We awoke feeling, while not yet 100%, significantly better and up to leaving our cabin. G went to a pre-breakfast in the Panorama Buffet but joined me in the Club Restaurant while I ate (it was blueberry pancakes day, my fav!). Immediately following breakfast, we went up to Deck 11 forward to join the FODs (friends of Douglas) as the Pacific Princess cruised around the Society Island of Tetiaroa, about 33 miles from Tahiti. This was a thrilling first for us.
Tetiaroa has a very storied past. It is a low coral atoll made up of 13 small motus surrounding a spectacular blue-green lagoon. One of the islets, Rimatu'u, was used as a retreat for Tahitian royalty. In 1904, Canadian dentist, Walter Williams, was given Tetiroa in payment for years of dental services rendered to the royal Pomare family. In 1966, Williams' daughter sold the island of Tetiaroa to Marlon Brando for $270,000. Brando had come to Tahiti for the filming of MGM's Mutiny on the Bounty in 1960, in which he played Fletcher Christian and after which he married his leading lady, Tarita. From 1973 to 2004, she and her family ran a 14-bungalow resort called the Hôtel Tetiaroa Village on the island.
After Brando's death in 2004, his will stipulated that any subsequent development on the island could only take place on one of its 13 motus, Motu Onetahi. In 2009, development corporation Tahiti Beachcomber, which owns the four Intercontinental resorts in French Polynesia and the cruise line Paul Gauguin began construction on a 47-bungalow ecotourism resort which opened in 2014. Called The Brando, bungalow rates range from $3600 to $18000 per night with a three-night minimum...all-inclusive, of course. A small airstrip on the island accommodates the two planes of Air Tetiaroa that transports passengers from Papeete (a 30 minute flight) for the round trip price of $700. It is also used to land the private aircraft of The Brando guests, like Leonardo di Caprio, who recently stayed there.
Sailing catamarans from the yacht harbor right across Pomare Boulevard from the Hotel Tiare Tahiti in Papeete make day trips to Tetiaroa, but are allowed only to land at one motu, called Bird Island. Even then, their guests are not allowed to walk any further inland than the high tide line of Bird Island. Sailing there takes 3 hours over rough water, and the sailboats are not allowed to stay at anchor overnight. Since they must return to Papeete by dusk, time on the island is limited, and most of the day is taken up with the six hour round trip sail and lunch. Still, I had been desperate to make the trip when we stayed in Papeete last year; G could not be convinced that six hours on a small catamaran on rough water was how he wanted to spend his time or money. Therefore, to have the opportunity to cruise within a mile of the island today, viewing its gorgeous lagoon from the height of the Pacific Princess' top decks was a real thrill.
We stayed on Deck 11 until the intense sun and heat (and complete lack of a breeze behind the high glass shield) forced us all down to Decks 9 and 10. Douglas Pearson had a microphone and stayed on Deck 10 to tell us about the history and geology of the island. We could certainly see the spectacular lagoon and make out the airstrip, but, even with 'noculars, could not make out the resort. As an eco-tourist resort, it was built back from the beach among the coconut palm trees. We even watched as an Air Tetiaroa flight from Papeete circled the island and landed.
It was as close as I'll ever get, but I was very happy to see it at all.
G and I wondered aloud about why we're getting all the great island sightings on this cruise. We've not only seen Makatea and Mataiva as we have on prior cruises, we've actually sailed around these islands and now Tetiaroa. This is the tenth time we've done these 10-night cruises out of Papeete and previously had only ever seen Makatea occasionally and Mataiva once. Why is this cruise different? We were already on Deck 9 and so walked over to look at the navigational map of the cruise that is posted there. All of this scenic cruising, as well as the cruising around Tahiti we'd be doing in the afternoon, are on the map. All we can figure is that, because this is the last scheduled Princess cruise of this area, we are being routed in such a way to make it a memorable one. Either that, or the Chief Engineer fell overboard and fuel consumption no longer matters. ;–) I've taken a photo of the navigational map, and when I post it, you'll see what I mean. We are definitely taking the scenic route; coupled with the sunny weather, it's been a real bonus!!
A short time later, at 10:50am, a Veterans Day service was held around the pool area. Princess does this on all its ships and it's very nice. Captain Ciruzzi kicked it off, and there were three readings and singer Claude Eric performed, and the lead female vocalist of the production cast, Rayna, sang and there were drums and bugle music as a flower lei was thrown from the ship. I fried (I think we both might have). Like our Memorial Day services back home, it's a very moving thing.
We went to lunch in the Club Restaurant and it featured our favorite lunch menu, with fried mozzarella sticks for G and spaghetti aglio, oleo and pepperocino for me. We should have skipped lunch - we were having dinner at the steakhouse tonight- but our appetites are finally returning and we were hungry. I had vanilla honey frozen yogurt for dessert (a shocker...I don't generally like Princess ice creams but love their sorbets), and it was absolutely delicious. So glad I tried something new, even if it was just as a throat soother.
By the time lunch was over, we were cruising east along the north coast of Tahiti Nui, the big part of the island, and we settled ourselves on the Promenade Deck to watch as this new (to us) coastline passed by. We could clearly make out the low isthmus that connects Tahiti Nui to Tahiti Iti, the small, southeastern part of the island. (Imagine Tahiti as a large turkey leg with the meaty part pointing northwest). Though we had circled Tahiti Nui by road in the past, and done 4-wheel drive trips into its interior, we had never seen the island from this viewpoint and never really seen Tahiti Iti at all. Unsurprisingly, it is mostly made up of verdant green mountains and a narrow, flat coastline.
Tahiti Nui, north east side
By 3:25pm we had reached the eastern end of Tahiti Iti and began to circle around the south side of the island, and still the views continued. It was a wonderful day when the scenery actually came to us, and we were able to enjoy it from the comfort of the Promenade Deck . It was perfect for us and our recovering energy level, and almost (almost) made up for our recent sick days on Rangiroa and Moorea.
The sun was shining on the southern side of Tahiti Iti as we rounded it and the scenery was...well, I won't lie and say it equalled the Na Pali coast of Kauai, but it was pretty close. While there is a circle road around Tahiti Nui, there are only spur roads down the coast of Tahiti Iti. It's simply too steeply mountainous for more than that, and that was so visually obvious to us all afternoon. The effect of the sun shining on the sharp crevices of mountain slopes was that they became almost 3D, and instead of seeing green slopes, we saw the peaks and valleys making up those slopes. We were reminded of our cruise along Oahu en route to Honolulu the day we couldn't get into Kauai, Hawaii, but, really, it was waaayyyy prettier.
Finally, at 5pm we needed to get ready for dinner in the steakhouse. It was a formal night, but we repeated what we did last cruise and just dressed nicely to go to the specialty restaurant. We arrived there when it opened at 5:30pm, not because we are that anxious to eat, but because the steakhouse is on the starboard side of the ship, the side toward Tahiti, and, with its floor to ceiling glass, it was the perfect spot to continue to enjoy the view.
Picture it (Suzan and Greg)...a bottle of Veuve Cliquot champagne, a scallop starter, black and blue onion soup and filet mignon enjoyed with the view of the Tahiti mountains filling the windows. We were actually seeing Moorea in the distance when we finally lost daylight. When we made our reservation for tonight's dinner, we did not know that we'd have that scenery to enjoy. We were served by waiter Henry (our waiter from when we first boarded the Pacific Princess in September), and we enjoyed getting caught up with him. We chose the apple berry cobbler with cider ice cream for dessert but only had room for a few spoonfuls. For the first time in days, we were stuffed.
We went to the 8pm Cabaret Lounge performance of Motor City and then called it a night. We have our final arrival through Teavapiti Pass to dock in Uturoa, Raiatea early tomorrow morning. I think viewing it from Deck 11 forward is critical.