Monday, June 9, 2014

Tahiti

We have arrived at Tahiti, island of dreams for many and I can certainly see why as the island is so beautiful. Congratulations Dave - you made it after 40 years in the making! Actually Dave has done an amazing job of getting us here as the Tuamotus atolls with their many narrow passes and pounding reefs were not easy to navigate. Dave was constantly researching and questioning the local tide tables for slack, low, and high tides as well as incoming and outgoing currents to determine the best time to make the pass through the narrow cuts in the reefs. And all that needed to be timed on when we would arrive at the next atoll as we did not want to arrive at night, so Dave had his work cut out for him, but like I said, he did an amazing job and he is actually still sane! So he has thankfully put that task behind him as we have now left the Tuamotus and are now officially in the Society Islands which include Tahiti, Moorea, Raitea, and Bora Bora along with others. Personally, I believe the Society Islands are the best of all as they encompass the dramatic lush mountain tops with sheer cliffs of the Marquesas along with the shallow beautiful blue lagoons of the Tuamotus.

The last two days have been spent sightseeing. Friday we spent the day touring the town of Papeete which included the municipal market and a pearl (not pearl farm) museum. This is a long weekend for the locals since tomorrow is a holiday (Pentecostal Monday) and Friday afternoon traffic was unbelievable - rivals LA traffic as we crawled along the one main road back to the marina! Yesterday, we toured the entire island by car (10 hours!) courtesy of a local guide. Corrine was wonderful as she grew up on this island and her ancestors go back many generations. She was so informative and provided so much local knowledge and legends. Thank you Corrine for your many stories and the view from your home! We now feel as though we have explored Tahiti and have a better idea and feel for this beautiful island. Of course, Dave and I think the best part of all is to watch the sunset every evening over the island of Moorea from the cockpit of our boat. With all that being said (and since I have internet), I will go ahead and let the pictures tell the story....

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Looks absolutely breath taking!!! Congratulations!!!

Safe Travels!!

Archie & Ann

Josh said...

Amazing pics! Continuing to enjoy watching the journey unfold.