Club Bali Hai Hotel Cook's Bay

... black fish in the pond, and chickens walking thru the park. The park is fronted by the main boulevard in town and by a secondary street in the rear. It is a nice place to sit in the shade and look across the main boulevard to the ocean beyond. That allows for a cooling sea breeze to flow gently thru the park. At the front of the park is a small monument to the Admiral Louis Antoine de Bougainville, France's first discoverer of Tahiti in 1768, just 10 months after ...

... en barco con Teva, un polinesio algo asalvajado y con un acento frances de lo mas divertido, que cambio el rumbo de nuestras aventuras en la isla. Nos banamos con rayas (si, hasta Sandra se atrevio, como prueba estan las fotos), tiburones y buceamos para ver los bichitos marinos. Despues, Teva y Lionel nos invitaron a un pic nic muy especial sobre el agua, para degustar la comida local (muy rico el atun crudo con leche de coco) y a una fiesta por la ...

... chilling out and watching a bit of TV (which made a nice change after all the trekking we had done in South America). That night we went back to the same restaurant as they had a buffet and Polynesian show on. Both were very good, the dancers performing the typical Polynesian dances at first round all the tables and then on a stage area that lasted about an hour. The food was also good with an eat as much as you like policy, so after 3 tuna sashimi starters I thought I ...

... the waterfalls were one of the main attractions. The road up to the top of the pass over the mountains was a little bumpy but not as rough as we had been led to expect. We drove over the top of a dam and stopped on the top. We didn´t realise that it isn´t normally overflowing. We stood in 2 or 3 inches of water as it flowed over the top while the driver fed ...

... NZ is only an hour behind. Silly chickens. There was also a lovey German Shepard, and a little torti cat that hung out in the kitchen. I got to hear a cat purr for the first time since June! Especially after I let her lick my bowl. She had like six abscesses on her legs though, which was a little disheartening. We stayed on Moorea for 4 nights and did a lagoon tour one day. It entailed a 6.5 hour boat ride on which we saw spinner dolphins ...

Woke early, to find us nearing Moorea. Looks like we're going to anchor in Oponohu Bay while the Paul Gauguin is going into Cook's Bay. (I write this while Paul checks email in the library.) We were hoping to read that the package from Chase had been delivered to the Bali Hai today - but it shows as still in Papeete. Paul and I did our ten laps while we pulled into the bay, then we went down, at 08.00h, to meet M&P and A&M for ...

Up early, as seems usual. Cup of coffee, then began round of phone calls - to Princess, to UPS, etc. At 08.00h, Paul and I walked back to the Internet café to get addresses - for Sheraton Papeete, Poste Restante, and anything else we could think of. Then - another round of phone calls. I won't go into the gory details, but it wasn't until 10.30h that we had any resolution. Chase was finally willing to give us our new number over the telephone, which we can then use with Princess. We ...

A very lazy day today - hot and humid - a good day for seeking out the shade and the breeze. It began overcast. Paul and I walked to the Internet café - actually paused under a tree to let a rain squall pass. Nothing major in emails. Kids came for a brief check of their accounts. Walked back; now sunny and muggy. Allie and Mike went out on another motu excursion. Ann went for a walk. Daniel, K&K played in the pool, then Daniel played in the sand ...

Woke up to another lovely morning. Deck was not too wet this morning, so I did my yoga there. Sat and had several cups of coffee, discussing island transportation, etc. Watched as the highest point on the island (Mt. Tohiuea - 3958') continuously generated clouds. You can see how ancient Polynesians found previously unknown islands from the cloud patterns. After coffee, K&K walked to the store for milk and baguettes; Ann went ...

A great day. (Makes up a tiny bit for yesterday.) Went early to the Internet café so Paul could take care of some business (as Data service is not available in French Polynesia). Then, at 09.30h, we all boarded the Liki Tiki for an excursion (with a dozen or so other people). It was a glorious day - all sun, limited wind. We first went out to a reef, where we anchored. Our captain, Bruno (same Bruno from 20 years ago?), got into the water ... and the reef sharks began to ...