Moorea is where the Tahitians go when they want to get away from it all. It’s only 7 minutes by air from Papeete and costs $50 each way.
It is a gorgeous day so I went swimming at 7 a.m. Of course, the sun was up and I had the pool to myself for 45 minutes.
Bill went around and collected some breakfast for us.
We arrived at Moorea at 8 a.m. and dropped anchor so we had to tender in. We originally planned to go snorkeling but twice was enough.
I really enjoyed the last snorkel excursion. The water was about 15 feet deep so I didn’t worry about hitting the coral. We were on a private tour and got to choose whether or not to wear the safety vest so I didn’t. Bill stayed on the boat and I stayed where he could see me in case I got into trouble.
I had some perfect moments there. The world was totally gone while was gazing at the little fish. I sometimes think about snorkeling when I am trying to go to sleep. We have too few moments like these in our lives. The next thing I knew
everyone else was aboard the boat and calling my name.
We meet new friends every night at dinner and around the ship. We saw some dinner friends on the tender and decided to go on a tour together. They had friends, too, so the six of us went together.
We settled on a bus tour because Bill would not have to walk and it was air-conditioned. Shirley and Joan are both widows and Joan taught physical education in elementary school so we have a lot in common.
Our next door neighbors on the ship were on the bus, too. They have a son who is about 40 who is in their cabin with them. He has some kind of disability, maybe a head injury.
When we got off the tender, there were two beautiful young people in gorgeous red costumes.
The young woman had on a coconut bra like they wore in the play, “South Pacific”. Before I thought, I said, “Nice coconuts”. She has apparently heard that before as she laughed and rapped on one of them with her knuckles.
People speak French here and we don’t always communicate. We all thought we were on a tour around the island but we headed off to the interior and climbed to the highest point. There was a great view and I took more panoramic pictures.
Many people ride bikes here. They all speak French, too.
This is a map of the agricultural college. Students come from many islands to study here.
The most interesting stop was an archeological site called a Marae. They sacrificed animals and people there. There are 32 sites like this on the island.
First, you asked one of the gods for the favor you needed, then sacrificed someone and two weeks later you got what you wanted. I took several pictures. The Marae is surrounded by low rock walls and you are not supposed to go inside the walls.
There are two hip-high rocks that form a V in the middle of the space. The sacrificial victim knelt in front of the rocks and placed their head in the V to be chopped off.
The guide also showed us a chestnut tree that was used to communicate long distances. The sound will carry a long way if you beat on it.
I finally saw The Green Flash last night! It wasn’t actually a flash. It was slower than that. It felt like a trick my eyes played on me because I was staring at the sun.
