I watched from the Promenade Deck as the Pacific Princess cruised through Tiputa Pass and into the Rangiroa lagoon (but didn't see the dolphins, sadly). G and I met up for breakfast in the Club Restaurant before 8am, and fueled up with the usual (delicious fresh fruit, cottage cheese and six grain toast) while deciding how to spend our day. We have finally (and seemingly suddenly) reached the point where our future visits to some of these islands will number only ONE, on the December 18th cruise. On our cruise from French Polynesia back to Los Angeles, we will spend one day each in Bora Bora and Moorea before we head north to Hawaii, but have no days on the other islands we visit. So we're coming down to the end (can you even believe it?), and have to seriously consider how we spend our days, especially the sunny ones like today.
Once again, the draw was the public beach and drinks at the Kia Ora Resort. There is not a lot else to choose from on Rangiroa, and our only other major option is to take the ferry over to the other side of Tiputa Pass, to Tiputa Village. But beyond the church there, we've not been told of a strongly compelling reason to make the effort. Still, we'll have one more opportunity next cruise...
We packed for a beach day (and I always throw my mask and snorkel into my backpack, just in case there's any worthwhile snorkeling, and there is, a little bit, at the public beach), slathered ourselves with SPF 50 and made our way to the island. We intended to take the boat shuttle to the public beach but they told us that the last return shuttle would operate at 2pm, much too early when the last tender isn't until 4:30pm. I was prepared to walk to the beach (make a note of THAT) but there was one of the (only) four taxis on the island leaving at that moment, and we instead boarded it to the beach.
What a difference one cruise makes. Unlike last cruise when we were in Rangiroa with the Aranui 3 and they were holding a BBQ on the beach, today there were just a handful of people there. G floated and I snorkeled, and as we did, clouds started to roll in until our initially sunny day had turned quite overcast. Once the 2pm boat shuttle left, G and I were the only cruise passengers left, and shared the beach with just a local family of four having a picnic. It was so quiet we could hear the waves crashing on the reef on the ocean side of the island, especially as the wind picked up.
After awhile we packed up and walked down to the Kia Ora Resort for our favorite coconut ice cream smoothies in the overwater bar. It was quiet there, too; this is definitely the low season in Rangiroa! Finally a family from the ship with three young (and adorable) boys showed up and G gave them the rolls he always packs to feed the fish from the Kia Ora pier. I don't know who enjoyed it more- the boys (who ranged from about 1 to 6 years old) or us, watching their absolute glee when the fish would surge and splash.
Eventually we walked back to the tender pier, once again taking the second last tender of the day. Once on board, we cleaned up for the evening and went to the Elite Lounge (Breeza Marina night!), then a three course plus dessert dinner, then production show Motor City. Tomorrow is a sea day as we make our way back from the Tuamotu Archipelago to the Society Islands. Again, it's our last sea day before seven port days in a row. This is a fast-paced itinerary and we love it.