Day 17: 20231009 Monday, October 9, 2023- Papéete, Tahiti

Day 17: 20231009 Monday, October 9, 2023- Papéete, Tahiti

It was difficult to get to sleep until the room temperature dipped below 77˚F, which despite our fan and jury rigged swamp cooler, took until well after 1am.  We had daily registered complaints to the passenger services desk and hope that some record of it will remain after the conclusion of the trip to substantiate complaints to the central office after we get off the ship.  It might be worth partial compensation in the form of future cruise credit.  It seems this ship is ready to be retired from the fleet if she is unable to maintain a comfortable temperature in all her staterooms while traveling through tropical climates.  

Mysterious Moorea emerges at dawn

Dawn burning it's way up into the sky over Papéete

Raising the flag of French Polynesia

Raising the "Red Duster" or "Red Ensign"

Ben did get up early to get some pictures of our arrive to Tahiti.  As the sun began to rise above the horizon, the surprisingly jagged peaks of Moores and Papéete began to emerge from the predawn darkness. Both were enshrouded with mysterious clouds, and it was difficult imagining the wonder the first Polynesians felt when they saw these islands arising in the middle of seeming nowhere in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean.  They must have had tremendous faith in their ancestors leading them to what would become their home.  

The ship glided right past Moorea on its approach to Papéete.  Early morning ferry services from Papéete to Moorea was evident via a high speed catamaran.  There is a very narrow approach into Papéete harbor, which crosses the airport runway at right angles.  Planes taking off climb directly over the approaching cruise ships.  As the morning progressed, the winds seemed to calm and the temperature climbed into the mid 80’s˚F with about 70% humidity.  It was comfortable enough to walk around outside for a bit, but after any strenuous walking, taking a break in air conditioning is greatly appreciated.  

Surprising 3rd Officer from the Bridge in white, supervising securing of mooring lines from a drop down crow's nest in the bow.

We booked a bus tour to hit the basic checklist of tourist sights.  This one included a museum, a waterfall, a black sand beach, historic Point Venus, and a surf driven blow hole.  Each stop was about 15-20 minutes, which gave ample time to walk out to the sight, take pictures, and then walk back into the welcomed air conditioned bus interior.  We had an excellent guide who happened to have left Tahiti to find his fortune, ending up working at the Polynesian Cultural Center on Oahu, and meeting his wife.  He comes from a tiny island in Tahiti with a population of less than 2000, so he says half are related to his father, and the other half is related to his mother.  Leaving the island was the only way not to end up marrying a close relative.  Fortunately for us, he returned to Tahiti to work in Papéete in the tourism industry.  He says if it weren’t for us tourists, he and his cousins would just spend all day, every day, surfing and fishing.  That would be tough.  

Local Tahitian welcome band

James Norman Hall Museum- Author of Mutiny on the Bounty and others.

The actual typewriter used to type the manuscript for Mutiny on the Bounty.

Venus Point Lighthouse

James Cook lead a scientific expedition to record a transit of Venus across he face of the sun to determine the precise distance from the Earth to the Sun to improve navigation precision.

Fishing outrigger canoes

Competition racing canoe

Orca whale with Moorea in the background.

Looking inland from Papéete

Local Flora

Tiplant

Heliconia Wagneriana

Vaimahuta Falls

Our Guide "Gana"

Arahoho blow hole

After the tour Ben seems to have lost his sun hat which had been decorated with souvenir pins from prior travels and Princess Captains circle pins.  He believes it was clipped onto his camera bag which then went through the Xray machine, and must have fallen off.  We’re hoping it might turn up in the lost and found tomorrow.  The security staff said it can take a day or two for things to find their way there.  

The evening had two shows including a local troupe of dancers from Tahiti who came aboard and did a show before the ship cast off in the evening.  They were quite good, but Tahitian dancing is quite different from Hawaiian dancing- a good bit faster and wilder.  Some of the dancers are also tattooed.  They may not have been as cute as the younger Hula school dancers, but they certainly did put on an energetic show for us.  

We did get in a Flag trivia game between the Tahitian dance performance and dinner, which we won, taking home a couple more prize tickets.  Dinner featured a very good prime rib dinner.  Janet even liked her prime rib, and she’s a very tough customer to make happy with beef that’s not nestled between buns.  

Canadians celebrating their Thanksgiving holiday

The night wrapped up with the Production show “Born to Dance”.  We have seen this before on other ships and it highlights the ship’s dancers and choreography.  And unlike any other shows where the dancers barely get recognized, each dancer is given a bio sketch and individually credited at the end of the show.  We have had one or two substitutions on the dance ensemble from when we saw them on the San Francisco to Hawaii leg, but each of the dancers was properly introduced and credited, so they have to be constantly updating the show to align with the cast on each ship.  The Cruise director said tonight’s first performance was the very first time this particular ensemble had performed this show for an audience.  It was an especially impressive performance considering it was their premier.  

We will sleep like logs tonight.  Our room steward said engineering has been working hard on the air conditioning systems on the ship.  When we returned to our room, it was 73˚F for the first time since before Hawaii, so maybe we can take down the swamp cooler.  We’ll see how the temperature holds through the night and during tomorrow morning’s sun.