Pinch Me, I Must Be Dreaming

Before arriving in our first French Polynesian port, we were told that each island would be prettier than the previous. I, being a skeptic, thought they were just doing some salesman's puffing. Actually - they truly are, and in different ways. The first, Nuku Hiva, was formed by volcanic eruptions as are most of these islands. Gorgeous, mountainous, covered with dense, really green vegetation, turquoise seas and equally beautiful blue skies dotted with puffy white cumulus clouds. Lots of photo ops. Who could ask for more, right?

Then we arrive at Rangiroa, a string of coral encircling a luminous turquoise and jade-green lagoon. Stunningly beautiful, yet totally different. The highest point I saw was perhaps 10 to 12 feet above sea-level, palm trees everywhere, multiple water sports opportunities, maybe a 1000 inhabitants, a tiny University, very little to no industry other than tourism and the making of Tahitian Pearls (formerly called black pearls, but their resident expert at Gauguin Pearls was emphatic about their proper name - he has a point, I saw none that were actually black).

Since my lung capacity is inadequate for water-oriented activities, my excursion of choice was the cultured pearl factory where I learned more than I thought there was to know about this matter. Here they strive for at least 8 mm in size requiring approximately 18 months of growth. "Want bigger, wait longer. Want smaller, go to China!" They employ two guys sitting stooped over a worktable eight hours a day, five days a week year round seeding/fertilizing/artificially inseminating the seashells. As the market demands, they open the shell and retrieve the pearl. Ideally they are perfectly round with no blemishes but what I saw was that they are all perfectly beautiful. Yes, I made a small purchase at #gauguinspearl. Later that afternoon our Trivia team took first place! Woohoo! Three whole Big-O points each!

Next stop, Moorea. Back to volcanic peaks, step, narrow, sometimes paved roads, sometimes not, lush vegetation, rich soil that will grow anything, tropical rains, home of the best pineapple I have ever tasted, vanilla bean farms, abundant photo ops. All of which I took in from the back of a Toyota four-wheel drive vehicle along with seven others from the ship.

First stop after traveling almost straight up a barely one lane road was a vanilla bean farm which has suffered considerable damage from fire ants. We were constantly warned to not touch the plants - which warning stopped few. Then back down the almost straight up hillside to a lovely clear stream to feed some fish. A Polynesian woman was standing in the middle of the stream when we arrived waiting to entertain us. We were all invited to join her in the stream for this feeding. Not wishing to be the entree, I chose to stay high and dry. Supposedly, these particular fish are blind but have a highly developed sense of smell, thus can smell the pieces of another species of fish being thrown into the water. The locals treated them like pets as the fish swam in, around and between their legs. Cool, clean, beautiful locale, just not my thing. Next stop was a huge farm with trees and just about any kind of edible plant one can imagine. As our proud guide stated, we can grow anything here, but most is not native to the islands. We saw fields of pineapples, mango trees, breadfruit trees, flowering trees and plants, you name it and it was there. Later, at the Sacred Castle, we feasted on some of the local pineapple. Don't expect to find it at HEB or Bayside, but if you ever find a Victoria pineapple, make it yours. Sweetest thing you can possibly imagine.

As our tour was coming to a close, I asked our guide if it was difficult here during the pandemic. His answer, given with a shiver down his back, was, "Catastrophic! No tourist, no cargo ships, no money to purchase necessities, none of those necessities to be purchased." Then he said with a huge smile, "Thank you for coming back now!"

Another thing to be crossed off my to do list: go off-off roading on a flat bench in the back of a pick-up truck in a Tropical Paradise! Highly recommend it!!!!!

Back to the ship and off to Pateete (Tahiti), capital and largest city of French Polynesia. Our arrival was at dusk where these most glorious pictures were taken from my veranda while sipping a glass of wine. Does life get any better than this?

Sunset and Moon over Tahiti as we enter the harbor

Make "Today is Someday" your way of life, not just a slogan! Explore Tahiti!