Our first port of call after leaving Honolulu was Papeete, Tahiti. We were up before we docked and it was going to be a hot and humid day.
We ate breakfast as soon as the WJ opened as we needed to get off the ship fast and get over to the market to buy our black pearls before getting back to the pier and meeting up with our tour guide for the day. Jim & I had been here in 2009 so I knew exactly where to go.
Teiva (pronounced Tay-eevah), of Tahiti Discovery, was our guide for the day. We rode in the back of a jeep facing each other. Teiva's family has been on the island for 12 generations.
We headed to the mountains with stops along the way for photo ops!
Married women wear the hibiscus behind their left ear;
single women wear them behind their right ear.
The underside of the silver fern leaves its mark.
We passed the American army (Marines?) practicing maneuvers. It was fun to see them hiding in their camouflage in the bushes. We were hot - we couldn't imagine how hot they were with in full gear and huge packs. One guy shouted "Americans?" We yelled back "Yes!" and got a big hoorah!
Can you see the sniper hiding?
After stopping for a few more photo ops, we finally made it to the swimming hole. I didn't bring my suit but it was nice to sit on a rock and put my feet and legs in the water and splash water on my arms and face! Even though we were up in the mountains, it was hot and humid.
Waterfall across the valley.
Native cherries - they are very tart and sour with the texture kind of like an apple.
The swimming hole.
We had lunch high up in the mountains. The views were outstanding.
On our way down the mountain, a helicopter landed right in front of us picking up some military personnel.
We also ran into a three motorcycle cops heading up the mountain. We thought that was kind of different - especially on that dirt road.
I took this picture before the cop told everyone not to take his picture! Ooops!
Only in certain light conditions can you see the lion's head in this picture!
Once we got down out of the mountains and headed on our way back towards the ship, we stopped at the "blowhole" and followed that up with a beach stop to see the lighthouse. I wanted to buy a sarong at the beach, since there were some little outdoor shops, but they were all stained dirty.
No water came through the blowhole, only the loud sound of the ocean hitting the rocks shown in the picture below.
Our final stop was at the first president's burial site. Notice the rum jar on top of the monument - he died from drinking too much rum.
Our plan for dinner that night was to eat at the food trucks on the pier but I just wasn't interested after the big lunch. We ate in the WJ before heading back to the pier to shop. I found a sarong to buy - finally!
We weren't scheduled to leave until midnight, but after a hot and humid day, we were in bed again by 9:00 or so!
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