Oct 6. Moorea

The mental image you have of the South Pacific becomes reality in Moorea. This is the place. Mountains, beaches, trees, nature. It is all here.

Our day in Moorea was glorious. It was bright sun shine with a cool breeze all day. The weather was perfect for a day on the water and at the beach. We boarded an independent tour boat for snorkeling, beach and lunch. Jack floated among the sharks for over an hour while I played with the sting rays. The only thing lacking was an underwater camera.

Then we went to the beach for lunch. It was similar to the lunch on Bora Bora, but with rum punch instead of a roasted pig. The recipe for “poisson crude” was exactly the same: chopped fresh tuna washed in salt water, lots of lime juice squeezed onto it and add cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions, then squeeze the milk from freshly grated coconuts onto it. Serve with grilled Mahi Mahi, chicken, fresh fruit, and local beer. Serves 42.

The Tahitian beer (Hinan was the name maybe) is a Pilsener with a strong flavor of hops. It goes well with food but is a bit too hoppy to drink straight, for me anyway..

Being on several Cruise Critic tours now, we are getting familiar with the people. Its fun to know so many. We were 42 on the boat today. Sarah (Catsdinner) did a great job arranging this tour and trying to keep track of us all. But when we left the island after lunch we were missing one couple.

There had been several tours on the same island and a lot of people. We were the last to leave and once our boat was full there was no one left on land except for a few people way down at the end of the island. We called out for the missing and looked in the small group at the end of the island. Eventually we had to leave and return to the ship. Everyone was on board at sailing so I can only imagine they got on a different boat for the return trip. I'll have to ask around today.

The Classical Guitarist was wonderful. He played varied selections from Jazz to Mendelssohn.