If no other day for the rest of our winter is half as good as this one, we will still have had a fantastic time. But this day will always hold a special place in my memory.
That darn alarm clock went off today at 5:30am and I was up on deck long before the actual sunrise...and still Douglas claimed we were too late, and that the glow of the orange dawn behind the islands of Tahiti and Moorea just 30 minutes earlier had been the most beautiful he had ever seen. Yeah, yeah. I'm getting used to hearing this. I told Douglas this afternoon that we were going to hide in his closet and when he gets up, we'll get up too. Only that way will we be certain to never miss these perfect views he sees.
But, late or not (and it was not yet 6am!), the sunrise we did see, and the beautiful jagged mountains of Moorea becoming clearer and more distinct as the Pacific Princess neared the island made hearing the alarm go off all worthwhile. We stood up on Deck 11 forward watching our arrival until 7:30 am. By then we were nearly anchored in Opunohu Bay and Sabatinis was open for breakfast.
And things got even better.
First, though, you might recall (particularly if a cruise on the Pacific Princess in French Polynesia is in your near future) that Captain D had originally told me we'd be anchored in Cooks Bay today. But he announced during the Captains Circle party a couple of nights ago that plans had changed and we'd be in Opunohu Bay instead. Though Cooks Bay is slightly prettier, both offer spectacular views.
So, there we were, once again the only ones in Sabatinis with two waiters bringing us mimosa after mimosa and fresh squeezed OJ and fruit plates and waffles with strawberry sauce (for G) and orange marmalade (for me), taking in the gorgeous mountains towering over the little Pacific Princess. Given we had the time and a stable ship (and a lot of Internet minutes left), I tried getting on WiFi to text because I knew the twins' flag football game was starting right then. It was a big day...not only their birthday but their team was playing against the team coached by their basketball coach and they really wanted to win.
It was one of those times when, once I started the text conversation with their mom, I was able to log off WiFi to stop the meter running but we were still able to communicate. The first update was not good, but the tide quickly turned and stayed that way. QB McGuy was throwing bombs and the final score was a whopping 52 to 35 (must have been an exciting game!). And I was kept apprised the entire game. (Remember, please, that this is my diary, not a travel log, so these extracurricular news items are highly noteworthy to my future memories). ;-). So, breakfast served with Moorea as a backdrop AND a football win. It simply doesn't get any better than that.
But it did...
We turned to our cabin and gather up things for a water day. We had no specific plans, but we were thinking of maybe doing Hiro's tour to see the stingrays. We wanted to do something with stingrays and snorkeling and a motu beach. When we arrived at the tender pier, we were surprised to see a new open air pavilion housing the various craft vendors who used to set up canopies on the pier. And another one with restrooms is still being built, as well as one in Cooks Bay, which is why we couldn't anchor there today. In fact, the pavilion on the pier in Opunohu Bay had just opened today.
We quickly found dear Celine of Hiro's tours, but it just as quickly became obvious that Hiro was not going to have enough passengers to take his large boat out today. Instead, someone called Sato had a small boat that could hold just four or five couples, and for $40 per person was offering a tour taking us to see sharks and stingrays and then to a beach in the usual motu (you know the one I'm talking about if you've watched that travel video because we did exactly that today).
Soon we were gliding across that crystalline water and it felt so good to be back! I really love swimming with the sharks even more than the stingrays, but there was something for everyone today. The sun was so intense that the colors of the fish just popped, too. G could have stayed there forever , but we continued on to the motu and the most ideal set up imaginable. Plenty of loungers and even chairs in the water (a personal favorite!). Sato's cousin Christiane had cut up freshly picked papayas, pamplemousse (grapefruit) and coconut (third day in a row I've had fresh coconut!) and had beers for sale for $5. G settled in on one of the chairs in the water while I snorkeled for over an hour between the two motus (which is why I need that stupid swim hood).
As I worked my way back to the beach, I saw everyone sitting in the water about a foot deep petting a stingray they'd named Stevie. Eventually, Stevie decided G was his new BFF, and sat (lay?) down next to him with his nose brushing against G's hand or resting on his leg. This went on for an hour, with G being called the Stingray Whisperer as a result. It was exactly like a puppy and I don't know who enjoyed it more - the stingray or G.
Finally, around 2pm we left the motu and rode in the outrigger canoe back to the tender pier. We quickly boarded a tender and returned to the ship around 3pm. I didn't know if I was more fishy (from hugging stingrays) or hungry or dirty but I managed to rinse out my gear and take a shower before I went up to the Panorama Buffet. I found G already eating a cheeseburger and decided that looked pretty good. There is something about being in the water all afternoon that makes me crave hamburgers.
We ate on the terrace behind the Panorama Buffet with the Pacific Princess gently turning on its anchor chain and continually changing our view of Opunohu Bay. We decided that that was right where we wanted to stay for sailaway and sunset and so added some fruit and called the whole thing dinner. The view from the back of the ship was more attractive at that moment than dinner in the Club Restaurant and a show.
After the sunset, we moved down to loungers on the Promenade Deck to watch as we cruised past the north coast of Moorea and the mountains became silhouettes against the orange glow of the sky. Interestingly, we cruised east, with the lights of Papeete in the distance, although tomorrow's island, Huahine, lies west of Moorea. We've simply never done these islands in this order. Moorea usually immediately precedes or follows Papeete, but the Radiance of the Seas has caused the rearrangement.
Picture it (Suzan and Greg) - sitting together in loungers on the Promenade Deck with the moon (is it full?) shining on the ocean, the lights of Tahiti in the distance and no one else around.
It was a perfect end to a perfect day.