Hotel Le Mandarin Papeete

... a few photos of Papeete during the "golden hour" of light which is a really beautiful time to capture light in photography.

I wandered around looking for anything and everything before losing the light and just at that moment I had to be back on the ship and start working, it was perfect timing!

... without ticking off the
locals and without killing ourselves. Mission accomplished: although
we each took up a row.

Areti picks us up from the airport and takes us to her
mother-in-law's house – which is right off the road. We pull in and
under a tin veranda mother-in-law (we never get her name) is sitting
putting mangoes in a wheelbarrow. Surrounding her are family members
– including Areti's husband (whose name we also ...

... ein Unt**schied!

Bevor wir am naechsten Tag wied** losfahren, w**den wir noch mit einem riesigen Haufen Pampelmusen, Limetten und Papayas aus eigenem Anbau v**sorgt. Wir machen uns auf den Rueckweg zum Flughafen, denn es geht auch schon weit** auf die naechste Insel. Wir haben uns einen so genannten Airpass gekauft, mit dem man zum guenstigen Festpreis bis zu 10 v**schiedene Inseln ansteu**n kann, und uns** **stes Ziel heisst Maupiti.

... that's why donkey's have crosses on their backs' fact from last year. sadly, all i can come up with is that nowhere's open on easter sunday except dodgy chinese restaurants.and that mosquitos don't care it's easter sunday. it started off well enough, the strange repeating day. left auckland on sunday and arrived in tahiti the previous day. a nice wee flower on the plane and some wee men doing banjo when we ...

... in the South, Hawaii in the north and Easter Island out to the east and cover an area similar in size to Europe. He also told us that Tahiti was one of 118 islands which make up the archipelago of French Polynesia. He then discussed the weather conditions on the island and the animals which are native to the island. Time was now ticking on so it was time to return to the ship. On our arrival at the dockside one of our group pointed out some thick black smoke ...

... with them! And Karlie, another dancer's, boyfriend was on this last cruise - another good mate now. Not to mention our little family - that's our cast. We all know each other so well now, and even when we don't like each other at times, we're family...it works itself out! There's been a bit of a sad occurrence with another friend - Branco, one of the kitchen hands, has had troubles with the new chef (and he's not the only one...), and today he left the ship. He quit a few ...

The 'bus' took us through the quiet lunchtime roads, in fact the roads were never busy at any time, to the ferry harbour at Vaitape. A fifteen minute return trip to the airport through the central lagoon with good views of the island and the outer reef. We had packed seriously light for these four days and had still not used everything. We checked in our two bags and then boarded the turboprop for the fifty minute flight ...

... the coast are famous for their stunning over the water bungalows. The Sheraton Moorea lagoon resort & spa was only a kilometer down the road from my pension, but a single night in one of their bungalows costs $1000... a bit beyond my budget! I was now the only person staying in the pension and after my cycle ride I really wanted to eat dinner, only to be told by the owner that he wasn't opening the restaurant that night because it was ...

... all swimming. I realized it's been not only a few years but several since the last time I swam in the ocean. It was so nice, and so much fun. The waves were amazing, and we jumped in them and rode them in and swam out for probably over half an hour. (We had two hours at the beach; at 8:00 the rates would change and the taxi driver looked blown away that we would want that much time at the beach in the first place. So she agreed to come back at ten till 8 and get us before ...

... trip. The island, although beautiful, is essentially a support system for the resort communities that dot the coast and motus. The culture is not as vibrant as it is on other islands, and I plan on making short jaunts to huahine and maupiti to compensate. I will be here for the hawaiki nui canue race finish which is supposedly intense, and may perhaps redeem some of the apathy I feel towards this place in the moment.