Day 61 - 19 August
A large Pacific Swell is running as we head south, however the weather is generally clear and it was pretty hot when we did our stumble-walk just after 9.00. Pretty much the standard sea day with the addition of yet another Formal tonight. Once again we elected not to go to the Captains Circle party and reports were generally that it was the right decision. The wrong decision however was to go to the singers & dancers after dinner. Not good to recorded country music and the "moves" are all the same. Should have realised as it was in the Vista Lounge. The best they could otherwise do in the Princess Theatre was Jamie, an Assistant Cruise Director.
Day 62 - 20 August
The sea was so calm when we woke, but during breakfast a quick shower passed over and it is now cloudy and a rippling sea. I understand that we are officially in the doldrums (not personally of course). Bridge is a morning affair (for the usual reason) and we had a Cruise Critic lunch afterwards.
Met up with Bev & Rick for a happy hour catch up which went well over the hour. This was followed by the show in the theatre, a tribute to Nat King Cole. Much better than last night. For some reason they are having an Hawaiian deck party tonight, with pizzas - no, not our cuppa after dinner. Update - apparently the pizzas were cold and the turnout was sparce.
Day 63 - 21 August
A few bumps from the swell, but otherwise a partly cloudy day ahead. Our last Sunday on board, so attended the Church Service. Steve (actually Lord Stephen - heredity title) takes a good service and clearly he enjoys the limelight. He's the Customer Services Manager and is Auckland born. Morning Tea as usual, but no, people power has not deterred the Lotus Spa people interrupting a perfectly peaceful setting. Grrrrrrr.
That out of the way, we happily bumped (both figuratively & actually) over the equator just after 3.00, so we are now sailing along at 17 knots in the South Pacific. If anything, the sea is a little higher and when we did our deck walk after bridge, the deck was covered in saltwater spray on the windward, or starboard side. We made it around for our mile, but very windy as well. Once again, the ship has decided to "celebrate" the equator crossing at 9.00 tonight. See yesterday's comments above ☺☺☺. Hey, what would be wrong with doing it in the afternoon, as they've done on all the other crossings we've been on?
Day 64 - 22 August
Still sailing south, the sun is pouring into our stateroom around 6.00 - not that we stir at that time. Looking like a lovely day, still with a little swell to keep things interesting. To say that it is another sea day would be an understatement! But it was.
Day 65 - 23 August
Repeat of yesterday. Sunny & warm as we head towards Tahiti tomorrow. Towards evening the storm clouds gathered and threatened rain, but nothing happened. We are only just getting 12 hours of daylight currently, with sunrise at 6.10 & sunset at 5.50, but there is no twilight, so it is pretty well pitch black just after 6.00pm.
Day 66 - 24 August
As always Papeete is cloudy with the threat of rain. However hot! Almost the last to breakfast, but as we have nothing planned there is no hurry. We walked along the waterfront about far as (what we believe to be) the Anglican Church - unfortunately the whole of the church property was gated & locked, as is so much of the town. We haven't explored the city previously, but as suspected, there is not a lot to endear us. That said, we pretty well covered the CBD area, had a cup of coffee and croissant (USD 13) and headed back to the ship by midday.
We are relaxing on our balcony and enjoying the sights of the town, passengers coming & going and the provisioning of the ship. They have unloaded at least 6 large, mainly refrigerated, containers (with provisions apparently from NZ), so hopefully Vegemite, peanut butter, orange juice & red wine may be back on the menu by tomorrow! Showers have now started and very much reminds us of last year when we drove around the island with Heather & Mark. Well despite the showers coming and going they actually got worse later in the day, so we were very happy to be cocooned on board.
This year we have the 73 ft motor yatch Dragonfly moored adjacent - I note that her charter fee is only USD 530,000 plus expenses per week. With 12 passengers, who wants to join us? The crew on board have been pretty busy all day cleaning etc. so perhaps they have a job coming up. Tonight, despite my normal reluctuance, we went to the local folkloric performance - it was excellent. The hip and other movements by the performers were unnaturally incredible. Pleased that Vivian talked me into it!
Day 67 - 25 August
Arrived into Bora Bora harbour to a clear day, although with the usual cloud over the mountains. We probably would have slept in a bit later, but the sound of the tender mechanism put paid to that. Just after we dropped anchor we were joined by the Aranui 5, and island-hopping passenger/freighter. Apparently a very pleasant small ship experience around French Polynesia.
We got down for the tender about 9.00 and no tickets were required, straight downstairs and on board. On shore we elected to do the island tour for USD 50 on board a real island school bus. Hilarious fun and we got the full trip along with sore bottoms!! as they are just wooden planks and the roads are..?. We had originally planned to go back to the beach where Vivian & co swam last year, but the water was not as clear and there was a bit of a breeze so we carried on back to "town" and once again a tender was waiting for us.
Lunch yet again at the International Cafe and back to our deck, where it is very pleasant and of course the breeze has dropped and the sea looks perfect now. However it gives me an opportunity to bring this blog up to date before we start the journey back home. The temperature is still in the 30s and we look set for a magnificent final sailaway, so long as the sun hasn't set by then 😮.
Papeete flower market
Papeete harbour
Bora Bora bus
Bora Bora coastal views
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