We left Tahiti at 4 am this morning and sailed the 20 kilometer distance to Moorea. Here Bill and I did different things. He went snorkelling with the sharks and the stingrays, while I did a round island trip, which included a visit to a local village. At the village we saw how people can live very simply supplying most of their needs from the plants that grow on the island and from the fish in the sea. They use the coconut tree for many of these things including the making of their houses. We saw how they open the coconuts, and watched a demonstration of how they tie their sari like material to make 36 different outfits. They demonstrated how they tie dye this material, and also performed dances for us. One of the men got me up to dance with him and then have a photo taken with the group of male dancers. The island, itself , is just the most beautiful land that I have ever seen. Moorea is shaped like a butterfly surrounded by a sea of three different coloured blues. The island is surrounded by a reef with just eleven natural channels in through the reef. The Dawn Princess had to anchor just near the reef and we had to use the tenders to get ashore. Moorea is an uncrowded tropical island of dramatically jagged mountains, lush forests turquoise lagoons, coconut fields and glistening white-sand beaches. There are no high rise buildings here at all. Most of the people live in houses on the water front and their large allotments have the lawns beautifully manicured. We went to the top deck to watch the sail away in the evening and watched the full moon rise over the jagged mountains. We had a late dinner, and then joined four others for the trivial pursuit competition based on entertainment, which we ended up winning. Tonight we put our clocks back another hour so we are now 21 hours behind Melbourne. It was great to see pictures of Ben’s 21st. We were sorry we were not there for it, but will catch up when we return. We are now en route to Pago Pago pronounced Pango Pango in American Samoa. (Barbara) My snorkelling adventure was one the best things I have done on the cruise. We first went to an area with a large number of stingrays of a different species from the Australian ones with the barbs. These friendly creatures are like puppy dogs who like to be patted on their wings. They came for the small fish that our guide provided for them. They stare at you with their big eyes on the tops of their flat heads and can be trained to give you a kiss. The food brought other fish into the area including large but harmless black tip sharks. The visibility under the water was the best I have ever experienced. We moved on to a fabulous reef snorkelling area. The current was against us so we had to swim out towards the main reef before drifting back. A superb variety of fish of all shapes, sizes and colours. I need an underwater camera to capture these moments. (Bill)
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