Food on our vacation.

It is little wonder that most people gain 10-20 pounds on a cruise. The chocolate ones are especially hard for me to resist.


This drink is a beachcomber.

A goat cheese appetizer that was just delicious!

Both this dragon and the guitar are sculpted out of margarine.


Green apple soup.

The Princess Love Boat Dessert.

A moana.

Steak and shrimp - YUM!















What can you say?

Moorea, French Polynesia

Moorea was our last port of call before returning to Papeete, Tahiti.  This island was just beautiful, even though the weather was not that great while we were there.  I can't imagine how beautiful it must be when the sun is out. There is only one public beach on Moorea.  The island has five villages and each one has an elementary school.

This is Mt. Tohiea, the highest mountain on Moorea Island at 1207 meters.

 

Wild chickens roam free on every island to eat the centipedes and they are surprising good at getting out of the way of traffic.

In the previous post I wrote about the bands put on the coconut trees to protect them from the land crabs and you can see one of those bands in this picture.

 

It goes without saying that this tree worked hard to reach the sun.

We also visited the Bali Hai hotel. The grounds around the hotel were beautiful.

There are 8 very large hotels on the island and 4 smaller ones. The road around the island is 62km long and there are 4 motu islands in the lagoon of Moorea. 

Don't you want to just sit down in a chair and order a drink?

Ten different tour companies operate on Moorea alone. I just had to take a few last pictures of the water and hotel huts around the island. 

Goodbye French Polynesia! What a great trip.

Bora Bora

I tried helmet diving for the first time on Bora Bora. I really enjoyed how close you could get to the fish and coral compared to snorkeling. We all had a little feed bag attached to our helmet. When I would release some of the food, so many fish swarmed around me that I could not see anything.

I was really hoping to see one of the huge turtles that are famous around the islands but none came around while I was in the water.

We did however get to play with and feed a stingray.

 

Everywhere you look there are gorgeous flowers. 

 

Hurricanes are rare on Bora Bora; the last one of any size struck the island over 10 years ago. There are several large hotels on the island.

Tupe is the Polynesia name for these land crabs. These crabs live underground at the base of coconut trees. The crabs are incredibly strong - they can break open a coconut. Rings are placed around the coconut trees to keep the crabs from climbing the trees and eating the coconuts.

 

Bloody Mary's was built in 1979. Many famous guests have visited what was once a hotel, but is now a restaurant and bar.

One of the famous guest lists located outside the restaurant.

Debbie standing by the sign on the side of the restaurant.  

The dollar wall.

 

I loved the inside of this restaurant and would like to have dinner there and wiggle my toes in the sand. 

 

The brown fruit visible in this tree is called "Bread Fruit".  Locals use this fruit like we use potatoes. 

Debbie enjoying the beach!

Next up is our last port of call: Moorea. 

Raiatea, French Polynesia

I did not go on a shore excursion on this island, so while Debbie was on her 4-wheel drive tour I walked around a little. Raiatea is the second largest island in French Polynesia.  The island is located approximately 120 miles northwest of Tahiti.  Raiatea was known as "Sacred Havai'i" and originally was the center of royalty, religion, culture and history. 
I took these first three pictures from our balcony on the ship.  The port had a variety of shops and markets along the waterfront. 

I could stare at the color of the water forever, just mesmerized.

I went for a walk along the shore just taking in all the colors.

One of the ferries used to take people from one island to another.

 

 

The humidity was so high that I had a hard time keeping the camera lens from fogging up.

Aerial views of the airport serving this island and the harbor.

The children of Raiatea came onboard and danced for us. The youngest of the girls was three years old. These dancers make their own costumes and dance routines and then compete against children of the same age from other islands in a big contest held every year in May.

Our next stop is Bora Bora where I try Helmet Diving for the first time.