We were up early again today, but didn't rush out on deck to watch our arrival in Huahine. The sky looked quite overcast, and, besides, this was not our first visit to this island. We did, however, step out on the Promenade Deck on our way to breakfast in the Club Restaurant and saw that, in addition to being overcast, it was quite windy. Fortunately, we had no firm plans for today; we had thought we might take the $8pp (each way) shuttle to the nearest village of Fare (FA-ray) where, we have been told, there is a beach, but the cloudiness and wind discouraged us from doing even that. Instead we lingered over breakfast (I may well turn into a pineapple from eating so much. Or papaya, cantaloupe, watermelon or oranges. Every breakfast is a feast!), and then returned to our cabin for some administrative duties.
Today is the last time we might have reliable internet for four to six days, so don't worry (Mom!) if I don't post. I will try, of course, but we have two upcoming sea days enroute to Nuku Hiva, almost 1000 miles away, the only island we'll visit in the Marquesas, and then another sea day on our return to Rangiroa. I don't recall that Internet was all that good around Rangiroa, so I'm not counting on it being any better going to the even more remote Marquesas. I will continue to blog, of course, but may have to play catch up in publishing posts when we're back online.
Anyway, back to today...we started having a conversation that we've been kind of skirting around for the past week ago about what our winter plans will look like after December 18th, when we currently have flights to return home. All along, in the back of our minds, we have considered the possibility of extending our stay on the Pacific Princess. Maybe this explains why, when people ask me if we'll be on the Royal Princess in January, I really don't have an answer. More thought is required, but we used the ship's (relatively) reasonable Internet while anchored between Huahini Nui and Huahini Iti to examine our options.
By the time we decided we had gone as far as we could today in taxing our brains (we did everything short of putting together a Venn diagram, but I could swear G was secretly drawing one on a scratch pad), it was lunch time. The Panorama Buffet continues to underwhelm, but, for its size, it's as good as it can be. Too many days find me having a salad and then eating the crusts off G's inevitable two pieces of pizza. Little else appeals, but, with such fantastic breakfasts and dinners, we are not starving. The dessert bar is always stocked with lots of choices...but I'm trying to avoid it at lunch!!
G decided to ride a tender to shore just to get off the ship, but I wanted to attend the 2pm folkloric show up on the pool deck, and so we parted ways (such occasional separations are integral to maintaining our sanity). The Mammas of Huahine were performing, and, once again, the star of the show was the littlest dancer, just 9 years old and cute as a button.
The dancers are accompanied by several male drummers, but one male dancer does get in on the act...
The bridge connecting Huahine Nui to Huahine Iti (try saying that the times fast without smiling). The current in Maroe Bay is very strong due to the tidal flows narrowing between the two islands.
The sun did eventually make an appearance, but I limited my time on deck to watching the folkloric show. Then I went to the fitness center for my first significant workout of the cruise. Like everything on the ship, the fitness center at first seems tiny but ultimately proves itself to meet the needs of passengers. And, speaking of the ship and our fellow passengers, I will take some time over the next few days at sea to share some thoughts about both.
I knew G had successfully found Internet on shore; I had logged in to upload the photos accompanying this post around 3:30pm, while the ship was still stable, and saw that he had copied me on some emails he sent out. We are always looking for Internet on shore. We've never found any that is any faster than dial up, but, at this point, dial up speeds are a lot better than what we're experiencing on the ship. I very much appreciate the emails I'm receiving from readers and home, but, sadly, it's rare that I can actually read one. Download times are so slow that I'm spending the minutes to read Mom's daily update and publish my blog posts; everything else has to wait for faster wifi on land. Thank goodness for those Princess e-postcards we can send for free from the ship...they are my primary form of communication with the real world aside from my blog, and nearly everyone I know has received at least a couple of them (and, with their photos of French Polynesia, they really are beauitful postcards!)
As it turned out, G had caught a $5 ride in the back of a pickup truck into the village of Fare where, as he tells it, he was directed to Internet for roughly $6 an hour. To reach it he had to go through an alley, around a corner, up some back steps and through a curtained corridor where he had to knock three times and know the secret handshake. It was a sure sign of how desperate he is for Internet that he was willing to jump through these required hoops to view the security webcams at home.
The open terrace behind the Panorama Buffet was closed again today. The explanation by way of signs that were posted is that the closure is due to the insect population in Maroe Bay, but we were told that they have to spray the terrace once per cruise simply to control the insects, and that Maroe Bay is where the insect mitigation practice takes place. It's as good a place as any, with most passengers off the ship during the day.
There was no notable sunset tonight as there was the last time we sailed from Huahine, which was disappointing, but it had been an up and down day, weather-wise. Still; we stopped by the Elite Lounge before we went to dinner with Jose and Aleksander. We then listened to live music performed by the Pacific Princess orchestra before watching magician Greg Morefield's show in the Cabaret Lounge. He's so good that it's the second time we've seen this show; his passenger participation changes it up a bit and keeps it entertaining.
We're about to go to the Halloween party being held in the Pacific Lounge. The Pacific Princess is bouncing a bit tonight as it cruises for two days in open seas to Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas. We are grateful for our Deck 3 midship cabin; it's the most stable place on this small ship.