We've gotten to know Hiro and his staff, Celine and Maco and Bruno. I mean, we've seen them over and over since October. It was a nice way to spend our last day on Moorea. There was no BBQ lunch today, but instead we had an open bar and fresh pinapple on a motu, and the price was only 4000 CFP per person, about US $ 40.17. ;-). That's a great price for an almost four hour snorkel and motu experience. The funniest thing is that there were two boat loads of the Chinese crew members from the Yuan Wang tracker ship docked in Papeete already at the place in the lagoon where the stingrays hang out when we first got there. We don't seem to be able to escape that boat and its crew!
Following the swim with stingrays and sharks we cruised over to a motu. While most people just enjoyed the beach and drank beers, I was right back into the water to snorkel. I went further against the current this time, and the snorkeling was much more impressive a little further away from the beach. I saw fish I'd not yet seen in French Polynesia, and that's always a thrill.
We arrived back at the tender pier about 2pm and wasted no time taking a tender back to the ship. We showered and washed out our gear and lunch on the terrace behind the Panorama Buffet with beautiful Opunohu Bay as our view. We then sat in two loungers on the pool deck where G promptly fell asleep. I was tired, too, but, though I'm getting a bit better with naps, I'd have to be a lot more tired to nod off in public.
At 5:30pm we had the Captain's Welcome Aboard Champagne Waterfall, which had to be held in the Cabaret Lounge instead of on the open deck because of a light rain that had started to fall. I finally was able to get one of the new chocolate truffle things on a stick (actually, Deputy Cruise Director Mike chased one down for me) because I had kept missing out on those. We saw the members of the entertainment staff (the dancers) that we'd not yet seen since we came onboard and it was great to get caught up. They are all disembarking in Los Angeles and are extremely excited about going home. Some of them have already gotten their next assignments and they're excited about that, too. It is going to be hard to say good bye to everyone (but that's still 14 days away). We've grown very close to the people on this ship.
Because this is a 16-night cruise instead of our usual 10 nights, we'll be seeing some different menus for dinner. Our first was tonight, and it had cioppino, my fav Italian seafood stew. I could live on that forever. Then, for dessert, there was key lime pie, another favorite. We ordered a bottle of Pino Grigio and happiness reigned. Today was my birthday, and I asked to put off the celebratory singing and cake until a night when the menu didn't feature so many of my favorite things. We were stuffed!
Speaking of that, thanks to many for the birthday greetings that popped up this morning when I checked my emails. It was very sweet to hear from friends! And I was able to place a call to Mom (for free using Vonage! Get the app!!). She's having another rough winter but she is a trouper and will get through it all.
And, finally, on a unrelated note, as our tender was arriving at the tender pier this morning, I saw someone standing on the pier holding a sign with names on it. I looked at this guy, then looked again. 10 years ago last month, on my first visit to Moorea, a group of us did a tour with Captain Heifara, a young local who was into eco-tourism. Well, I recognized this guy as Captain Heifara. Sure, he had a little grey in his beard, but I knew it was him. I greeted him and asked about his family. He and his wife had just had a daughter when we met them. She's now 10 and they have a second child, too. So, anyone reading who was in that tour, too (Sissy? Sheila? Steph?), he and his family are doing well.
The funny thing is that seeing Captain Heifara triggered more memories. I recognized the place we had stopped for lunch back then as a restaurant on Tipanier Beach, and the area between two motus where I snorkeled today is the same place we snorkeled with him ten years ago. When I had done Hiro's Tour in late October, I didn't remember any of that, but seeing Captain Heifara today brought it all back. I remember sitting at the restuarant and watching kite surfers, the first time I'd ever seen them. And one of them did a flip right over our boat, something that still impresses me.
Ten years. I turned 55 today. In ten years I'll be 65. Please, time, slow down!! It's all going so fast!