In August of 2004 Bill and I made our first trip to French Polynesia for a 7-day cruise on the RSSC Paul Gauguin with a post-cruise stay on Manihi. We caught the “FP flu” and pursued the only known cure by making an onboard booking to return again in June 2005. We chose this particular June 11 embarkation because in addition to the islands visited on the PG 7 day itinerary it included the island of Huahine plus Rangiroa (second largest atoll in the world) in the Tuamotu Archipelago.

Pre-cruise: Our vacation itinerary this year included an overnight stay at the LAX Hilton (we fly out of Detroit) and two nights at the Tahiti Beachcomber prior to embarkation. Sleeping 10 straight hours in LA and again our first night in Tahiti we had adjusted to our 6-hour time change and were ready to fully enjoy all the activity of the cruise.

Fortunately Air Tahiti Nui still feeds her economy class passengers and the meals together with the selections available on the in seat video screens made the 8-hour flight pass quickly. While I watched videos my husband enjoyed the opportunity to read.

Immigration had a long waiting line for Americans as it did last year but we got through a little quicker and found our bags waiting for us. We were merely waived through customs same as last year. I went directly to the Bangue De Polynesie at the airport and exchanged $200 in traveler’s checks for a net 18209 CFP after commission. This was plenty of local currency for our 15 days in FP.

Friday in Tahiti was very windy and those who used the beautiful infinity pool were bundled in their beach towels after getting out of the water. We decided to just begin work on our tans and spent a short time in swimsuits on the lounge chairs. Thursday night I had made reservations for the seafood buffet and Tahitian dance show held on Friday evening. Yes, it was a bit pricy but we found the food selection to be extensive and tasty and the show very colorful and entertaining. We had great seats in the second row from the stage area. The twosome sitting between the stage and us was a young Japanese couple and the young woman was one of the audience members invited up to dance at the end of the show. She was very cute and gradually went from being quite shy to really enjoying the dance lesson.

Following the modest complimentary lunch buffet that is now offered to PG travelers at the Beachcomber on embarkation day we went up to the lobby area to wait for the transfer to the ship. A tall blonde Texan came strolling over and introduced himself. He was Ed (known as Texed on Cruise Critic). He invited Bill and I to join his wife Jacque and their friends Don and Janice. It was great to finally meet in person after months of chatting on the message board. Of course we continued bumping into one another during the cruise. The four of them did a different 3-day post cruise than Bill & I but on our final afternoon back at the Tahiti Beachcomber, as I was ready to pull our shades closed after sunset, there was Ed strolling by the patio.

The only unfortunate event of the entire trip occurred during the transfer from the Beachcomber to the PG. The four bags we did not personally handle made the transfer but Bill & I each lost a gym shoe. They had been packed in outer zipped pockets of what had been a carry-on piece with the airlines but was handled by the hotel, Tahiti Nui Travel and Radisson for that transfer. We had worn the gym shoes during our air travel but Saturday in Tahiti we were wearing the sandals that had been in those same outside pockets. With gym shoes being larger I could only fit one in each pocket. I decided to pack one from each of us so that no one would find a pair to steal, never realizing that someone would be so quick and careless not to notice that they had lifted a men’s size 12 and a women’s size 8! (The other shoe from each pair got squeezed into our large suitcases.) We now have two orphan right shoes and I suspect that the orphan left shoes were tossed somewhere in Tahiti. Note to the wise traveler anywhere – even though you can’t lock your luggage for the airlines, take along some locks if you’re going to have any ground transfers.

PG Embarkation and Day 1: June 11th, around 4:00 pm we happily walked up the gangplank to the PG. Of course we were greeted with champagne and after a few brief minutes for security photo and room keys were escorted to our cabin. The in room wines we had requested online were already there for us. We went to the Tours and Activities Desk and all of our excursions except for the drift snorkeling that still needed confirmation when currents conditions could be determined were printed and waiting for us. Then we headed off to La Veranda and made reservations with Manfred for Apicius. Having been on the ship before it was very easy to quickly hit all the spots on our agenda before dinner and then relax.

When we went to dinner I spoke with Franco (Maitre D) to request two adjacent tables to seat a total of 18 for our Cruise Critic group on Sunday night. Franco is a sweetheart and for the remaining 10 days he always greeted me warmly by name and often would stop by whatever table we were seated at to see if everything was satisfactory. This first night he asked the usual “do you wish a table for 2 or to dine with others?” I replied, “with others, but preferably no larger than seating 8”. We were the final 2 seated at a table including a dear younger couple, Bob & Lindy, whom we had met on our flight over from LA and Wendy and Eric Des Iles, two of the very talented entertainers onboard. We were delighted to learn that they were back on board and that we would be seeing their acts again. As I sat down next to Eric and said how happy I was to see them again he asked “didn’t you just get off this ship?”

We were keeping an eye out for our friends from last year’s cruise, Patricia and Chris, who flew over on the Saturday flight from LAX. As we were exiting L’Etoile they jumped up from their table for 2 and it was hugs all around for the 4 of us. During the next 10 days we enjoyed many meals, shows and excursions together as the friendship that began last year and had continued over the Internet continued to grow during this second cruise together.

PG Day 2 – Huahine: We chose the “Lagoon Cruise and Snorkeling” excursion. This took us to a fairly good snorkeling area. We had not quite understood that since there was a bit of a current the boat would move after we had been in the water a while to a different spot where it would be easier for everyone to climb back on board. Bill was having some trouble with his mask because he had pulled the strap too tight and he began to develop a headache. We tried swimming back to the boat against the current. The tour operator noticed us and he swam out to us with a safety ring and told us to just hold on to it while we rested and Bill worked on his mask. We then continued snorkeling and they soon moved the boat. We had fun on our cruise back to the small dock. There is an upper deck that has two molded plastic benches built-in, which accommodate 2 persons each. A friendly younger couple, Steve and Claudia, and Bill and I went up there, as did 2 crewmembers that sat on the floor at the front of the deck. We had been told that we would have to get down from the benches when the boat went under the bridge. All of the crew made sure we followed their instructions to sit on the floor and they were not kidding – it was a low clearance underpass.

This evening was our Cruise Critic gathering. One of the ladies had taken a spill getting into a small boat on her excursion that afternoon so she had room service after being checked out by the ship’s doctor. (Unfortunately that fall limited her activity for the next several days.) This left an empty spot at our table for 10 and Franco asked if the Cruise Director could join us. We were delighted to have Michael Shapiro join our table and we began to learn what an engaging personality he has as we all became acquainted with one another. Michael found it pretty amazing that we had “found” one another on a bulletin board and how much information about the ship one can learn from reading cruise bulletin boards. There were 6 at the table for 8. The following evening we met Jade and Erich and learned that they had simply been way too tired Sunday night and had ordered room service. They were the youngest of the new group of friends we found. This was a delayed honeymoon for them as they were still in graduate school last year when they got married. Saturday evening Bill and I and Patricia and Chris had each received an invitation to join Michael at his table at Apicius for Monday night. We broke the news to him that he was going to dine with the 4 of us two nights in a row. I also mentioned to him that I had read on the bulletin board prior to our trip last year that passengers could donate leftover liquor to the crew at the end of their cruise by giving it to the Cruise Director and that Steve Lewis (the Cruise Director on the PG when Michael is not there) had laughed when I told him that is what I had read. (We had plenty of liquor left over from our back-to-back last year and I handed it to Mimi, the social hostess our last night.) Michael replied, “So you’re the ones! Those 3 dusty bottles are still under my desk! Steve told me about the couple that gave them to him.” The next night when we met Michael at Apicius he had the 3 bottles freshly dusted and sitting there! We learned that due to health regulations they must pour out any opened leftover bottles from passengers but Steve had kept these around – probably because he was so amused. The cruise line does provide free liquor for the crew parties.

The evening show was “The Visual Artistry of Eric & Wendy Duo Des Iles”. Eric’s training began in the circus at the age of 12 and Wendy was trained as a ballerina. They met while entertaining on a cruise ship and married and formed their acts combining their skills. They’re multi-talented and extremely delightful both on and off the stage.

PG Day 3 – Raiatea: Since this 10-day itinerary put us at Raiatea on a Monday, there was no “Children of Raiatea” show. The mamas did come on board with their jewelry and such to sell up on the pool deck. Last year we had done two different snorkeling excursions at Raiatea so this time we acted as though this was an at sea day and just stayed on the ship and enjoyed the pool deck among other things.

On this voyage the Captain’s Welcome Aboard Cocktail Party was held on Monday evening. Following the party we arrived on time to join Michael at Apicius but he clowned around as he waited to greet us at the door while pointing to his watch. After snapping his photo (he’s a good sport) we went in. The other invited couple, Rhonda and Mike, soon joined us. Originally from England, we found them pleasant and interesting to know. Michael Shapiro is perfect for his position as Cruise Director. He’s warm, talented, funny, entertaining and will at times introduce thought provoking topics. 2 hours and 25 minutes flew by quickly. We did not need to worry about missing the opening of the show because as Michael had reminded us the previous evening the show cannot start without him.

Kenny Smiles, “The Mad Welshman”, was the comedy vocal entertainer this evening. He kept us laughing until our sides hurt. When I spoke to Kenny later during the cruise to inquire if he would be onboard for the 4 longer sailings this summer he affirmed that he would. He asked me to please tell my friends to “sit in the front row because I have a soft voice”. Those of you who have seen him perform (and I know there are many) know the real story.

PG Day 4 – At Sea/Rangiroa: We were up on deck as advised for our arrival at Rangiroa hoping to see the dolphins jumping as we cruised through the pass into the lagoon. Whether it was the 10-foot swells or some other reason the dolphins did not appear. The wind never let up during our two half days at Rangiroa making it impossible to do the drift snorkeling in the pass that we had so anticipated. This first afternoon we took the “Snorkeling Rangiroa’s Aquarium” excursion. The small boats that carried snorkelers anchored next to two glass-bottomed boats. We were happily snorkeling amongst the various fishes including black tipped reef sharks when my husband noticed the spear fishermen that were after fish to attract the sharks beneath the glass-bottomed boats. Bill told me to stay away from them because he correctly guessed that once they caught fresh fish they would create a shark feeding frenzy under the glass-bottomed boats – not a safe place to be snorkeling. Although this location had some fairly good coral and variety of fish the winds created currents to be cautious about. Also, these boat operators were not of the same caliber that we had come to expect from all of our previous Radisson excursions. We addressed this in our mid-cruise evaluation and received a nice letter of apology, a phone call to the cabin and were not billed for the excursion.

Before dinner Bill and I went to the Boutique to look at the pearls once again. It started with me just looking to exchange an enhancer I had purchased last year from their store, the Black Pearl Gem Company, on the island of Moorea, for a simple pendant but we ended up trading it in on Tahia’s latest design, a double heart with two pearls and several small diamonds! I got the one set in white gold and for which I already had a perfect chain that I had recently purchased at home. Jennifer needed to make a phone call to Tahia who was vacationing in Hawaii with her husband and children (including 2 month old baby) to get approval to give us full trade-in value of the enhancer. (I had it along with the receipt.) Tahia gave her approval and Bill signed our room charge. I was not going to mention the new purchase prior to wearing it the next night but Patricia, who knew I had been looking at pendants, asked at dinner if I had purchased one yet. I could not tell a lie so the cat was let out of the bag, so to speak. It was still fun to see her reaction when she learned which one we had purchased. The pearls are two different shades of green and the color of the top one matches the stud earrings I bought in Bora Bora last year.

Tonight was Les Gauguines’ “Tahitian Showtime” which should not be missed when cruising on the PG. Three of the Gauguines we met last year are still on the ship. The others are new. They’re all beautiful and friendly. I feel badly that I cannot remember their names. One that we knew from last year just had an emergency appendectomy March 1st. We were happy to learn that when she awoke with a sharp pain in her lower right abdomen they flew her to Papeete for surgery and gave her a month to recover before returning to her job. She is fine now and planning a tattoo to cover her small scar.

PG Day 5 – Rangiroa Day 2/At Sea: On the days when we had an early excursion we enjoyed room service breakfast. This was one of those days, as we had to be in Le Grand Salon at 8:15 am to hopefully do the drift snorkel of the pass. Yesterday they had announced that due to weather and current conditions that days’ drift snorkel had to be cancelled. When we arrived in Le Grand Salon we learned that it was still too dangerous to drift the pass and we had a choice of canceling with no penalty or doing a modified drift into the “aquarium” area and snorkel there. Since we were all set to go, most of us chose to do the modified excursion. It was only after we had tendered over to the dock and had a boat ride in two small boats to tiny docks at a different part of the lagoon that we learned that we were among 17 Americans, none of whom spoke French, with 4 crew members, none of whom spoke English. Frustration would be a good word to describe what we felt. It was evident that the crews wanted us to get out of the boats with our gear. When some of us finally determined that we would not be entering the water at this location but rather going on a beach walk we left our bags on some picnic tables in the shade. It turned out that on the way back from the walk along the beach they tried to get the people who had carried their bags the entire time to make purchases at someone’s house! We finally got back onto the boats and had a fast bumpy ride over to the “aquarium” area for a short time of snorkeling. After this they did take us on another short boat ride to another spot on land where they went to someone and came back to the boats with gifts of 2 loose blemished pearls each, perhaps as a peace offering. It was actually following this experience that I wrote my comments evaluation describing our two Rangiroa excursion experiences. Everyone that did this excursion complained (some only verbally) and we all received a reduced charge on it. As I mentioned in my comments to RSSC, I realize that no one can help what the weather causes but communication had never been a problem on any of our previous snorkeling excursions with RSSC in FP and that was something that they needed to address at this port.

Another chance to enjoy champagne, caviar and delicious shrimp was at the Seven Seas Society Party prior to dinner. (And to wear my new necklace for the first time.) Following dinner was Michael’s Showtime, “A New York Cabaret” where he sang through a program of 11 different songs of various types of music with ease. At one point he took Patricia by the hand to the dance floor to dance through part of a number with him. I was grateful it was she and not I. She did a fine job.

PG Day 6 – Bora Bora Day 1: Ah, to be back in the breathtakingly beautiful blue waters of Bora Bora, with the backdrop of green mountain peaks! We repeated an excursion that we had taken last year, “Shark and Ray Feeding Snorkeling Tour” with Shark Boy. It is a fun one, particularly if you like to pet stingrays. The snorkeling garden he takes you to has good coral and plentiful fish although the water over the coral is quite shallow.

An Anniversary Get-Together was held at sunset on the deck behind La Palette Lounge and we went to help celebrate Patricia and Chris’ 39th anniversary. There were 2 couples on board celebrating their 53rd anniversaries. Although last year on both weeks we cruised the party was combined for honeymooners and anniversary couples, on this fully booked cruise the parties were held separately.

I haven’t mentioned the food on board yet. Everything we ordered was excellent (although saltier than my customary low salt cooking). The portions were a bit smaller than last year, but with all we were eating this was not a bad thing. Liking fish as we do helps a lot towards enjoying the variety of choices on the menus. We discovered the delicious Polynesian Moonfish last year and ordered it twice on this trip. We requested a second night of Maine lobster with Taha’a vanilla sauce and Franco had Daniel (Head Chef) take care of that for us. Patrice (Head Sommelier) made sure that we were pleased with the wine selections and even brought two special wines to the table for our group in the later part of the cruise. I did not really notice a decline in the quality of the food from last year’s trip, as some people have been concerned about. Service was spotty at times but it was not because any of the dining room staff was slacking on the job. They were always extremely busy. Sailing with a full load of passengers kept them hopping. At one point I asked Patrice if he could point out a few of the waiters that Wendy (Wandra from Toronto) and David had asked me to say “hi” to. Meliton and Jerry were each working in a different area of L’Etoile than where we were seated but Meliton managed to come over and introduce himself to us. He was very friendly and although we were never seated in his section he checked on us a few other times when he saw us in the dining room. We met Jerry on a tender a few days later. Jerry is a lot of fun and very popular with the children. Bernard was working at the pool bar which we never used so we missed meeting him.

Wendy and Eric gave their second show this evening. It is the one where they involve 4 members of the audience in his “Silent Movie”. Eric’s passenger selections this time were the best of the 3 times we have seen this show. I spoke with the passenger that he chose to play the part of the Tahitian chief the following day and learned that he and his wife had not planned on staying for the show. They had been impressive on the dance floor prior to the show but because they were tired they were ready to exit Le Grand Salon when Eric stopped them and pleaded for them to stay. (He watches the passengers to select ones that he feels will be good in the act.)

PG Day 7 – Bora Bora Day 2: The ship moves within the lagoon during the night and is anchored further from town but closer to their private beach on a motu the second day at Bora Bora. We had placed orders with Manfred the previous day for box lunches to take with us on the first tender to the motu this morning. This is where we had taken so many postcard perfect photos last year and we were able to do the same once again. Patricia, Chris, Bill and I selected our shady spots under some tall palms, took photos, went snorkeling, created a “snorkel tree” when we hung our masks and snorkels and propped our fins against the tall stump of a dead tree, enjoyed the beach, the company of others, our food and drinks and the gorgeous ideal surroundings. For those who have never been on the PG but are planning a trip do not miss taking advantage of this opportunity. There is no extra charge for it.

I think this was the night we had our second dinner at Apicius. We had the opportunity to dine there a second time since we had been Michael’s invited guests the first time. Bill and I love the grilled beef tenderloin as they prepare it so much that we ordered the same thing both nights. And of course Patricia and I ordered the crme brulee both nights. That dessert was also available at La Veranda one day at lunch and Patricia was able to get it a final time in L’ Etoile. (Could she be addicted?)

This was the only night we did not go to Le Grand Salon after dinner. It was “Popcorn Movie Night”, appropriately showing “The Bounty” with Mel Gibson & Anthony Hopkins but I had seen it twice on video at home so we chose to go to bed early for a change.

PG Day 8 – Taha’a: Two ideal beach days in a row. Can life get any better than this? Once again Patricia, Bill and I were on the first tender over to Motu Mahana, the highlight of this cruise for most people. It is a private motu (little island) where RSSC has chairs, beach umbrellas, picnic tables, available kayaks, rest room facilities, a full bar and they serve a lunch buffet of hot and cold selections. Chris chose to first go on the drift snorkeling excursion and joined us on the motu at lunchtime. He reported that the drift snorkel was very good and due to the small number of persons that had signed up they each got to do it three times. It is in shallow water over the coral so is not appropriate for people who are uncomfortable with those conditions. Bill and I just didn’t want to miss time on the motu. We went on Dominique’s guided snorkel excursion and although he spotted an octopus about 20 feet away by the time he got to it the octopus had wedged itself into a coral head and despite many valiant attempts (even with his snorkel as a tool) Dominique could not get it out to give us a clear view. We did get the chance to dive down about 3 feet and could see the underside of one orange colored tentacle with its white suction cup “feet”. For those who have been on the PG and know what a great guy Dominique is you will be happy to know that he is recently married (his wife is the concierge on the ship). This was their first time back on the ship since their honeymoon.

Kenny Smiles entertained again this evening. His final number that begins “A Light Shining in the Dark…” has been jazzed up from what we saw in Alaska in 2001. He has a new shimmering silver suit that he wears with a diamond buckled belt. When I inquired after the show if it was a new suit his wife Lorraine said that he got it within the last year (I forget how many months she said). Kenny said, “It takes a lot of guts to wear a suit like this.”

PG Day 9 – Moorea Day 1: This was our second Sunday on board. One of our favorite excursions last year was “Lagoon Discovery with Snorkeling” on Moorea so we signed up for this again. We were disappointed to not have a crewmember with a camcorder like last year recording the excursion for us. (Monday’s tour did get filmed I so expect that the photographer does not work on Sunday, which I cannot blame him for. If we were at home we would be in church ourselves). We still have our DVD of last years trip as a special memento. Our captain Harry was very knowledgeable and pointed out places of interest as we cruised through the lagoon to our ray and shark feeding location and on to our snorkeling location. After we passed by the Sheraton I asked Harry if he knew Bob Hammar, an American who owns property overlooking Opunohu Bay. He said he could point out Bob’s home (Fare Hamara) when we got further into the bay. Bob had kindly given us an invitation to visit him when we were on Moorea since he would be there at the same time of our vacation. When it came into view Harry pointed out Bob’s place. I now have photos of it from the water (and beautiful sunset photos taken from his deck 4 days later). Once again as we fed the rays we enjoyed the sensation of having them rub against our sides. When we reached our snorkeling area we discovered the “Aqua Blue – Underwater Walk” excursion. Our friends from Texas were among the participants on that excursion. “Jojo” the resident 18 year-old (so they tell us) barracuda was patrolling her territory. This was the largest barracuda (at least 5 feet) we have ever snorkeled near and also the only barracuda that we have encountered while snorkeling that was not anxious to get away from us. We were the ones to keep a cautious distance this time. “Jojo was most interested in the food that the “Aqua Blue” group was feeding the fish. It was cool to be able to take pictures of the people in their helmets underwater. Then we went off through the coral gardens and snorkeled.

Since the PG was doing 4 cruises over 6 weeks instead of her normal weekly cruise, they brought an additional entertainer on board. Louise Fontaine was our vocalist this evening. She has French origins having been born in Montreal, Canada. Her show was quite enjoyable. The few French passengers on the cruise were especially happy to listen to her perform.

PG Day 10 – Moorea Day 2: For our final full day of the cruise we did not do any organized excursions. We did take up Mowana’s (my apologies if I spelled that wrong, I never did ask for the spelling of this drop dead handsome young Tahitian jeweler in the ship’s boutique) offer of a free ride to their store and the surrounding shopping area. (Sorry single gals, he is spoken for, we met his beautiful wife the previous evening when she came on board for dinner. She lives on Moorea.) Mowana set us up with Albert, Tahia’s father, for the ride to the shop owned by Tahia and her husband, Marc Collins. Albert was born and raised on Moorea and is fluent in English so we learned quite a bit from him as we drove along the winding northern coast line from Cook’s Bay to the BPGC near Le Petite Village. Although he did not volunteer the information until I started putting facts together in my head he confirmed that yes, he is the Albert of Albert’s Car Rental. After a brief stop in the pearl store we walked to some other shops in search for seashell souvenirs for our granddaughters ages 7 & 4. This was one of the occasions where it was good that I had some local currency because I found what I wanted in a small store with one clerk who spoke no English whatsoever. It was an easy transaction with my CFP in hand.

We returned to the BPGC where I tried on one more necklace just for the fun of it, had our complimentary cold soft drinks and took their free shuttle back to Cook’s Bay. It was time to pack up our luggage to disembark the following morning.

We had signed up for the Galley Tour due to begin at 4:30 pm and found that so many had requested this tour they ran an earlier tour in addition to this one. This made things run a little behind and we got started on ours about 4:50 pm. I ducked out through L’Etoile when we reached deck 5 to have time to shower and get ready for the Captain’s Farewell Cocktail Party beginning at 6 pm and followed immediately by “A Pacific Farewell”. Bill stayed with the tour and got to meet the only female of the 36 member galley staff, Line Mosebekk, the Pastry Chef. (One of the nights in L’Etoile I was tempted to try to order lime moose for dessert as I read the menu and saw her name. It seemed funny to me at the time, must have been my wine consumption).

Hal Fraser, Les Gauguines and Siglo were featured in the show. Bill and I had not made it to a single teatime or late evening in La Palette this trip so it was good to listen to the talented Hal on the piano. And we could listen to and watch Siglo and Les Gauguines without ever tiring of them.

Patricia, Chris, Rhonda, Mike, Bill & I had our final dinner of the trip together in L’Etoile. All but Rhonda & Mike had our specially requested repeat of Maine Lobster with Taha’a Vanilla Sauce as our main entre. Patricia had noticed the special request note while on the Galley Tour. Following dinner we made our photo selections with Stuart at the Photo Gallery. He’s a great photographer who, typical for Radisson, never gets the least bit pushy. He’ll gladly do any group photos requested of him.

The final entertainment highlight of the cruise was a performance by “O Tahiti E”, Polynesia’s #1 folklore troupe. It was another lively show, my only disappointment being that I did not capture any postcard perfect photos from it like I was able to last year. (It’s very difficult considering how fast they are moving much of the time. Plus the two extremely photogenic girls that I got such great shots of last year were not dancing near our seats this time.)

PG Disembarkation Day – Moorea Day 1: We had our final breakfast in our room to be up in Le Grand Salon at 8:15 for our transfer to the Aremiti ferry to Moorea. We had previously met Miriam and Lorne and learned that they would also be traveling to the Moorea Pearl Resort for the 3-day post cruise. This morning in the transfer van we met the other couple from the cruise that had also booked this, Charlene and Jon. The six of us hung out together part of the time during the next 3 days.

The ferry ride was quick and comfortable. Watching the luggage being loaded into the big metal crates that were moved by forklift was the only slightly unnerving aspect. Then again, in air travel once that conveyer belt takes the luggage out of view you just don’t know how it’s handled.

We arrived at the Pearl Resort before 11 am but since they were filled to capacity we would need to wait until 2 pm for our rooms to be ready. Miriam & Loren and Charlene & Jon had paid for an upgrade to Deluxe Overwater Bungalows but we stayed with the package that included a regular Overwater Bungalow of which there are 9. We were given one of the 2 best locations for this category and found that a honeymoon couple was in the other one across the walkway from ours. We watched Amy & Larry’s Tahitian Wedding ceremony on the beach before sunset. We learned from them when we spoke with them on the day that we checked out that they had arranged a conference call earlier that afternoon during which Amy’s grandfather, an ordained Baptist minister in the USA, legally married them with family members listening in. They had wanted their legal wedding date to match their Tahitian wedding ceremony. The deck to our bungalow offered good views of the sunsets. I think many of the Deluxe OWB’s get both sunrise and sunset views.

During the afternoon I reached Bob Hammar and we agreed that meeting at his home in 2 days time would work well for the 3 of us. After phoning the Pearl Beach Resort location of Albert’s Car Rental and finding it slightly difficult to confirm a car rental for Thursday due to a language barrier we did what we should have done in the first place, we walked out of the resort and down across the street to Albert’s little roadside building. The friendly young Tahitian guy I had talked with on the phone whose French is fluent but whose English is not greeted us. He gave us a warm laugh and said “I know who you are “Thursday at 10 am.” My few words of French had gotten through and we had gotten the time I requested. By pointing to the brochure I made sure we had the rate category and price we expected. Bill and I walked for a while back towards the airport to the few stores we had passed on the ride from the ferry. This was when the missing gym shoes caused a hardship. Bill hurt his feet during this walk in his sandals and this caused us to take things slower the next two days. When we encountered Charlene and Jon leaving the Pearl property to go into town for bottled water and a look around they kindly offered to pick up 2 liter bottles of Evian for us. (152 CFP each vs 500 at the resort.)

Charlene, Jon, Bill and I decided to go to Honu Iti beside Cook’s Bay for dinner. It had been highly recommended by vacationers that we met around the pool during the afternoon. We were not disappointed with the choice and I especially enjoyed my shrimp curry in coconut milk.

Moorea Day 2: We spent the entire day on the beautiful Pearl Resort property. The American breakfast buffet is included in the RSSC package and once I learned how to request that the very busy cook put only a small bit of the sea salt in my omelet, they were perfect. We spent time in the morning around the pool and went snorkeling from the entry off our deck in the afternoon. We had already learned from Charlene where the best snorkeling was right out from their bungalow and the several on each side of theirs. We found a deep enough passage from our ladder through the coral heads coming out near their ladder and then went both directions from there. We discovered a moray eel in a coral head under #410. Loren and Miriam were on the eastern end in #418 where it was more shallow and difficult to maneuver. We spotted a sea leach (a member of the sea cucumber family that we had first discovered last year during our lagoon & snorkeling excursion). Last year we had taken numerous photos of this odd new to us creature. This year Bill told me to stay away from it because he had just read in the book, Natural Dangers in Tahiti (that we ended up purchasing in the gift shop), that they produce a toxic mucus and contact with it can bring on irritation, inflammation and swelling.

Wednesdays are a theme night at the Pearl’s Restaurant Mahana’i. The six of us made a reservation for this dinner buffet followed by a traditional Polynesian show and fire dances. Of the Polynesian shows we had seen, this was the least professional but enjoyable nevertheless and a much lower cost than at the Tahiti Beachcomber.

Moorea Day 3: After breakfast we walked over to pick up our rental car (a Hyundai Getz manual shift with a/c for 9000 CFP for 24 hours). We drove into town and purchased 3 more bottles of Evian. Then we headed back past the airport to the scenic overlook above the Sofitel Hotel where we parked and got out to take photos. Since we had circled the island last year we saw no need to repeat that this year so we turned around and drove back along the northern coastline and then up to the Belvedere. As we got nearer the sky became cloudier. By the time we turned off the main road to begin driving up the mountain the rain began (a repeat of last year). So for the second year in a row our mid day photos from this wonderful (when clear) lookout point are mostly grey. We drove out of the rain as we descended from the mountain and parked in the lot across from the Sheraton. We walked onto that property to take a look around and snap more photos. It’s a bit more formal looking than the Pearl - both are in beautiful settings. We had planned on snorkeling here and then buying a late lunch at their casual restaurant but Bill’s feet were hurting so badly that we decided to go back to the Pearl, relax by the pool and snack on the fruit and nuts we had left. After 3 pm I telephoned Bob to be sure he was still available for us to drive over for a visit. He told me that it was clear again on that side of the mountain and I said we’d be there after one last drive up to the Belvedere. Finally, on our third try we made it up there without rain. Of course the sun was now low in the sky so we still don’t have the best photos. We wanted to catch the sunset from Bob’s so we drove back down and headed back to Fare Hamara. Bob graciously welcomed us into his home and we got acquainted over drinks while comfortably seated in the main room overlooking Opunohu Bay. Bob and his wife Mary who make their home in Tacoma, WA, built this Lindal Cedar Home on Moorea in the late 1980’s. It is available for rent when they are not on the island. I kept excusing myself to walk out onto the large deck to take photos. My best sunset shots of this trip were the ones taken from Fare Hamara.

For our final dinner on Moorea we stopped at Allo Pizza at PK 7.8 in Pao Pao for a delicious thin crust pizza and soft drinks. This is an inexpensive casual spot with a few tables on a small terrace beside the wood burning pizza oven. Several local people stopped by for carry out and Allo will deliver to nearby hotels. (Miriam and Loren had recommended them after they ordered from them our first night at the Pearl.)

June 24 – Check-out Day and The Birth of Our Grandson: While we were still sleeping (5:30 am Tahitian time) our daughter-in-law, Renee, was giving birth to our grandson, Jason Richard, in Michigan (11:30 am EDST). Now Rick & Renee have 3 children: Megan (7), Jenna (4) and Jason. We of course did not learn about Jason’s arrival until we arrived back in Michigan. The last we had known via Email was that as of the 21st he had not been born.

After breakfast, returning the car and packing I went for a final brief snorkel. It was a beautifully clear day and Tahiti was clearly visible from Moorea and vise versa. Naturally the bus could not stop for photo ops and we were busy with the luggage at the ferry docks so no photos were taken.

Our dayroom at the Beachcomber was warm when we arrived but we turned the a/c on and headed to their casual restaurant for a late lunch. When we returned to the room it was comfortable.

There were only 15 people on the large bus for the transfer to the airport at 8 pm and all went smoothly. The only real holdup was when boarding for the flight began. It was exceedingly slow. When we finally got to the front of that line we learned why it was so slow. Almost everyone was going through a third security check. Bill and I along with our carryon bags were just waived past and walked up into the aircraft. (We were each ong with our carryon bags were just waived past and walked up into the aircraft. (We were each ong with our carryon bags were just waived past and walked up into the aircraft. (We were each ong with our carryon bags were just waived past and walked up into the aircraft. (We were each wearing white knit shirts and navy blue pants, I wonder if these made us just look too conservative to be a threat of any kind?) I watched one video as we waited for and during dinner then took an Ambien and got a fairly solid 4 hours of sleep. It was just enough rest to help get through the final day of travel.

June 25 – Arrival Home: We had a little over 3 hours at LAX between flights. When I handed our customs declaration and passports to the customs agent he asked Bill if the pendant had been a gift for me. Bill answered in the affirmative. With that the agent said to me “my gift to you is that I’m not going to have you pay duty on this” and he ushered us out of the customs area. I told him “thank you, merci, maruru”. We arrived at DTW on time around 8 pm but the bags did not start coming in on the luggage carousel until almost 9 pm. All came through and we were exiting the parking structure by 9:17 pm when I called our son and learned of Jason’s birth. We stopped at their place on our way home from the airport and got to hold him when he was just 34 hours old thanks to him going 2 weeks past his due date just like his sisters had before him.

Final Comments: We know that we were truly blessed to be able to take this wonderful vacation traveling back to the lovely islands we had enjoyed so much last year. The weeks preceding our trip were very stressful due to the declining health of Bill’s mother. Once we knew that we had done all that we could do for her for the time being and that she was being left in the best of care we followed doctors advise and went as planned on our vacation. We had an incredibly enjoyable time and will treasure our memories for a lifetime. We’re grateful to God who made it all possible. We knew that it would have to be within His will for us if we were even going to make it onto that first plane on June 8th. (On the 7th our doctor had to set up an emergency surgical procedure for Bill’s right eye with an ophthalmologist for the following morning plus get approval from our HMO for the referral. That was all taken care of and we made the flight! And although Northwest Airlines no longer serves food to economy passengers on domestic travel the stewardess promptly prepared an icepack for Bill’s eye when requested.) Bill’s eye was all healed within 5 days. God is so great and He created a beautiful world!

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PG & Moorea - June, 2005
PG B2B & Manihi - Aug./Sept., 2004
Mariner (Alaska) & Denali - June, 2001