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Published: January 18th 2014
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Wednesday, Dec 18, 2013. Luv me, tender. This morning I go on a final island tour to explore the last of the islands we’ll be visiting, Moorea. I meet the tour group at 8 am then tender over to the island where we board an air conditioned bus.
We stop at one of the zillion churches on the islands. Our tour guide points out that when Europeans came to the islands, natives had three gods and one religion. Now they have one god and 10 religions. Pretty funny. There's a cemetery outside the church. It's the first cemetery I've seen on any of the islands since people prefer to be buried on their own land.
Next stop the Tiki Theatre where we get a demonstration of tie dye, how to tie a sarong, and native dance. It was interesting, but long. And it's hot and humid so being outside was a bit of a chore. We also stopped at a juice factory where we got to taste a few of the liquores they make there.
This is an interesting island. The sister island to Tahiti it's only 51 square miles in size and supports about 15,000 people.
Church
Almost as many churches as there are people All of us on the tour agree that we wish we'd spent less time on Bora Bora and more time here.
At one point we pull over at a scenic spot and watch a ray swimming in the lagoon. And beyond it, a pod of seven or eight dolphins swim. Magical moment.
In the afternoon, Dee Dee and I organize and reorganize and then pack. Check-in luggage has to be outside the room before dinner at 6.
Tonight is sad because we have to say goodbye to our friends. Men and women we’ve eaten dinner with night after night and sometimes breakfast and lunch too. We are all so happy that Mad Max and his wife don’t show up at dinner and ruin an otherwise lovely, companionable meal.
Dee Dee and I decide to each buy a couple pictures. And check our bills—big ouch. All those excursions really add up.
Tomorrow we have to be out of our room at 8 AM!!!! Our transfer to the airport isn’t till 6:30 pm.
Thursday, December 19, 2013 Long, long day. We are all so done with the tour. I spend most of it in the
Cemetery
Rare on the islands. Most people prefer to be buried on their own land. library. Reading. Whispering conspiratorially to my new Canadian friends. And taking the occasional nap. The buffet is open to us all day so I make several trips there during the day. It’s pretty crowded because the new passengers are coming on board. I feel a little resentful that someone is using my closet, my bed, taking up my space!
There are a lot of children on the next cruise. About 70 we hear. Compare that to the two children who were on our cruise. We are pleased about the week we chose. I can't imagine trying to go into the pool with 70 kids! So if you don't have children, don't cruise French Polynesia during Christmas week.
And then it’s time to debark, catch our transfer bus to the airport, and wait 3 more hours to catch our flight. I cough all the way home.
Friday, December 20, 2013 We arrive at 8 am and breeze through customs. We catch the shuttle home and sit on the 405 freeway. There has been a fatality accident and it hasn’t been cleared yet. One car, now loaded on a platform, is mangled beyond recognition as a car. It
One last tour
A final picture of me on the islands. slows us down an extra hour but we all agree that we’re the lucky ones because we get to go home, safely.
I don’t get home till about 11 am. Bobby is there. He brings in my luggage then drives me to the post office to pick up my mail before he heads home.
I spend the rest of the afternoon going through my mail, dozing, and, of course, coughing till I’m in tears. The end of my French Polynesian vacation. It will take a few days (maybe a week) to organize and post my photos. No hurry. It’s good to be home.
Saturday, January 18, 2014. Postscript.
It takes a lot longer than a few days to post these journals with accompanying pictures. It's always hard to winnow hundreds of pictures (in this case over 700) down to less than 100 to share. And this is written as a memory of the trip for Dee Dee and I and pics were chosen accordingly.
A trip to the doctor and an antibiotic has cleared up the coughing. And Dee Dee and I are planning our next cruise 😊
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