting off the gangway we saw our friends John and Laura. They had rented a car and invited us to tag along with them!

WOW!

We drove around the entire island, and it was amazing.

Our first stop was at a small local fruit stand on the side of the road. The three women kindly gave us 6 mangoes for only $5 usd. They’re not quite ripe, so I’m anticipating getting to try them! So excited!

Our second stop was at an ancient sacrificial site. We were able to get out and explore an area where human sacrifices once occurred as rituals for offerings to the ocean gods. There were SO many crabs there. We had to lookout for all their little homes/holes so we wouldn’t trip.

Our third stop was at the side of a little locally owned shop. The woman had made all the crafts in the shop…. But we had our eyes on all the fresh produce!

We were able to get homemade banana bread, bread fruit chips with powdered sugar, freshly squeezed mango juice, and fresh coconut water. She had benches all painted purple (the same color as her house and wheel barrel too). So we sat by the benches and enjoyed our afternoon lunch while we got to know John and Laura better. Truly amazing people, so fun to chat with, they have an amazing story.

1/24/2023

Anapa Pearl farm and snorkel

We got to learn about the process of Pearl making, and see a local in action of harvesting from an oyster! Some fun facts:

1: when inseminating an oyster, they can produce up to 4 pearls, but average 2-3.

2: it takes 2 years to see the results of inseminating the oyster

3: black lip oysters make black pearls

4: at this farm in particular, they hand the oysters and put them in a basket to protect them from predators. Since oysters don’t move around on their own in natural habitat, this is not a harmful process.

It was a very neat process to watch how black pearls are made. Second from tourism, black Pearl sales is the biggest income for French Polynesia… makes sense. They had a boutique with jewelry… very very expensive jewelry.

Afterward we were able to snorkel for a while. The coral here was the best we’ve seen so far, lots of various fish, and some cool variations of clams! My favorite was a vibrant blue clam…

Before we went back to shore we had some beer and enjoyed nice conversation with other people from the ship!