Happy St George's Day from the South Pacific, trust this was celebrated in the usual style - don't tell us you forgot. Day 7 find us sailing into the lagoon that surrounds Bora Bora. We're expecting big hopes for this island as yesterday's port of call Raiatea was a big let down. We know it was a Sunday but the main port had two cruise ships in, with say a 1,000 passengers between us, so what do they do - yes, you guessed it they kept the shops closed and there wer no taxis for love nor money. We ended walking [View Full Entry]

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Well day 5 finds us heading back towards French Polynesia after a day on Ranatonga, part of the Cook Islands. Unfortunately, Ranatonga was a big disappointment as a tropical paradise. We were promised a stunning 8mile golden beach to be confronted with a okay beach that was only about 12 to 15 feet wide with no proper beach facilities. The weather didn't help in that it started off sunny when we headed for the beach only for it go a bit overcast by the time we arrived and then when we left the sun came out again!! The journey back to [View Full Entry]

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After the hustle and bustle that was Papeete (the capital of Tahiti) we sailed to the island Huainie which has 1 main town with 1 supermarket. The island has a 6,000 population who survive mainly by self sufficiency. The ship berthed in a typically tropical bay and we set out for a beach picnic with a difference, it wasn't actually on the beach but in the sea - at least it saved having to walk to the toilet!! and on the washing up and any left overs were fed to the fish. Day 3 finds us at sea with a chance [View Full Entry]

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Well, we finally made it 18months in the making and 70.5hours in the travelling and we are in paradise. Well it looks like paradise from the luxury of our cabin and patio at the back of the ship. Yes, it looks it's taken an eternity to get here but we thinks is been worth it. It may have been 70.5hours but we did have stop overs in hotels at Heathrow and Los Angeles so it wasn't continuous travelling, but the old time clocks are totally out of kilter havng got to bed at 6.45am and 3.30am your time at the LA [View Full Entry]

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En Isla de Pascua, nos despedimos de Marta y Roger, los duenhos de Mihinoa, que nos han acercado al aeropuerto y van en busca de nuevos turistas. Marta nos confiesa que le encanta estar en casa rodeada de gente, siempre que tenga su tiempecito para pescar, y para acariciarle esa pedazo melena a su Roger polinesico. En el aeropuerto, conocemos a una tipa que tiene un negocio en el aeropuerto y les ha encargado a los de kukuxumuxu que le hagan camisetas de isla de pascua con los moais y con tablas de surf de totora. Nos proponemos perseguir el [View Full Entry]

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16/03/07 - 17/03/07 Tahiti - Bijou of the South Pacific - Non, je ne pense pas A 2-day stopover in French Polynesia turned out to be plenty of time. Tahiti is expensive and from the moment we stepped of the plane, we met moody, sultry people. The taxis from the airport to the hotels are ludicrously expensive for the distance traveled and have the cheek to charge you a set price for the distance and then and additional charge per piece of luggage that you are carrying!! Tip - use one huge bag!! It was strange to sit in a smoky, [View Full Entry]

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I arrived in Tahiti at 11:30 pm and was met by fred the owner of the Pension that i was staying at...luckily this time there was no mix up! The next morning i woke up and met Kat, an american girl who was in the bed opposite me, we went to breakfast and met a couple from NZ. After chatting over breakfast for a couple of hours we headed to the beach. Kat lent me her snorkelling gear so i headed into the lagoon with the warnings of Amanda and Rob the Kiwi couple ringing in my ears that some of [View Full Entry]

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Ok, its official - this is the most beautiful place that I have ever been in my entire life. Its stunning and amazing and a perfect postcard of everything that you picture a paradise island in the south pacific to be. But its much more then that, its much more then the forty degree temperatures, the volcanic mountains covered in lush green palm trees, the umteen tones of blue and green of the crystal clear water, the coral reefs that create a beautiful lagoon around the Island, the tropical fish, the french speaking chilled out locals(not to mention the french [View Full Entry]

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Day 22 - February 5, 2007, Monday, At Sea Bound for Pago Pago, American Samoa Time: 6:00 am (11:00 am CST) (another hour back for us!) Latitude: 17 degrees 00.41 minutes S Longitude: 153 degrees 40.51 minutes W Speed: 19.6 knots average Winds: 9.4 knots Distance traveled from FLL: 7639 nautical miles Weather: Partly Cloudy, 82 degrees A day at sea and yet another day in school! We have one more sea day until we reach Pago Pago, American Samoa. The port talk this morning on Pago Pago was very interesting. It seems that there is a great deal of tuna [View Full Entry]

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Day 21 - February 4, 2007, Sunday, Papeete, Tahiti Time: 7:15 am (11:15 am CST) Latitude: 17 degrees 32.17 minutes S Longitude: 149 degrees 34.16 minutes W Speed: Docked Winds: Moderate Distance traveled from FLL: 7398 nautical miles Weather: Partly Cloudy/Sunny, 84 degrees Ok, Papeete, Tahiti was pretty spectacular to wake up to as well! Maybe not quite as spectacular as Bora Bora though. Papeete is definitely a city. The name, Papeete translated means “water from a basket”. Papeete is the capital of French Polynesia, located on the island of Tahiti, and is [View Full Entry]

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