Another day
in Paradise! 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.
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 kneeled 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. This is what it looked like to me.
