Bill got
bored watching me swim in the pool yesterday and went swimming with me this morning. He
hasn’t been in a pool since he slipped and fell at the Murray Pool a few
years ago. Only his ego was injured. He’s a great swimmer and it all came back
to him. He can still swim the length underwater with one breath of air.
The internet on
board ship is getting faster so we must be closer to the satellite. I will try
to get on again today. The satellite manager on this ship has really worked to
make it faster. Unfortunately, he is leaving the ship in San Diego.
One of my new
friends checked into the Hilton yesterday on Moorea on some kind of Day Plan. She
and her hubby used all the facilities and she spent 90 minutes catching up on
the internet. We plan to go over to the Holiday Inn in San Diego and ask them if
we can use their Wifi while we are there.
I also plan
to call my friend, Pat, who will be there and see if we can get together.
We are
getting ready to go see a Pearl Farm on Rangiroa.
Later:
The Pearl
Farm turned out to be a two hour commercial about buying black pearls. I bought
a highly imperfect pearl on a decorative piece of mother of pearl for $25 from
a vendor on the beach. The necklace is on a piece of string but I will put it on a
different chain when I get home.
Bill really
wanted me to buy something to commemorate our anniversary next week. So I did.
I am actually trying to simplify my life. But he’s my Honey and
once in while I have to humor him.
Rangiroa is a
huge coral atoll surrounding a lagoon 43 miles across. It consists of a narrow
strip of coral about 150 yards wide separating the lagoon and the ocean. It’s a
little bit of nothing. There is one paved road that possibly circles the atoll but
I’m not sure. Pearl farming is the main business. We saw a very small landing
strip about the length of the ship that had a tower and a satellite dish. The
few buildings we saw were trailers.
Bill thought he saw an LDS church in a
trailer.
There is no
sign pointing the way to evacuate in case of tsunami as we saw on other
islands. They must go out in boats if a big storm or tsunami is coming. There
is no place else to go. (This photo is from the Air France website.)
We only saw a small part of the atoll. It is one of the largest in the world with a circumference of 174 miles. It is the remains of a volcano that gradually sank. The highest elevation is 39 feet. Polynesians have lived here since the 5th century and the Dutch arrived in 1616. So, it's been here awhile.
As usual, the
water is sparkling blue. The few women we saw are gorgeous. A
French speaking man (possibly from France) gave us a short lecture and
demonstration on how they cultivate pearls. The company has about two millions
oysters in process at a time.
It takes two years to grow a smaller pearl, four
years for a larger and six years for a big pearl. The whole process is
uncertain and they never know what they have until they open the shell. The
pearl I bought is not very round and has marks but I am pretty sure it is real.
Another spectacular sail away. This is one from Rangiroa.
