Every day we are in port, every single day, reminds me of that Norman Rockwell painting where a family is going to the beach in the family car. In the morning, they're clean and excited and anxious to go, but by evening they return sticky, dirty and tired. Yep, that's exactly what it's like.
We were On Deck with Douglas as we approached Rangiroa this morning, to be greeted by the ever-present dolphins dancing on the ship's bow wake. We headed to the Club Restaurant as soon as the Pacific Princess entered Tiputa Pass, though. I woke up starving at 5am; a strange but welcome sensation on a cruise ship.
The weather today was perfect, sunny, not windy and not too hot. We decided to combine the snorkeling I wanted to do with drinks at the Kia Ora Resort that G wanted, and so packed for a beach day. We were excited to once again see the Aranui 3 at anchor in the lagoon unloading items by crane onto a barge for delivery to the island. Once on the tender pier, we took a boat shuttle for $5pp to the public beach, where we saw that the Aranui had set up a BBQ for its guests. Most of them that we talked with seemed to be from France and Switzerland but I know that there is always a considerable number of Americans and Brits on board; too.
Our view of the overwater bungalows at the Kia Ora Resort from our shuttle to the public beach
G enjoyed using our inflatable float while I snorkeled around the coral heads on the beach. I have to say that, if all one wants is a good beach, the Caribbean offers more and much better ones. We've seen nothing to equal Carlisle Bay Beach on Barbados or Eagle Beach on Aruba. And, as G likes to point out, getting a tan while reading a book is available at a much lower cost in the Caribbean. But these islands offer scenery and water color second to none, with a depth of culture that is more difficult to find in the Caribbean. The public beach on Rangiroa is primitive and rocky, buts it's hard to top its views. G enjoyed our collapsible float while I snorkeled around the many coral heads, all the while wearing my Tilley hat and long sleeved rash guard to keep the intense sun from frying me.
The rocky sand led us to hook my backpack around a palm tree
The view from the lagoon beach across the narrow island; the ocean is just beyond the trees. Rangiroa is just a narrow strip of coral.
The lagoon view from the beach
We eventually walked right along the beach past Top Dive dive shop and a tiny beach restaurant to the Kia Ora Resort. We both ordered tropical fruit coolers which were served with beautiful tiare blooms.
As we sat there, the Aranui 3 picked up its barges, having collected its passengers from the public beach, and sailed out of the lagoon. G had taken a minute to examine the barges at the beach. They had bench seating to be used for transporting passengers that could be removed when transporting cargo. Quite clever!
We had been with some of the dancers/cruise staff and other passengers at the beach and at the Kia Ora. While we were waiting for a shuttle to return us to the tender pier, everyone jumped into that beautiful water for another swim. Look at that water...how could we not??
Even after we returned to the tender pier, G and I couldn't resist still another swim and hopped in the water just beyond the pier. We were on the second last tender to return to the Pacific Princess; we're developing a habit of stretching our days as much as possible. Once back on the ship, we had just enough time to rinse things out and get showered before we needed to be up on deck to watch sailaway. Once again, the dolphins were just beyond Tiputa Pass to 'wave goodbye' as we left the lagoon.
The Panorama Buffet was closed tonight for a special event for the crew. We were so hungry we grabbed some French fries from the grill, and then went to the Elite Lounge for hors doerves. As we sat there, with those floor to ceiling windows, we watched as the Pacific Princess sailed along the northern coast of Rangiroa. It reminded us quite a bit of cruising up the eastern side of Eleuthera after a day at Princess Cays; both islands are similar in physical properties, but Rangiroa is basically a flattened, shoe shaped hoola hoop-type ring of over 240 islets. As we reached the northwest edge of the atoll, it was easy to see the islets and 'hoas' (non-navigable channels) between them.
Dinner was fast, just salads topped with chicken after all the snacking we'd just done, and we were at the 7pm early show of guitarist Dan Riley in the Cabaret Lounge. I wish I could say that we were staying up for dancing and more fun, but we are tired and have another full day tomorrow on Huahine. Blog and bed are higher priorities...I hope the Undernet cooperates.