General impressions of Society Islands

Tahiti—We have only seen Papeete and only the area around the port. It is not impressive but may not indicative of other areas. The hills around us are all lush and green. All islands are lush and green. Our favorite is Moorea. We had a 20 minute tour from the tender to the Intercontinental hotel where the aqua walk took place. The properties along the coast were all pretty. As were the beaches and parks. All the islands are encircled with reefs, so the water is very calm. And amazing colors. The blue and turquoise are very rich. Every thing is expensive. Even at small cafes the prices start at $25. There are roadside stands selling pineapples for $9 each (they were 60 cents in the Philippines) The people are very friendly and nice. Tourism is way down – on Bora Bora several hotels have closed as did the Club Med. There is high unemployment but people do not have to work. Everything grows so you can pick fruits and veggies and throw a line in the water for a fish. We were told that one person working at a hotel can support 10 people with the earnings. The slender Tahitian girl is disappearing, being replaced by her overweight cousin. Baguettes are delivered to many houses and placed in the long mailboxes designed for this purpose.
We should also mention tons of land crabs everywhere. They can destroy any garden -- the holes are everywhere, and they eat flowers, too.

Day 10 -- Papeete again

Disembarkation day. We had to leave the ship by 10 am and our flight was at midnight. Unfortunately, the agent we booked the cruise with misinformed us and we thought we (and our luggage) could stay on the ship until late afternoon so we didn’t make any arrangements for a place to stay and leave the luggage. Fortunately tourist information office was right in the harbor so we went there and they directed us to a small hotel nearby where we got a “day room” at a reduced rate so we could leave our luggage and crash in the air conditioned room when we got hot and tired. We wanted to take a tour of Papeete, but were told that there are none. It’s really not surprising because there isn’t much to see there. We walked around in search of nicer parts of town, but couldn’t find any within a walking distance. Quire accidentally we bumped into the French woman from the ship (wife of the Chief Justice of French Polynesia) so we asked her where wealthy people live. She said that many live in their neighborhood, which is east of Papeete, near the airport and the Intercontinental hotel, in the hills. She also said that French Polynesia is quite polarized. People are either poor or wealthy and the only middle class are the French government workers who are in Polynesia on government contracts, usually for three years.

We took a taxi to the airport at 9 pm. We thought we’d have a ton of time since the flight was at midnight. We were wrong. Papeete is one of the world’s slowest and most disorganized airports. The lines to check-in were a mile long, so was the line to passport control and then to security where the metal detectors probably weren’t working (even though they claimed they were) because they padded every person down and opened and checked every single bag. It was a very frustrating end to a wonderful trip. We have to block this last bit from our memories.

Day 9 -- Moorea

We are in Cooks bay – named after the explorer. We took the morning tender ashore and a 20 minute drive to the Intercontinental hotel where the aquatic activity is. Then a nice boat ride out to the lagoon. We swam for 30 minutes then it was our turn to dive. We were fitted with 85 lb diving helmet and lowered into the water. Beautiful fish and very large and friendly manta rays. The rays swim right up to you and you can touch them. It was quite an experience. We stayed under for 30 minutes visiting the fish.
In the afternoon, we went back to the shore in search of an internet café. It was easy to find in a hotel right next to the pier. We also found a fantastic little gallery of Marquesan art where Bo bought two (after a long deliberation) tapas and an unusual necklace and bracelet. Marquesan traditional tapas are made from the inner bark of the breadfruit (mei) tree in a long process of beating the bark, stretching it and drying/bleaching it in the sun and they are decorated with traditional symbols. Unfortunately, the big ones Bo really wanted are very hard to find outside of the Marquesas and expensive.

This was our last night on the ship so we had a farewell dinner with Sybil and Phil, which then turned into a long farewell at the bar. We’ve enjoyed their company very much and it was definitely a stroke of luck that we met them at the first dinner on the ship.

Day 8--Moorea

The ship anchored in Opunohu Bay so when we went to deck 6 for breakfast we saw magnificent views of the bay and the high, steep mountains in the center of the island. I (Bo) booked a parasailing trip in the morning so we took at 10:30 tender to the pier where I was supposed to transfer to the parasailing boat together with 5 other people. When we got to the pier, it was pouring so they told us to wait until the rain stops. In about 30 minutes it cleared up and we took off in a small boat. Since Al didn’t want to parasail, he couldn’t go with us. There were 6 of us in the boat – two Oriental women, a woman from Canada, a young couple from Venezuela on their honeymoon and I. Since the Venezuelan guy was the only man, we elected him to be the guinea pig and go first. It was definitely the right thing to do. The two guys operating the boat had not yet figured out the wind directions so it was a bit rough. He took off OK and flew quite high, but the landing was a crash landing in the water. He was a good sport, though and said that it was totally OK and fun. I was the fourth one to go. They put me in the harness, strapped me to the parachute and off I went. The winds were good and I flew very high up above the bay. It was fantastic and quite peaceful. The winds blew me up and down a bit, but it was a pleasant sensation and not scary at all. The views were magnificent. The landing was also good – on the boat, not in the water. As soon as we got back to the pier, it started pouring again. We spent the afternoon on the ship – eating, drinking, learning the many ways to tie a pareo…

Day 7 -- Taha'a

We took the first tender to the island to attend Xmas service in the local Protestant church. It was nice but very loooong. The church was very simple, white, but decorated with lots and lots of colorful tropical flowers. A lot of women were dressed up and wearing typical hand-made hats in many different colors. We had about an hour before the beginning of the services so we walked along the road together with a French couple originally from Paris, but now living in Papeete for a few years and working for the French government. They told us a lot of interesting things about the life on the islands. Taha’a is a very small island with only about 5,000 inhabitants. We liked it better than Bora Bora. It looks more prosperous with much nicer houses and cars. It’s also very picturesque and not as touristy. We left the mass after 1.5 hours to get back to the ship. The French couple left after 2 hours to catch the last shuttle back to the ship and told us the service was still going on…The rest of the day was spent at the cruise line’s private island (motu) in a spectacular emerald lagoon. They prepared a huge Christmas buffet. They even has a Santa in full Christmas gear for the kids. It was a gorgeous sunny Christmas day of eating, drinking, sunning, swimming.. .

Day 6 -- Bora Bora

The first quest was to find an Internet café to post our blog. At the last 2 islands the ship is anchored in deep water (there is no large port) so small tenders (120 capacity)ferry guests from the ship to shore. The tender brought us to the largest city in Bora Bora – Vaitape, a small and rather unattractive town of about 3,000. The first place we were directed to, a small café about 500 meters from the harbor, told us the internet was broken but suggested the post office. We went there only to discover it is closed on Saturday. We walked and found a business store which had internet but they said it was broken. They suggested further down the road at laverie. Turned out to be a Laundromat with washing machines and internet access. It worked well. We then visited many art stores and Bo bought two pareos. We went into the Catholic church. We would have liked to go the Xmas eve mass at 7 pm, but we had already made arrangements to meet Phil and Sybil for dinner at 7:30 so we gave up the idea. Then back to the ship for lunch and then to the motu for a few hours of sun and swimming.
We had a great evening with our new friends, which ended in a bar on open deck looking at the amazing night sky and dancing.

Day 5 - Bora Bora

We anchored near Vaitape, the main town on Bora Bora last night around midnight. We signed up for the tour of the island by “le Truck”, which is a slightly more upscale variant of the local bus. It is made of wood, with plastic chairs for seats and it’s mounted on a truck. It was actually quite comfortable. We drove around the island, stopping for sights from time to time, sometimes in pouring rain. The lagoon is spectacularly beautiful, with water that has an incredible turquoise color. There is only one beach on the island itself because the best beaches and all expensive hotels are located on the motus (small flat mini-islands) surrounding Bora Bora.

After lunch (and at this point we must say that the food on this ship is AMAZING) we took a 20-minute boat ride to the motu where Paul Gauguin has a private beach. The sun came out and the colors were even more spectacular. The water is absolutely translucent and warm and shallow. We did some swimming and kayaking and just gazing at the horizon. In the evening we bumped into some people we had met before so we had drinks with them at the outdoor bar; and then we ran into Sybil and Phil and had dinner with them. .

Day 4 - Huahine

We booked a cultural tour of the island. The ship is at anchor so a small boat took us to the harbor where we boarded a bus.. It’s a slightly upscale version of the buses that are used on the islands (they look a little like wooden buses from the 50s).. This 2.5 hour tour of the island was excellent. The island has 6000 inhabitants and no excitement. It’s pretty poor and mostly agricultural. It doesn’t get many tourists, either. The largest and most expensive hotel on the island (Sofitel) closed about 5 years ago and has been empty and decaying since then. The main town, Fare, is one street and a few shacks with stores and bars. Two little shops with souvenirs are more expensive than those in Papeete. We also visited a vanilla plantation (Vanilla is one of the biggest crops on the island) and several ancient stone temples (mareas) as well as a village whose main claim to fame is a bunch of huge eels living in the river. The villagers feed the eels so they are not only humongous, but also friendly. Supposedly they have blue eyes, but it was hard to see. We met some interesting people on the tour – a couple of orthopedic surgeons (husband and wife) from Kansas (She is of Polish origin and even speaks some basic Polish) and a very nice couple from Sweden. Towards the end of the tour it started pouring again so we decided to go back to the ship rather than staying in the one-street Fare.
In the evening everybody was invited to captain’s party. We bumped into our dinner companions from last night, Sybil and Phil, who invited us to have dinner with them in a different restaurant , which requires reservations, which we didn’t have. Since they did, we had no problem joining them at their table. We had such a great time that we closed the place. Actually, all the tables were already cleaned out when we were leaving. We made another reservation to have dinner together on Christmas Eve..

Day 3 Papeete - ship

Rain. Tropical storm lasted all the night with deafening thunder. On top of that there is a deranged rooster living nearby who can’t tell time and crows every hour on the hour starting at 1 am. We hung around the hotel until 3pm when the shuttle took us to the port. After we unpacked, we explored ship. We had a cocktail in a nice bar on the 8th floor. It looked like everybody needed a drink because the bar was full. We elected to take dinner at a common table and had a very good time with 3 other couples – one from Germany, one from Japan and one from west LA. Everybody had a story to tell so it was a very long dinner. At least 4 of the dinner staff were from the Philippines as is our cabin attendant. The captain and first and second mate are from Croatia.

Day 2 -- Papeete

After breakfast we explored the beach. It is beautiful with black sand. The hotel grounds are spectacular with gorgeous plants, some of which we had never seen before. After breakfast, black clouds appeared and it started to rain. It will rain here every day, but it won’t stop us from doing what we want. We walked on the beach and tried the ocean. It is not cold but the waves and undertow are treacherous. Instead we used the Jacuzzi and pool. Much nicer.

At 2 we took the shuttle into the downtown. Pepeete is an old city without an old city charm as the old European cities have. We walked many miles. The downtown area is strictly geared towards tourist money. Tons of jewelry stores with black pearls, many multi-purpose stores with a lot of souvenir junk probably made in China; even the market was disappointing. The city is decorated fro Christmas – mostly with red foil wrapped around columns. There was also some Christmas event at the city hall with lots of school children .

We were looking for a grocery store or supermarket to buy some beer or wine for the evening and could not find a single one. Finally we asked a person in a street café and his answer surprised us. He said there are no grocery stores in the center, only outside the city. They want you to buy food and drinks in restaurants, not stores. We did find a wine shop and bottles of wine started at $50. I asked ‘do you have any table wine?’. The clerk pulled out a case from below and they were $20.

We decided to have dinner at 5 only to find out all the restaurants close at 5. We got quiche and salad from a patisserie that stayed open until we finished. Everything here is very expensive. The taxi back to the hotel was $22. A taxi both ways ($44) is more than it would cost to rent a car in most places.

Day 1 -- Papeete

The 8.5 hour flight was not great but acceptable. The entertainment system sucked and we were forced to watch what is probably one of the world’s worst movies – “Mr.Popper’s Penguins”, which was so stupid that it was hilarious. The most fun part was when Al was playing trivia against other passengers and became very competitive. No prizes were awarded even though Al won a few rounds.

The transfer from airport to hotel (Radisson) was not fun. It took at least 1.5 hours so we didn’t get to our room until after 1 am local time (3 am California time). Our hotel suite is quite large (750 sq ft), including 2 bathrooms a large sitting room and a balcony overlooking the ocean. We can hear the surf while in bed.

Preamble

This will be our 33rd trip together. We fly to Tahiti for 2 days on our own then start an 8 day cruise to the Society Islands. The Society islands are a group of about 16 islands in the South Pacific - part of French Polynesia.
The islands we will be visiting are:
Papeete, Tahiti
Huahine
Tahaa/Motu Mahana
Bora Bora
Moorea

We will celebrate Christmas in Bora Bora. (Past Christmas have been in New York, Death Valley, Monterey).