Journey with Bill & Mary Ann on the Amsterdam's 2016 Grand World Voyage - 114 days +

[kazu]

Plowing along and want to say thank you.a shame the lecturers are no longer replayed . We really enjoyed the option. Thanks for the heads up

[WCB]

Report # 22 Sailing Towards Rangiroa January 21, 2016 Thursday Partly cloudy & 79 degrees 18 Pictures

 

We thought we were in for a wet day, but the early morning rain cleared up eventually. There was something that occurred that gave us all a concern during breakfast. A call came over the PA system calling the medical team to a passenger room on deck seven. It was not the typical bright star alert, so that could mean something different. We would not know until we were having lunch in the dining room with Barb, that a man had died during the night. Barb had already heard about it, but it was confirmed when we believe the minister or bridge instructor announced this man’s passing to those of us who were left in the dining room. He must have been part of the duplicate bridge team, so they asked for a moment of silence. Cruise director Gene happened to be eating lunch near our table, and he came over and confirmed it, adding that we would probably know who the man was. So sad, but this is life continuing regardless of where we are.

 

Everyone had gotten a copy of their shipboard account today. One of us got something extra…..a notice that an Australian visa was missing, and one would be purchased for $35 and put on our account. Except, we had Aussie visas for both of us. We had covered all of this when we checked in at the pier in Ft. Lauderdale, but something had fallen through the cracks again. They made a copy of the form, and promised it would be taken care of. There must have been a lot of errors, because there was a long line for help at the front desk. Some people get pretty testy about waiting. Gosh, it’s only a little more than 2 weeks into the trip. Hate to see crabby people already.

 

Three lectures took place today. They included Barbara’s lecture on the port of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. The guest lecturers spoke about great naval battles of the past, and Howard Hughes connection to the CIA and raising a sunken Soviet submarine. We bet that the lounge is full of guests who are following these talks. Now that we cannot catch it later on TV, the only way to hear them is to attend in person.

 

We came across a different type of auction today that was taking place in the Ocean Bar. It was a fine jewelry auction for one-of-a-kind handmade pieces from Paragon Couture. We arrived towards the end of the auction and caught some of the asking prices. They were in the $10,000 range. This might be a replacement for the art auction, which will take place in the Mediterranean according to Henk M. The room was partially full of seated guests, but we think the attraction was a chance to win prizes.

 

Yesterday, we got forms for us to make a list of questions that may be chosen for Orlando Ashford, the President of HAL. He will be joining the ship in Sydney, and staying on until Cairns. During that time, there will be a question and answer session in the Queens Lounge, where he will address the most-asked questions we submit. We have until February 4th to come up with some good inquiries.

 

We never made it to the pool today, but did make some progress working on photos. Trying to send the photos proved to be a problem, because the internet was down more than it was operational. We did lose several minutes, but librarian Chris credited them back. Could be the area in which we are sailing is affecting our connection as it is pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

 

The dinner menu was not too exciting tonight. But we are learning to try some of the newer items. We have had a few disappoints, but not often. The winner tonight was the steak with a particularly tasty gravy. One of us had a light meal of soup and salad to save enough room for a small slice of carrot cake. Expecting the denser, sweet and moist cake, this was just the opposite. It was a lighter version with less carrots and more nuts. If we did not know better, we would guess it was a frozen store-bought cake.

 

Tomorrow should be a pleasant day in Rangiroa, if we are able to make it into the lagoon that is. There is no rain in the forecast, so that is good. The temperature has cooled off quite a bit, and the humidity is much lower. Hope it stays that way for a while.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[StartrainDD]

Report # 21 Here’s another little bit of info we gathered today. For weeks now, we have been meaning to ask why the guest lecturers do not have their talks re-played on the room TV’s. Henk M immediately contacted Gene, who let him know that the policy had been changed, and the talks were no longer allowed to be repeated during the day. Some kind of legalese reason. We assume it is fleet wide. We certainly did not expect an immediate answer, but both fellows moved quickly to answer our inquiry. ...He still took a moment to explain the new rules for the lecturers. He’s got our vote.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

Hi Bill & Mary Ann!

 

I just caught up (yesterday) with your reports as we were cruising when you began the WC. On Zaandam (disembarked Jan 10, 2016) the guest lecturer talks were being replayed on "HAL TV" in our cabins. We never knew when as a schedule was not provided, but I did catch up on a few I missed going to "Live."

 

This seems rather a shame as many times there are just so many options to choose from. Certainly none of the 'entertainment' was ever replayed but so far as I could tell all the lectures were replayed at one time or another.

 

Enjoy your wonderful time at sea!

[spookyfudge]

Sorry to hear about your cruise family loss, what a way to go!

 

Sent from my KFTHWI using Forums mobile app

[WCB]

Report # 23 Avatoru, Rangiroa January 22, 2016 Friday Partly cloudy & 82 degrees

 

Rangiroa is a coral atoll in the shape of a football, located in the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia. Picture a string of pearls with a huge saltwater lagoon in the center. That is Rangiroa. There are two main villages……Avatoru and Tiputa. The opening into the lagoon is in between these two villages, more or less.

 

The Amsterdam sailed through the deep rapids of this channel very early this morning. Expecting the ship to turn right, we went to the left instead. Something was up. Seems like we were just here. Oh wait, we were, last fall while on the Tales of the South Pacific. At that time, we dropped anchor (or kept the ship in place with the side thrusters), and tendered ashore, eight miles from the village of Avatoru. Frankly, there was not much there in that village…..a few businesses, cafes, fast food, a hotel, shops, and banks. Last November, many of these were closed for the off-season. However, we did have access to two very upscale resorts, the airport, and the Pearl Farm.

 

Well, we had heard yesterday from Captain Jonathon that we were going to share the atoll with Oceania’s Marina today. Surprise. Slightly larger than us (66,048 gross tons with over 1200 passengers), the Marina sailed through the rapids shortly after we did, taking our spot where we anchored last fall. Built in 2011, this country club casual ship must have more clout than HAL, and got the better spot.

 

So that changed our game plan for the day. We knew that there were limited facilities on this side, such as no resorts, no restaurants, few beaches, and no place to go. The good thing was that the sun was out, and there was no rain in the forecast. We decided to skip breakfast, and go to shore early at 7:30am. We probably did not need to go down the secret elevator, but we did to avoid jumping the line. As it turned out, there was no line, because they had announced that anyone could go over without tender tickets for a short time.

 

Once on the boat, we watched for dolphins, but saw none. The landing at the small cement pier was dicey this early. The village of Tiputa is located right on the turbulent channel, and the swift morning current was making it difficult to debark. When we did finally get off, we found that a few souvenir tables had been set up, as well as a couple of tours offered for bike riding or snorkeling for an hour duration. We think the prices were about $40 for the boat/snorkel tour, and $20 for an organized bike ride. If we wanted to be transported to the Avatoru side, it would cost $5 per person for a motorboat ride to the other tender landing.

 

Shore excursions was offering a few short tours. One was a ride to the Black Pearl Farm, about a 5 or 6 mile drive from the pier. Last year, we had walked the road, and went to the pearl demo for free. Sure was interesting . We learned that true South Seas pearls can be quite expensive, and you have to really know your pearls before investing big money.

 

The other tours were water-related. They were a glass bottom boat ride, snorkeling, and a one tank certified dive…..all about 1 hour in duration.

 

We decided to stay on this side, and see what was here. So we walked the almost abandoned streets to the entrance channel, to the Pacific Ocean side, and to the communications tower. Following the ocean road sure gave us some spectacular views of the powerful waves that hit the coral reef. What appeared to be a sandy beach from a distance, turned out to be piles of darkened coral…..all broken and sharp. You would not want to fall here accidently, or you could be cut up pretty badly. At one point, we turned right and came across the local cemetery, the white marble orchard. There were photos on the grave monuments and lots of silk flowers permanently there. It was a peaceful place.

 

It was definitely heating up, so we headed back to walk past the Catholic church, a possible Methodist church, Town Hall, schools, the post office, and several island houses with tin roofs. Evidence of storm damage was everywhere. Skeletons of old houses and buildings exist in between smaller houses with building blocks holding down the tin roofs. We passed some grocery stores like mini 7-11’s, as there are not too many people that live here. We are guessing that the natives work for the black pearl farms, or the coconut factories. They also are employed by the resorts, which can be accessed by water taxis. Many of the locals had boats to take the folks diving or fishing.

 

Since there was no place to go to lunch, we got the next tender boat, and went back to have a great lunch in the dining room. They had the best tomato soup, mixed green salad, and delicious mushroom cheeseburgers. And plenty of ice water and ice tea. Sure needed that to get re-hydrated.

 

Since the all aboard time was 4:30pm, we figured we had ample time to go back to shore, and walk the other direction. This time we stopped at a stand in a lady’s yard where she was selling some seashell jewelry. She was sitting under a large tropical shade tree with two elderly friends, chatting the afternoon away. Her pieces were much nicer than the ones at the pier, so we bought one necklace for $10. She was very happy, so were we.

 

From there we went to another little boat harbor to get some different pictures. Everywhere we went, the locals said hello to us, even the little kids. Continuing up the road, we discovered that the homes were spread out and were getting larger and nicer. Must be the suburbs. This lone concrete road followed the Pacific Ocean side of the atoll. We slowly hiked until we reached a concrete bridge that spanned a small channel that tied the ocean to the lagoon. It was here that we ran into florists Eddy and Calista, although we almost did not recognize her because she was covered with a blue pool towel to protect her from the hot sun. She is Dutch, very fair-complexed, and would burn easily if not covered up.

 

We were all interested in watching the sea water rushing under the bridge, when suddenly there was a surge of water that came at us like a tsunami. There was no railing on this bridge, only a drop off to the water below. Sure woke us all up. We all wondered what it would be like to be here in a storm or hurricane. There is no protection from the elements, since everything is water level. It is beautiful, but we sure would not want to live here.

 

Concerned about the time, we cut our walk short by walking a dirt road to the lagoon side. We found a few trees and cooled off for a bit before going back. We did not want to be the last ones on the tender boat. We made it back shortly after 4pm, but they were in the process of loading up the ice water service to transport it all back to the ship. The only beachfront was near this pier, so we walked over to check out the swimmers. Most were kids from the island, mixed with some of our passengers. Without aqua shoes, you could not go in the water, or the broken coral would shred your feet. We have seen some nasty cuts from that coral.

 

The sail away party was held at the aft pool at 4:30pm. The bar staff was offering coconut fish balls in a sauce, and umbrella drinks called paradise coolers. This would be the last sail away with the Polynesian Location Team who happen to be from Maui. They will leave the ship tomorrow in Tahiti, kick back for 3 weeks, then join one of the Seabourn ships for three weeks. Tough life……lucky them.

 

The Marina pulled right behind us, and ran the rapids shortly after we did. We heard through the grapevine that she will be heading for Bora Bora tomorrow. We always seem to be in port with another ship in Papeete, but it won’t be the Mariner. We stayed outside until 6pm, then re-positioned to deck 6 where we could watch the sunset at 6:30pm. It was another nice one this evening. And the moon was almost full,, and very visible in the night sky.

 

Dinnertime came quickly, and we found our tablemates there, but many of the surrounding tables were empty. Bet the sun and water zapped a lot of folks, and they turned in early. Pete Neighbour played his clarinet at 7:30pm, while Sarah Chandler, a sax player, and Robbie Howard, a singer, entertained the guests after dinner. We lingered at our table until 10pm, and that’s why we are still writing past midnight now. Gotta catch some winks because tomorrow’s port is Papeete, Tahiti.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[cruz chic]

I enjoyed reading the update. Thank you.

[Lizzie68]

Your window garden is certainly doing well, I love the photos on your blog. One question - in rough seas how do all those pots stay on the window ledge? Also, is there a way to post comments on your blog?

[jsm4730]

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Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[WCB]

Our son has been posting our blog with photos. Here is the site where you can find them if you are interested.

 

Not all reports will have photos, but port days will and occasional sunsets.

 

http://cruisingwithbillandmaryann.blogspot.com

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[WCB]

To answer your question about posting comments to the photo blog, you can post your comments on Cruise Critic, because we read that every day. We may not be able to respond if you reply to the new photo blog site (too much internet time).

 

Regarding the window garden, we have used one gallon containers that are placed in plastic containers. So far, they have never fallen over, despite some rough seas.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[Lizzie68]

To answer your question about posting comments to the photo blog, you can post your comments on Cruise Critic, because we read that every day. We may not be able to respond if you reply to the new photo blog site (too much internet time).

 

Regarding the window garden, we have used one gallon containers that are placed in plastic containers. So far, they have never fallen over, despite some rough seas.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

Thanks! I am really impressed that you responded so quickly. I am looking forward to watching that window garden grow.

[Lizzie68]

Just checked your blog for the latest entry and have to say - fabulous photos! What a great day you had in Rangiro!

[JamesEM]

Thanks for the photos.

[retiredkid]

Another fabulous update and photos.

[I&J Cruisers]

Your blogs always are the best. Your photos are terrific. Window garden looks beautiful. Continue to enjoy and thank you for sharing your adventures with us. Several years ago you wrote that you'd thought about creating a coffee table book from these blogs. Have you ever done that?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[WCB]

Report # 24 Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia January 23, 2016 Saturday Part # 1 Partly cloudy & 85 degrees

 

Our port of call for today was Papeete, the capital of Tahiti with a population of 186,909. Tahiti is the largest island in Polynesia with a total of 651 square miles. The highest peak is Mt. Orohena at 6790 feet. Tahiti is known as the island of marinated raw fish and sweet fragrances. And it is a sharp contrast to the atoll where we visited yesterday.

 

We had company, as the Paul Gauguin ship was in port. She is a 4 plus star vessel of 19,200 gross tons. The ship was built in 1998 and carries a total of 332 passengers. It is described as an elegant, cool ship for chic warm weather cruisers. It has a retractable aft marina platform for water sports….all complimentary except for scuba diving. The dress code is totally relaxed all day and evening. Gratuities, sodas, water, wine and liquor are included, making it close to all inclusive. There is some entertainment, but their strong point are the lecturers. An interesting fact is that the only time the ship is docked is in Papeete, because all of their ports are tender ports. Today must be a turn over day, because we saw many people leaving with suitcases, then new passengers arriving in the afternoon.

 

We have been lucky enough to have been here many times in the past. We have done all of the tours, some of them twice. The best way to get a feeling for this part of the world is to take a tour of the islands, see the sights, explore the museums, taste the food, and best of all, experience the wonders of the tropical waters. Having covered all of that, we get the most pleasure from mixing with the people, doing what they do like today, on a Saturday.

 

So after breakfast, we went into town with the intent of doing some shopping. Our walk brought us to the Municipal Marketplace, where you can find about anything Polynesian that exists. The lower floor is all about the crafts, flowers, and fish and produce stands. Upstairs, you can find clothing and jewelry, as well as a café with a bar. The entire market was full of local shoppers and cruise folks. We made one stop upstairs for a Hinano t-shirt and a bar of scented coconut oil soap.

 

Continuing on, we strolled the town, taking in the sights and sounds of the bustling city. The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was closed, as were the French Polynesian Assembly and the adjoining Queen Pomare’s garden and Pond. All five of the archipelagos are represented here with the votes from 57 members. The garden was created in 1858 for the Queen. Samples of the native trees and plants are planted here among the meandering streams and ponds in this garden. The deepest part of one pond is said to have the purest water on the island, and is where the queen bathed daily with the help of servants. Too bad it was closed today.

 

We made a sweep through Bougainville Park, where several souvenir stands were set up. Seashell jewelry was being made on the spot, baskets and purses were displayed, and the vendors were friendly without pressuring anyone to buy. With two ships in port, we are sure they did well. After taking many photos, we decided to go back to the market to get our flowers.

 

It took five minutes to find the perfect flowers of ginger, protea, bird of paradise, and caladmium blooms. Then we walked back to the ship to get them into fresh water. The weather was very warm and humid this morning, so after exploring for two hours, we needed to cool off.

 

Before we boarded, we passed by the line of vendors who were selling snorkel and sight-seeing tours for Moorea tomorrow. They are there every time we have been here. It is hard to believe, but these folks sell 3 or 4 hour tours in Moorea to swim with the rays and sharks for a fraction of the ship’s tour. We told our tablemates about it, so we hope they consider doing that tomorrow.

 

This was a good time to download photos and get some emails out. The internet has been spotty, but if you get the timing right, it can be OK. So by 1pm, we took off again for an afternoon walk. Finally, after several years of construction, the waterfront walkway has been completed. The small boat marina has also been renovated on this stretch of waterfront. Eventually the wide walkway leads to Paofai Gardens, a park that covers several acres on the harbor. Brick pathways meander through grassy knolls covered with tropical trees and flowering bushes. There are places to play games on the grass, or bring the kids to a playground. Fountains and ponds are surrounded with comfortable benches….a serene setting.

 

One part of the park has a spot where dozens of canoes are stacked. This is a huge sport here, canoe racing. And now we know firsthand about the competition that takes the racers from the island of Huahine to Raiatea, to Tahaa, and finally Bora Bora. We happened to be in Raiatea last fall one day before that leg of the race began. The excitement was electric as we watched the TV team setting up for the start of the race. The following day, we were in Papeete, watching the coverage on the TV at the Marketplace. The café upstairs was full of fans cheering the canoers on. Sure was exciting knowing we had just been there the day before. Anyway, we are sure that some of these contestants come from here too.

 

We continued up to the new grandstands for concerts on the waterfront. Events take place there during the coolness of the evenings. It is also a good place to watch the local kids swimming in the surf there. It was pretty calm today, so there were few swimmers.

 

Time to head back, we made tracks to LaPizzeria, our most favorite Italian restaurant in Polynesia. It is very unassuming and almost hidden behind walls and shaded cloth. Taking a wild guess, we think this café was built onto an existing house. The lower level was turned into a kitchen with a huge wood-fired oven. You can watch the experienced pizza maker hard at work with her many creations while you wait for your order.

 

Today we were seated at a table with a fan overhead….a must. The seating area is really a patio that surrounds the house, and is covered with a canvas roofing. The floor is small rock, the tables and chairs heavy plastic. Like we said, not fancy, but oh so good pizza. We ordered our usual margherita pizza with “oignons”, or onions on top. Two large Hinano beers helped cool us off. Normally, we never have dessert, but today was an exception. We “split” a banana split, a huge one piled with whipped cream, a chocolate drizzle, and sprinkled with sliced almonds. That should take care of desserts for a week in advance. But it was really worth it. Food can be expensive in French Polynesia, but we don’t think it was any more than what we pay at home in California.

 

An hour had slipped by all too quickly, and it was time to go. As we walked past the same businesses we had passed this morning, we noticed that most of them were closed for the day. This is typical here, and no surprise. Now if we had arrived on a Sunday, the pizza place would have been closed, and all of the shops would have been closed all day. Even the Marketplace would only open from 3am to 9am. Sure glad today was Saturday. We made our way all the way down to where the Gauguin was docked. Many years ago, while on a Radisson cruise, we had the opportunity to visit the Gauguin, while she was in the Radisson fleet. Back then, security was showing our room card that showed we were on a sister ship. Easy. Since the ship is on the small side, we found the staterooms, public rooms, and the pool area to be rather small. Sailing on her would be a different experience, as the atmosphere was laid back and very casual. Might be nice for a change.

 

The Amsterdam was offering a deck BBQ this evening, beginning at 5:30pm. We took the camera and went up to deck nine to take some photos of the chefs grilling and the folks dining outside. Sure did smell good with the steaks, sausages, and shrimp skewers cooking on the grill. We don’t eat dinner there, but sometimes we sample some of the meats. Today they had a suckling pig, complete with the head. A true luau. Looked like the crowd was happy.

 

We stayed long enough to watch the sunset dropping on the horizon. It was as good as it gets too. We went to the dining room to find that it was mostly empty of customers. Our service was excellent and speedy. We both ordered the salisberry? steak with mashed potatoes and peas. The gravy was really tasty. And to be good, we both ordered the raspberry jello. We knew that our waiters may have the chance to get off the ship tonight, so we ended our dinner by 9:30pm. There was one show only tonight with a local dance team performing a traditional dance with Tahitian music. Crowded to the gills, there was barely standing room. The group, Tahiti Ora, was as good as always. It was worth it just to see the costumes if nothing else.

 

Tomorrow at 5am, we will literally float to the sister island of Tahiti, Moorea, another piece of heaven on earth. We should wake up with the sights of Opunohu Bay and the towering volcanic peaks looming above the ship. Looking forward to it.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[roberts2005]

Bill and Mary Ann

 

Do the flowers you purchased in the market come with their own vase or do ask for a vase from housekeeping.

 

Thank you again for sharing

[WCB]

Report # 25 Moorea, French Polynesia January 24, 2016 Sunday Partly cloudy & 83 degrees Part # 1

 

What a better way to spend a birthday than visiting a piece of paradise, Moorea in French Polynesia? Well that’s what one of us did for their birthday today. Around 5 or 6am, the ship literally floated over to the small island of Moorea from Tahiti, where we had spent the night. The garden island of Moorea is a mere 12 miles from Papeete, accessible by a ferry that takes about 30 minutes from the harbor. It is 80 square miles, and houses a population of 17,434 people. The tallest peak is Mt. Tohiea at 3657 feet. The main crops grown are copra and pineapples. Although we did see bananas, mangoes, and breadfruit grown in everyone’s front yards.

 

The main attraction is Cook’s Bay, named after Captain Cook in 1777 on his third journey here. Equally as scenic is Opunohu Bay, where artists prefer to use the natural light and shadows in their paintings. Both of these bays can be viewed from Belvedere Point. It does help to have a clear day, such as today, because if you came to see the views during the rainy season, like we did once, we could see nothing from that vista point.

 

The biggest draw here is the water and all related activities involving the reef. Black-tipped sharks and sting rays can be seen while swimming in the translucent waters. Every tropical fish you can imagine can be seen here among the coral beds. We have done a dozen tours over the years to swim with these creatures. Passengers could have booked some of these tours yesterday in Papeete. For example, a swimming tour for over 2 hours cost $50 per person. If you wanted to add lunch to that, it would set you back another $10. Not so bad. Sight-seeing tours started at $40, with the most expensive being individual ATV drives for $150. Because today was a Sunday, the juice factory and agricultural school were closed. The tours went ahead anyway.

 

An overnight excursion was offered from Papeete, where you took the ferry, and came to Moorea to spend a night at either a garden bungalow ($799 pp) or an over-the-water hut ($949 pp). That also included dinner and breakfast. Good grief, it should. We know of many couples who have done this on their own, and saved a ton of money. If you need help or prefer to do things in groups, then the organized tours from the ship are good for you.

 

Remember when the first tender port came along on this trip, and the hallways and stairwells were jammed with folks waiting to get over to shore? Well someone, probably Henk M, came up with a great idea. For the first 15 minutes of the tender service, let the “have to be first” folks go over in the first boat. After that, the tender ticket process kicks in, except for the 4 & 5 star Mariners and suite folks. In most ports, what are you going to do before the village or town wakes up?

 

We were in no hurry to go to shore. Breakfast in the dining room was quiet with excellent service. Probably counted a dozen people in there at 8:30am. We did not head over to shore until 10:30am, knowing that we would walk to lunch, taking our sweet time. We rode over with Jan and Dick, who recently had one of their new bikes fixed in the ship’s shop. It had suffered some severe damage during the shipping from their home to Ft. Lauderdale. The guys who work behind the scenes on the ship can fix anything. Always good to know.

 

Although the itinerary had Cook’s Bay as our place of anchorage today, we were re-positioned to Opunohu Bay. We always go to this bay with HAL. Actually, it has been fixed up quite nicely. All of the vendors are under a solid roof now, selling their treasures. We found the elderly lady who is always there with her unique collection of seashell jewelry. She remembered us from last fall, when we had purchased a necklace from her. Today, she pointed out a new creation, and we bought it. She once again added a pair of shell earrings to match the necklace for free. These same type of necklaces were being sold in Bougainville Park yesterday, but cost twice the amount. We knew that, and decided to wait until today. Glad we did.

 

There is a small church located at this tender dropoff. For the first time that we can remember, a service was just ending. We were drawn there with the sound of the music and singing coming from inside. A group of ukulele players were singing to the top of their lungs as the congregation filed out the doors. All the moms, grandmas, and young girls had on their Sunday best, including their straw hats. That’s what nice about these visits. Sometimes you come across something special like this, and you never forget it.

 

Following the coastal road, we walked past the village and several small homes until we reached our destination, the Intercontinental Moorea Resort and Spa. We’d guess it may be about 3 miles one way. The sun had been out, but the clouds helped to keep the temperature down a tad. Stopping along the way to take some photos added time to our hike, but that was the intention. The kids were out and about, swimming and frolicking in the shallow banks off of the roadside. There are no real stretches of sandy beach here. Coral is everywhere, as are holes made by the land crabs. You had to be watchful for those holes, or you could end up with a twisted ankle. We saw few birds today like we normally do. Got us wondering if rain was coming. It might since we forgot to bring umbrellas. Sudden showers can occur at any time, even though the wettest time of year we think is in December. Judging from the lush green fields and hillsides, we suspect that it did rain plenty a month ago.

 

We finally arrived to the hotel in time for a leisurely lunch. This complex has numerous bungalows….garden, beach, premium, and over-the-water units. There are 49 lanai rooms also. The patio restaurant is the perfect place to spend some time while dining. Yes, it is expensive, but how often are we in Moorea to enjoy the scenery of the reef and the island? We ordered hamburgers with skinny French fries, as well as several Hinano beers, of course. The crispy fries were as good as the burgers, which were made from ground steak. They also serve a basket of freshly baked French rolls, which we shared the crumbs with a number of games chickens under our feet. Reminded us of our birds at home.

 

Time had flown by all too quickly, and we had to begin our hike back. It never did rain, but the wind had stopped and it became quite muggy. We had just mentioned the fact that we had not seen Henk and Christel riding their bike today. Lo and behold, here they came around the turn, singing happy birthday as they flew past us. Again, another sweet memory. It’s like the “great escape” for them, even though it doesn’t last long. Must relieve the stress of the job for both of them. While we had gone over to the stoop overlooking the lagoon, they had doubled back to the pier. When we got back to the pier around 3pm, they were eating fresh coconut meat right from the husk, a real treat.

 

While we waited for the next boat, we watched the little kids swimming with a big dog near the landing. Sure looked inviting, but we did not wear swimsuits today. Many folks did come over to swim, but few found any beachfront to enter the water. There is no wave action, because there are coral beds completely around the island. The waves do break out where the reefs end. That’s where the sharks and rays are, in the deeper waters near the coral reefs. We read somewhere that it is the time of year for the hammerhead sharks to frequent these waters. No way would we swim with those.

 

The sail away was held on the aft deck, and was well-attended. Fish nuggets were passed around, and some guests were drinking something blue. Must have been the drink of the day…..Blue Lagoon ($6.50). Speaking of drinks, we noticed that Happy Hour in the Ocean Bar and Crows Nest was also at 6 to 7pm this evening. We fought to get that added everyday on last year’s cruise, and it worked. This year, we believe it has only happened a few times.

 

Dinner for us this evening was in the Pinnacle Grill for a birthday treat. We discovered that the menus were printed in nicer folders, and included some extra-priced items. For instance, you can add a small lobster for $10 extra, or order a large lobster for $20 in addition to the regular price of $29.00. The new monster steak is $59. more. We would definitely have to share that meal, but not tonight. We ordered the lamb chops with a shared baked potato. Large mushrooms were shared as well. Gosh they were good. We saved a little room for dessert of cheesecake and lemon brulee. There goes the 6 miles we hiked today. We’ll have to walk another 6 miles tomorrow, but it was worth it.

 

Looking forward to a lazy day at sea tomorrow.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[Rotterdam]

where we had 2+feet of snow this past weekend!!! I truly am jealous of your birthday events & meals....it's always so wonderful to read of your adventures & that you both truly enjoy & APPRECIATE all the living you do.

 

Again MANY HAPPY RETURNS AND MANY MANY MORE HEALTHY & HAPPY YEARS TO YOU BOTH.

[scluvsrain]

Happy birthday!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[KirkNC]

Yes, Happy Birthday....whose ever it is :p

[cruz chic]

Happy birthday! Thx for the update. Enjoy your sea day.

[alsas]

Happy Birthday loving following along on this adventure. See you both soon

[snookymom]

Happy birthday🎂🎉🎁🍾

[I&J Cruisers]

Happy to whomever. You sure had a great day.