Day 41: Papeete (turnaround day)

After several days of (as reader Paige says) livin' like a rock star, today we came back down to earth and lived like a local. And it was so much fun that I told G that a large part of me is hoping we don't get a cabin for the December 28th cruise, because we'd have a great adventure exploring Papeete and the island of Tahiti.  

The fun started before we even left the Pacific Princess this morning. We left breakfast in the Club Restaurant to hear Tahitian music coming from the atrium. Several Tahitians had been passengers on the last cruise, and before they disembarked today, they sat down and started playing Tahitian music and singing. What a gift!  All of them, every one, whether they played an instrument or not, knew the words to all the songs, all sung in Tahitian. It was impromptu and perfect and G and I pulled up chairs and sat there listening until they were done. What they were doing, while it might have seemed a bit different, is truly the norm in French Polynesia. Everywhere we go, people are sitting with friends and playing music. I love it!

While I was sitting in the atrium, I turned around and saw more Christmas trees had been set up overnight.

We had a different experience in mind for today (we had been able to check the security webcams at home yesterday from the Intercontinental Moorea, so G wasn't intent on finding fast wifi). We left the Pacific Princess and, as always, took a few minutes to check out the palleted items on the pier to be loaded on the ship.  These boxes had been processed at the Florida Distribution Center on Odtober 5th and took until today to reach the ship.  It's obvious that, when a container doesn't arrive in time on this itinerary, we simply do without (as we did without Coke syrup a few cruises ago). 

There's never a shortage of fresh pineapple, though, as they most likely come from the island of Tahiti.

As we headed to the Tourist Information office right at the pier, we saw, just outside of it, a beautiful display of local fruits and vegetables. Apparently, on the last Friday of every month, they do a local food cooking demonstration right next to the pier, and we had a few samples of cooked breadfruit and plantains before we went into the information center to ask some questions. 

Today's chefs wearing typical Tahitian dresses

We had a goal today to go to a store called Carrefour, just beyond the intercontinental Tahiti and the Faa'a (Fah-AH-ah) International Airport we had arrived at 41 days ago. Carrefour had been describe as the closest thing Tahiti has to a KMart or Super Target. G has been saying since Day 1 that the locals can't possibly be buying everything they need at the same stores we've been shopping at, and he was right. We just didn't know this store existed until a few days ago when another passenger mentioned he had walked there while staying at the Intercontinental Tahiti. A taxi from the pier would have been $26; we were determined to get there by local bus. We were told at the information center where the bus station was and how much it would cost (we loaded up all our change before we left the ship). We had to wait quite a while...one bus to Faa'a arrived but filled up before we got on it, and apparently passengers aren't allowed to stand.  It pulled away and we were left wondering what the heck was going on, but, because of our confused looks, we were taken under the wing of a father and his teenage son who said they were going to the same store, and would let us know where to get off the bus. They did and it all worked just perfectly. You know we love these sort of experiences!

I can't tell you now valuable the Maps.me app has proven to be. I was able to search yesterday to see that the closest Carrefour to the ship was 4.2 miles away, and today we were able to follow along on the app as the bus went toward the airport and beyond it. It's very comforting, and will save us if we end up spending 10 days in Papeete. 

We were so happy to see a store that looked like a store at home that we played the tourist and took photos of signage and the parking lot.

I swear G was starting to tear up at this point.

Christmas decorations were already up, and it was so funny to see snowmen and reindeer and polar bears in Tahiti at all, let alone next to tropical flowers.

Write a letter to Santa and Carrefour will get it to the North Pole!

It all seemed so...normal, and normal was a very welcome feeling today. I can't say that everything in the store was familiar- there were still the same French labels and unknown brands- but I found a few things I needed and was even able to sort out the change we needed for the bus ride home and exchange a bill for coins like a local. It's getting easier...

The Maps.me app showing where we were waiting for the bus to go back to Papeete (the blue arrow in the middle of the map) and Carrefour in the green circle.

The Pacific Princess was docked just above the word "Papeete" in the map above, at the first of those two piers.

Walking back to the ship, we passed this group of guys playing Tahitian music on the street corner.

This instrument was an upturned bucket with a string and a stick attached. The string was strummed, and By changing the angle of the stick, and thereby altering the tension on the string, different notes could be played.

It was at this point where G turned to me and asked "Aren't you getting bored yet?"  This is an inside joke between us. We do get weary of people asking us if we get bored when we cruise for long periods, or implying that we're simple-minded because we don't get bored. NO, we aren't even beginning to get bored. How could anyone?  There is so much to see and do and experience on these islands, and no where more than in Papeete, Tahiti. The locals are incredibly welcoming, we feel very safe here, and we're seeing a lot of gorgeous scenery and blue water and having great fun. We haven't even begun to see and do everything we want to. So, no, we aren't. And we won't. 

Once back on the ship, I pulled my purchases our of my backpack (stores don't have shopping bags down here, but that's okay. Like my Tilley hat, my backpack is part of my daily attire). Hair color!  I found hair color in a familiar brand and color. I am now good until Hawaii, where we'll have to do another shopping trip.

We had a phone message from Cathy who, with her husband Ron boarded the Pacific Princess today. They have been reading my blog, and Cathy was a star and had brought some items from the US for me (Secret antiperspirant being the critical one). They are in an Owner's Suite on the back of the ship and invited us for drinks at 4:15pm. It nearly was that time, so we hurriedly showered for the evening and made our way to their gorgeous suite. Talk about a view of Papeete from their large balcony on the very back of the ship!!  We also met Janet and Derek, and had a great time enjoying wine and hors doerves and conversation until it was time for muster drill at 5:15pm (G and I haven't had to go since our first day...yay!). We all have an excursion planned together later in the cruise and I'm certain we'll be seeing more of them. It's fun to have new friends on board with us!

G and I made a quick stop by the Elite Lounge before going to dinner at 6pm. We were too hungry tonight, having skipped lunch, to wait until the Roulottes were set up behind the ship to eat there. In fact, flourless chocolate cake was on the menu for dessert tonight, so I decided right then to skip a dessert crepe from our favorite roulotte and have the flourless chocolate cake instead. Still, as soon as we were done eating, we walked off the ship. It was Friday night and the whole pier was a huge party, with locals eating and music on a stage and dancers and we were welcome to dance, too. Tahitian society is so family oriented and there were lots of babies and kids of all ages running around and parents weren't hovering, it's so safe and different here. And sitting there, in the midst of all these people and this activity and the roulottes and their good smells, I turned to G and asked, "Aren't you getting bored yet?" 

Not even close. 

Party time in Papeete. Traveling in a part of the world with a different language, currency and lifestyle definitely presents us with more challenges than we'd face in the Caribbean, but the unexpected rewards are many and wonderful.

Tomorrow:  We sail from Tahiti at 4:30am and arrive in Moorea at 8am, then sail at 5pm.