We were in the mood to spend the day in the water again, and G never tires of seeing the stingrays, so we decided to do Hiro's stingray, shark, snorkel and motu picnic tour. His assistant Celine is in Hawaii visiting grandchildren right now, so Hiro's sister was selling the tour on shore. Since we were in Cooks Bay instead of Opunohu Bay, Hiro taxied us all over to the Moorea Pearl Resort where his office is and where his large boat was waiting for us. Leaving from there, so far east on Moorea, we had quite a scenic cruise west along the north coast. We pulled into Cooks Bay to get photos of the Pacific Princess at anchor, and then into Opunohu Bay, and past the Intercontinental Resort and out to that second of the two motus (that you saw in photos from when we flew over them en route to Rarotonga).
It was a sunny and hot day (we've had perfect weather this cruise), and, once we arrived at the motu, I wasted no time in walking down the beach toward the reef as far as I could go, then entered the water and snorkeled right down the middle of the water between the two motus. As soon as I walked into the water, a baby reef shark swam by, obviously not uncomfortable in the water's 18" depth. Further down, I saw a fantastic head of staghorn coral, and then some car wash coral where I tried to stay in one place (there was a light current) to try to find Nemo, but, while I saw some of his common neighbors, I never did see a clown fish.
I eventually returned to the beach where it was almost time for our BBQ: grilled tuna and chicken, coleslaw, pasta salad, rice and lots and lots of those tiny Moorea pineapples that are sweet as candy, all washed down by one Hinano beer after another. Afterward, I walked down the beach one more time to do another snorkel circuit, and around 2pm we were gathered up and taken back to snorkel with the stingrays and sharks. I will admit that stingrays are becoming rather ho-hum at this point, but I'll never tire of swimming with sharks.
One shark, two shark, three shark, four...
The day stayed sunny and the lagoon never looked better. Once again, I concluded that Moorea really is my favorite over Bora Bora, but as soon as we return to Bora Bora in three days I'll change my mind. We reboarded the Pacific Princess about 3:30pm, and by the time we rinsed everything out and showered, it was time to go to the Elite Lounge. I accompanied G there and to the Club Restaurant for dinner, but didn't eat anything. I had plans for the evening...it was girls' night out!
Company Performance Manager Alexandra, who managed the old cast, had stayed on this one additional cruise after they left to help with the new cast rehearsals. She is leaving tomorrow, flying to Los Angeles for a couple of weeks before returning to Cambridge, England for a few weeks. She will be missed by everyone; she was well loved. Anyway, we had plans for dinner in specialty restaurant Sabatinis tonight, and met at 7pm. Jaime was our waiter, and we had a great table at the very back of the ship, perfect for watching our 8pm arrival in Papeete. Four courses and a bottle of Pinot Grigo later, she is continuing her goodbyes in the crew bar and I am tucked into bed. Tomorrow is our last turnaround day of the French Polynesia season, and we are moving up one deck (I'll share the backstory to that tomorrow), and so face packing up our cabin tomorrow morning. Not my favorite way to spend a turnaround day, but it will be good practice for 16 nights from now when we'll be packing up to return home.
Returning home. Months and months of planning and the trip is almost over. The funny thing is that, on one hand, it feels like we've been here forever. On the other, it just flew by. Eight days until Hawaii and Internet and phone service. 16 days until friends and sleeping in our own bed. And then...have I mentioned we will be home for Christmas? I know I have, but have I mentioned it lately?
As much as I love this, I can't wait.