Royal Papeete Hotel

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

<br>As we pack up to leave Ralph's and stay with Areti, a local<br>Tahitian woman who we contacted through couchsurfing.com (check it<br>out, great site), we say to ourselves that #1 we probably packed too<br>much stuff and #2 we are looking forward to shedding as we go. But<br>according to Ralph he's seen a lot worse (as far as pack weight) and<br>thinks we did a good job which makes us feel good. The first test on<br>this trip: can we get on a bus with our ...

... Inland und Korallenkueste sehr schoen, und nach ei***** Suche finden wir mit etwas Glueck eine schoene Unt**kunft direkt am Schnorchelstrand. Wir wohnen im Haus ein** waschechten tahitianischen Familie, schnorcheln und faulenzen etwas und w**den am Abend ueb**raschend von d** Familie zum Essen eingeladen. Besond**s g**n scheint man hi** rohen Fisch zu essen, was ja nun eigentlich gar nicht nach uns**em Geschmack ist, ab** wir freuen uns ...

... rather noisy, with lots of different animals chattering away during the night and at early hours of the morning. However we were right on the beach and in the middle of what seemed like nowhere so it had advantages and disadvantages. We got up and showered and then the lady from the guest house drove us to a cash point as none of us had any money and being in the middle of no where we had no way of getting any either. She also pointed out that over the weekend no buses run so ...

... from a building and on returning to our cabin we were able to monitor this and watched the as the flames took hold and the emergency teams arrived. The smoke continued to billow thick and black, it was at this point the captain gave out an announcement explaining that it was a car dealership on fire and that the cruise ship was in no immediate danger. The fire cased quite a stir on the ship with passengers taking photographs and generally watching as the fire really ...

... butter, stale bread, jam and milk so we were at least able to have breakfast of a sort. After spending the morning relaxing, Katherine, a German girl who was staying at the hostel, and I went for a walk around Papeete to sort out money, see a bit of the town and see what was available for lunch. To be fair to Papeete, no town looks good all locked up, but this town really didn't talk to me and when I ...

... You wouldn't believe the colour - the photos are NOT doctored! Those are truly the colours. The shows are going well, although we're going to be having some touch up rehearsals this cruise because there are a few areas that are getting a bit sloppy, including marks (that's our positioning on the stage - it's very particular on the ships)! We've made some great friends. Jess, One of the dancer's, folks came and stayed in our spare room a few cruises ago and we became great ...

... and I took my plane the 24th from Auckland to arrive the 23rd in Papeete. There some friend of friend of friend came to pick me up at the airport and gave me the traditional flower necklace of the arrival. Christelle and Sylvain did for the diner my first raw fish from Polynesia. Since that I m addicted to raw fish. It was very nice to see that even they did not know me they came to the airport and they gave me a very warm welcoming!!

... 10km, leaving me stuck in the lowest gear... and the rear derailleur needed the odd kick of encouragement to shift gear. My leatherman saved the day and I was able to lock the bike into a middle gear and completed the 60km ride. The island really is beautiful with very few developments. Cook's Bay and the less developed Opunohu Bay were my favourite areas (this is where they filmed "The Bounty" with Mel Gibson). The larger resorts ...

... was 2000 fracs, pretty expensive but compared to everything else it fit right in. We got there just as the last of the light was turning red and the black sand spread out in both directions. We found a place for our picnic and immediately Rachel and Liz were in the water. I was still only tentatively planning on getting in, but Rachel's words were something like "Liz we have to get Randi in this water!" so they held up Liz's towel for me so I could change and then we ...