BORA BORA There isn’t much I can add to what has been said about this island. It is spectacularly beautiful. Mt. Otemanu dominates the view. There is one pass through the reef and we cruise into the lagoon at noon. The lagoon is a palette of blues and greens. The deep water where we anchor is cobalt blue. Then deep aqua, light aqua, turquoise, baby blue, blue green all the colors and shades of the blue/green colors are there. Our tours were arranged in advance but when we arrived on the dock, we found out that they had been cancelled since [View Full Entry]

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Rangiroa - Day 5 Today we visit the coral atoll of Rangiroa in the Tuamotu Archipelago. Next to Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands this is the second larges atoll in the world. The lagoon could comfortably contain the whole island of Tahiti. An atoll is a high island that over time has eroded and subsided to all that is left is a ring of coral reefs surrounding the point where the volcanic mountain once rose above the surface. We will be entering through Tiputa Pass one of the largest of more than 100 small channels (Hoa) that separate more than 240 [View Full Entry]

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Huahini - Day 3 Sailed into Maroe Bay and anchored around seven. We enjoyed the scenery and breakfast and then prepared for our motu picnic. The plan is to sail and snorkel, then picnic on a small island (a motu) and enjoy some local entertainment. We met our group o the dock at 9 and boarded our flower decked motorized canoe. While we motored slowly along the shore our guide explained the geography of the islands. There are actually two parts to Huahini, Huahini Iki (little) and Huahini Nui (great), joined by the longest bridge in French Polynesia at 110 meters. [View Full Entry]

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hey Leute, kurzer Eintrag zu unserem 4-Tagesurlaub auf Tahiti! Traum-location nicht??? Mitten im Meer und dann bekommt man franzoesische Croissants und tolle Baguettes ... :-) ... mampf ... denn alles - andere ist ziemlich unleistbar... ein Bier kostet sage und schreibe 8 Euro ... unter 15 Euro ist sonst kein Essen zu bekommen. Unterkuenfte fuer 80 Euro (das Billigste, was wir bekommen konnten) sind sehr, sehr, sehr schlecht und dreckig, aber mehr wollten wir auch nicht ausgeben ... dafuer ist das Meer traumhaft schoen ... sind 1.5 Tage auf Papette gewesen und dann zum Relaxen haben wir es [View Full Entry]

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Nov 3 Transvestites and Black Sand beaches So last night we had an overnight in some shitty cook island. Now maybe shitty isn’t a fair description as the island itself has some beautiful beaches and landscapes. What it shitty about it is the nightlife. It was brutal, I was mean mugging everyone hoping they wouldn’t just plain old mug me. Oh also everyone speaks French here which is kind of cool, although I wish I paid more attention in French class. It would have been the only useful thing l learned in high school. Then we move onto the bar scene. [View Full Entry]

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We spent 3 great days on the island of Moorea, a half hour ferry ride away from Tahiti. We had such a good time, with so many highlights. We did three tours, one each day. The first was a shark/ray watching tour. We took a boat out into the lagoon and jumped into the water (with masks and snorkels) and watched the sharks and other lagoon fish being fed. A bit scary, but amazing to see the sharks up so close. The second stop had us swimming among manta rays; we were assured they were safe, nothing like the one that [View Full Entry]

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Today I shared the water with Polynesian bottle nosed dolphins!! We were out in the zodiac scouting for a drift snorkeling site when I saw a fin in the water - then two then three. All of a sudden a dolphin jumped into the air three feet from the zodiac! We were driving through a channel in Rangiroa, the second largest atoll in the Marquesas. We were looking to see how quickly the water was rushing into the lagoon to see if it might be suitable for snorkeling. When we arrived, the water was moving so rapidly that there were 4-5 [View Full Entry]

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We were hoping our taxi would arrive a little early, but weren't quite expecting it to arrive 5 hours early at 4am. We politely asked if he would mind coming back a little later. Maybe about 9am, the time we had asked for. Clearly unimpressed at us putting him out, he came back at 9.30. Everything else went smoothly, apart from the woman at the airport who refused to check us in because we didn't have any documentation. We suggested that the whole point of having e-tickets meant we didn't have to have any documentation and she finally relented. After that, [View Full Entry]

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Today is day three aboard the M.V. Clipper Odyssey and it is the first time I have had a moment to write. For those of you who may not know exactly where I am, I am in Polynesia, which is south of Hawaii and east of Australia. Polynesia is named as such because it means many islands. Whereas Micronesia means small and Melanesia means dark (which was derived from the darker looking natives - meaning more melanin in their skin. I learned that little tidbit from Shirley Cambell, one of the lecturers on board who specializes in anthropology. We had three [View Full Entry]

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Tahiti Tahiti island of dreams I was so sick the as we approached Tahiti that I finally broke down and went to the sketchy boat doctor who was more than happy to prescribe me a Japanese cocktail of strange drugs. I took them all 4 x a day and didn't get out of bed for 3 days. Finally Tahiti appeared before my eyes. A gorgeous lush tropical island and I was determined to dive no matter what! We went to a small island called Moorea and bunked into a garden chalet with 20 other friends from the ship. I raced off [View Full Entry]

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