Papeete Tahiti and Bora Bora! Check us out on the Holland America Blog!

Wednesday, Jan 26 – Papeete Tahiti – 86 degrees
“Polynesia” means many islands and refers to a sub region of Oceania with over 1000 islands in the central and southern Pacific Ocean. It is more of an anthropological, rather than a geographical term, referring to a population general belonging to one ethno-cultural family as a result of centuries of maritime migrations. Religious carvings, farming, fishing, weather prediction, out-rigger canoe building and navigation were highly developed skills. Navigators were highly respected and each island maintains a house or complex for canoe-building and navigational training.

Papeete is the administrative and commercial center and hub for tourism and was first settled in 1818. France took control of the Tahitian Islands and made them a protectorate in 1842. Herman Melville was imprisoned here in 1842 and Paul Gauguin lived here for many years. There are approx. 170,000 people on the island. This is the largest of the 118 islands and atolls.

We hired a car with new friends from Bird Key, FL (just down the road from us on Longboat Key!) and had a drive around the 71 miles on the island of Tahiti. There is one main road through the town of Papeete with lots of traffic so we crawled along until we came to the airport (nonstop service from LA), past the Museum of Tahiti and her islands, and stopped at the Marae of Aruhurahu (temple). This is a national treasure and the only restored example with black stones arranged in a low flat pyramid structure about 5 feet tall. There are two restored open-air stone temples which were used in pre-Christian days for religious ceremonies, meetings and cultural rites, sacrifices and burials.

The Grottos of Mara’a have a nice bordered walkway and the Paroa cave. The flowers and plants were beautiful.

The artist Paul Gauguin lived on Tahiti from 1897-1901 and we visited his home where replicas of his art are exhibited. Next door is the Harrison Smith Botanical Gardens.

We finally found the Arahoho blowhole (when we saw the pull-off for a large bus) and never found the waterfalls. Drove past James Norman Hall’s home (WWI veteran, author of Mutiny on the Bounty (plus others) whose library has more than 3000 books) and tried to find a gas station where they did not have a minimum on the credit card! We had not changed money to the Polynesian French franc so we finally met a nice girl who gave us a lousy exchange rate for our dollars. BUT mission accomplished and we were off with a full tank of gas.

Point Venus marks the island’s northernmost land, is where Captain Samuel Wallis came ashore in 1767 to become the first European to discover Tahiti, the site where Captain Cook recorded the path of Venus’ orbit in 1769 and where Captain William Bligh and the Bounty crew came in 1788 to collect breadfruit plants. There is beautiful black sand, picnic tables, memorials commemorating the first missionaries to the region in 1797, snack area, gift shop and a light house.

Remember: McDonald’s here does NOT offer free WIFI, there is absolutely nothing free in Tahiti, they speak French, they stop for you in cross-walks, prices are about 3x what you pay anywhere else and this is the commercial island and port for all of the Society Islands (such as Bora Bora and Moorea). The drop-dead gorgeous views of the water are on the other islands and this island is used as a stopping over point for air connections and commerce.

Met with a passenger who was leaving the ship; dinner in the dining room and entertainment by Peter Cousens, an Australian singer on their Australia Day, their Independence Day.

Enjoyed the movie “Australia” which had beautiful scenes of Western Australia and a fairly good story line.

“Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling.” – Margaret Lee Runbeck

Thursday, Jan 27 – Bora Bora, Society Islands
The Pearl of the Pacific! Known for black pearls, they are not necessarily black! The gems range in color from silvery gray to deep green with specks of gold, pink or blue and are produced by black lipped oysters.

What a beautiful island! You forget how truly colorful the waters surrounding the island are until you get out of the main town (small town) of Vaitape and explore (drive along) the one lone road.

We decided to sleep in - 8:30. When I opened the curtains, there was a ship perfectly centered in our window frame - the Paul Gauguin! And our friends were on it! We had carefully checked our itineraries and found out we would miss each other by one day in both ports…so obviously something had changed! Hurrying to dress, we called the front desk and asked them to get a note through the port agent to the other ship. And as I was hurrying off the ship, via tender, we received a note from them to meet onshore!! So we finally met up and we had already been granted permission to board their ship! So off we went and toured their 6-star vessel which is ideal for exploring the Society, Cook and Marquesas Islands for 7, 9 or 14 nights. Nice staterooms with dark paneling, a Tahitian sculpture in the stateroom hallway, L’Occitaine products, all-inclusive drinks, no tipping, open seating, fantastic menus and decorated in local fabrics to give it a true Polynesian feel. The best feature is their marina off the back of the ship for waterskiing and kayaking and equipment for snorkeling. Enjoyed a wonderful lunch onboard and they went off to the cruise line’s private island (motu) for an afternoon in the sun. What a fun day to unexpectedly meet up with friends in a different country!

www.boraboralaverie.com – We met the nicest man who helped us with the internet (an hour at $5 - which was truly a bargain in this part of the world). His internet store is also the town Laundromat, about a 15 minute walk to the left from the port area (past the school).

Wandered around town to the various stores and churches (Protestant and Catholic); met the local woman selling fresh tuna for $20 a fish, watermelon for $30 (for ONE WATERMELON) and many vendors of pearls. Some of the crew were under a breadfruit tree. One was in the tree throwing breadfruit (an oval/round light green fruit) to the other two who were holding open their beach towel to catch them. They told us how to eat them – either boiled and salted OR lightly fried to taste like French fries! They knocked on our door about 2 hours later with hot, fried breadfruit and it was absolutely delicious! Too bad the Jamaicans did not like it after all the effort Captain Cook and the other explorers made to bring it to the Americas. It could have been a national staple!

After dinner onboard, we decided to go back in to town. Never know when we will be back again to see Bora Bora at night! The church choir was rehearsing in the outdoor covered stadium and we enjoyed their singing. They had several mobile trailer restaurants near the dock for either dinner or snacks. The stars were out, the town was just about asleep, the streets were dark, a few fishermen were at the pier and it was a nice quiet evening for wandering the dusty streets of Vaitape.

“…Never before had I seen waters the colour of the rainbow or like fireworks, springing right out of some maddened imagination, or from Gauguin’s own palette. Waters the colour of bronze, of copper, gold, silver, mother-of-pearl, pearl, jade, emeralds; moonlight or the aurora borealis. The stars themselves seemed to have fallen into the sea, scintillating brilliantly on the lagoon’s surface, in bright sunlight...Who could find the words, what poet the images, what painter even the colors, to describe this scene? I give up.” - Paul-Emile Victor, upon his return to Bora Bora after a 25-year absence

Friday, Jan 28 – Bora Bora, Society Islands
The island is surrounded by a lagoon and a fringing reef. In the center of the island are the remnants of an extinct volcano rising to two peaks, Mount Pahia and Mount Otemanu. There are several high-end resorts built in surrounding motus (islands) surrounding the lagoons with over-water bungalows on stilts in the lagoon. The island’s main attraction is its calm and crystal-clear lagoon. This island is what you see in the movies – various shades of blue and green waters with crashing waves at the outer reef.

We took the free tour to The Farm, Bora Pearl Company. Ask for Ms. Vainui Hutia and tell her Luisa sent you! www.borapearl.com They show how the oysters are injected and that it takes 4-10 years to create the colorful pearls of the Pacific. And of course they have a showroom! You can choose your own pearl and design your jewelry or choose from their masterpieces - - the best quality pearl necklace was $70,000!
Did you know…you should make it a habit to rinse and dry your pearls before you put them away. You may even polish them with a soft cloth containing a drop of olive oil so they maintain their luster and do not dry out. DON’T use commercial jewelry cleaners, never clean them in an ultrasonic cleaner, never steam-clean them, never use detergents, bleaches, powdered cleansers, baking soda or ammonia-based products and do not wear pearls when the string is wet as it will attract dirt. And don’t hang them to dry or use toothbrushes to clean them!


The island tour with Leon of Heimana Tours was an interesting two hour drive (on the road built by Americans during WWII) passing by the beautiful blue-green sea and by the non-defunct WWII army base. The island was our South Pacific supply base with an oil depot, air strip, sea place base and defensive fortifications. They maintained a supply force of nine ships, 20000 tons of equipment and nearly 5000 men for approx. 4+ years. Seven massive canons were set up at strategic points around the island to protect it from military attack (we saw one). Leon also showed us how to make a dinner plate from the leaves of the plant and how they use the special tree leaves for the thatched huts in the hotels.

Suggestion: To enjoy the beautiful views, take the airport ferry (FREE!!) round trip from the main dock in Vaitape across the colorful lagoon.

In each port, we are given a currency conversion chart with translations of various phrases we might need, such as “take me to …” and they have several locations listed. Wonderful for the independent traveler! Can’t wait to see the ones for India and Hong Kong!

After a beautiful sail-out from Bora Bora and nice dinner of salmon and Italian wedding soup, Sally Jones, an English comedian and powerful singer/entertainer performed. Computer work while listening to the wonderful live bands…

“Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures.” - H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Saturday, Jan 29 – At sea, heading southwesterly to Rarotonga, Cook Islands
New speaker is Brigadier General Charles M. Duke, Jr, a retired Air Force Reserve Brigadier General, an astronaut with 71 hours and 14 minutes on the moon at one time and several other space missions totaling 265 hours in space. “Race to the Moon”

www.hollandamerica.com !!! – On the home page, click on the Holland America Blog. Scroll to the Amsterdam ship Mutiny on the Bounty Theme night and you will see us with our hostess, Grace and our maitre’d Komang!

Rain clouds in the distance. Nap! Lunch with friends and work.
Tropical Paradise formal night! The Rat Pack Returns was the entertainment.

“Make your optimism come true.” – Unknown