French Polynesia: Highs and Lows

Greetings once again from sunny Santiago, Chile!  I just got back yesterday from my adventure in French Polynesia.  It was fantastic.  I'll try to keep the chatter brief since there are lots of pictures here--here's a map to follow along.

This was my first view of the islands.  I learned later that it's Moorea.  We landed on Tahiti but the society islands are definitely close enough together to see across the water.

Our welcome at the Papeete airport.

We couldn't embark until after 6 p.m. so we checked into Le Meridien for the day.  Beautiful pool, beautiful beach, beautiful weather.

I also managed to find some time to do some water skiing.

Thanks very much to Patrick and the Ski Nautique Club Tahiti for taking me out on the water!  It was quite the experience.

Our first port after leaving Papeete very late at night was the island of Moorea.  Most of our crew took it easy because we knew we'd be back to Moorea for 3 nights before heading home.  I hiked up the mountain between the bays, Mt. Rotui.

Bad weather seemed to follow us around the islands.  I didn't summit because of high winds coming over the ridge, and I had to wait out a pretty nasty storm on the way down.  But the views were spectacular.  Check out the color of that water!

Don't let any brochures for Bora Bora or any of the islands fool you.  The over-the-water bungalows are a dime a dozen down here.  Every resort has them--but they sure are pretty.

Our second port in the Society Islands was Huahine.  In general you can't go wrong pronouncing every vowel for a Tahitian work.  hoo-ah-hee-nay.  We tendered into every port except Raiatea.  It made the going ashore process a little longer but the anchorages were stunning.

We took a taxi ride with a French driver named George.  He was very knowledgeable and showed us great view points, vanilla, coconut, and eel farms.

Our next port was Raiatea.  All the islands (except Rangiroa) that we visited are volcanic in origin and thus have huge peaks in the middle.  There is generally one highway skirting the rim of the island and they mark it based on the number of kilometers away from the main city.  My hike on Raiatea began around KM10.

I was excited about this hike.  They said you couldn't find the entrance without a guide, and there is a rare white flower that grows only on this island only on this plateau that makes a popping noise when it opens.  Well, I found the entrance, and I hiked all the way up, but I didn't find the flower.  Beautiful views of the island though.

Several of the islands have boxes like this at the entrance of every house.  The local bakery delivers baguettes twice a day.  Sign me up.

Bora Bora was the next stop.  This island was easily the most touristy.  We were anchored overnight to enjoy the many opportunities offered on shore.  The first day we took the famous Patrick's Tour.  We snorkeled with eagle rays and reef sharks (they feed them so they swarm the boat) then went to Patrick's Motu (island) for lunch.

My underwater camera was great for snorkeling.  Unfortunately it got temperamental at deeper levels so I didn't get many good diving pictures.

You've never seen so many sharks!  The most around us at one time probably pushed 50.  What an incredible experience.  They're very passive, maybe only 3-4 feet in length.  I saw bigger sharks on my dives.

Lunch Polynesian style.  They cook in an underground oven for hours and hours.  Whole pig, chicken spinach soup, banana pudding, and breadfruit, a starchy fruit that grows high on trees.

Day 2 of Bora Bora was my first SCUBA dive.  I have definitely been spoiled.  Crystal clear water, white sand bottom, beautiful coral, and more fish, rays, and sharks than you can see anywhere else in the world.

My camera wasn't behaving very well but I got a few pictures.  So many fish!

The highlight of this dive was definitely the manta ray we saw.  It must have been 15 feet across.  They're so majestic floating through the water, it looks like they're flying.

After Bora Bora we had a day at sea for the 820 nautical mile sail to the Marquesas Islands.  I'll take this opportunity to show you around the ship.

This was my state room.  Upgrade to a penthouse--incredible.  Oceania gets big points for offering all non-alcoholic drinks at no charge.  Those bottles of water on the counter were replaced twice a day which came in real handy for hiking.

Unfortunately the pool deck didn't get much use on our cruise.  We had consistent clouds for 11 days.  I wasn't complaining though--great hiking weather.

I played trivia as often as possible.  This was our team of 8, "The Guessers."  These folks are SMART.  We won every day except one.  I was most helpful on anything post-2000.

Sweet Caroline Karaoke!

Nuku Hiva was possibly the port I was most looking forward to.  Survivor season 4 was filmed here (I'm a shameless fan).  The beach behind my head was home to Boston Rob on his first Survivor appearance.  Very cool!

We took a 4x4 tour of the island the first day we were there.  Our second stop in the Marquesas was cancelled because of infrastructure problems so were were 2 days on Nuku Hiva.  No complaints.  The second day was one to remember.

I had read lots about the Vaipo Waterfall accessible from the next bay over.  I was able to find a captain sailing over on our second morning.  12 dolphins decided to join us.

Because the clientele on Oceania's cruises is typically of the older generation, I spent a lot of time with employees on the ship.  The Entertainment Crew (singers and dancers) were especially fun.  Diana was able to come on this excursion with us.

The hike into the valley was incredible.  This was the first waterfall we saw, but not the main attraction.

They suggest a guide for this hike but I'm not sure why.  As you can see here, the valley is pretty narrow--you either go in or out.  It would be tough to get lost, and once you get to the waterfall at the end the only way to go is back.  The most useful thing our guide said was to speak softly or the rocks would fall.  Sounds like a plan.

I love this picture.

The final goal!  The waterfall falls into a chute at the back of the valley so it's tough to see.  There is sure plenty of mist though.  We had to continually wipe off our lenses to get good pictures.  The pool behind me here was calling, so 4 or 5 of us jumped in.  The rocks in the background were great for jumping; the water was very deep.

We pushed our luck getting back to the ship.  We took the second-to-last tender back just in time.  It would have been the last, but there was one more passenger that got lost on a different hike and had to be escorted back by police.  Yikes.

Another sea day after Nuku Hiva beckoned me to the spa.  This is Lala, a fantastic masseuse from Thailand.  She told me her special is Thai Massage so I went for it.  It was fantastic.  It focuses on stretching the body and relieving pressure points which was perfect considering all the hiking I was doing.  Thanks Lala!

Darwin, my favorite waiter from Honduras.  There weren't a lot of opportunities to practice Spanish on board but he kept me sharp.

Alexandra, our Russian housekeeper.  She was quite the fireball.  Always smiling and very dedicated to her work.

Michelle (left) is Diana's (right) roommate.  Both are dancers on the ship.  They did a great job making me feel like I wasn't the only young person on the cruise.  Kelly works for University of Colorado and organized an alumni trip on the cruise.

Valerie, another of the Entertainment Crew, actually went to high school with a fellow Notre Dame grad who is also working in Santiago.  It's such a small world!

Rangiroa was our last port.  Our butler Xavier was stopping by as we were leaving.  He was a real class act--very professional and quite attentive.  His services we used most were breakfast in the room and water and coca cola refills.

I did two dives at Rangiroa.  It's world renowned for the Tiputa Pass where big fish come to feed on little fish who are feeding on plankton drawn through by the strong current.  I don't think I'll ever dive again in a place so full of life.  In the morning we saw 6 bottle nose dolphins, more barracuda, reef sharks, black tip sharks, and other fish than I could ever hope to count.  In the afternoon we saw a hammerhead shark.  Unbelievable.

Rangiroa was the only coral island we visited.  This led to a very different profile of the island.  The beaches consisted of broken coral and were filled with hermit crabs like this one.

After porting in Papeete, we took a ferry 30 minutes to nearby Moorea.  The rest of the group piled into taxis but I decided to hike over the mountains to the other side of the island.  It was an unforgettable hike.  I got to watch a storm rise over the ridge (which came right for me--sigh) and basically rode a slip-and-slide down the other side.  Amazing views and beautiful jungle.

We stayed 3 nights at the Intercontinental in over-water bungalows.  It was awesome.  I think I spent more time in the water than out.  Kayaking, snorkeling, swimming, you name it.  What a blast.

Our first full day we went out on a catamaran to see the lagoon.  We fed rays and sharks again.  Here I am with an eagle ray.

Hey look, the sun!  We had it for all 3 days on Moorea.  We saw some incredible sunsets right from our porch.

Our last day I got to ski again.  It was a blast.  Check out the color of that water!

We had to catch a 5:20 a.m. ferry back to Papeete to make our 9:05 flight.  The upshot: this sunrise.  It was so beautiful.  I've seen many more sunsets than sunrises in my life, but every sunrise has been memorable.

Before boarding on my way back to Santiago, I was walking through the Duty Free shop and spotted cookies with my name on them.  Fun stuff.

Thank you all for following along on my journey!  Tomorrow starts a month of South American travel before the school year starts.  Torres del Paine, Bariloche, Chiloe, Rio de Janiero, and Iguazu Falls will be covered as soon as possible.  I'm going to try to blog intermittently to avoid another novel like this one, but internet and technology may be limited so I'll do what I can.

Santiago--goodbye again!