9/30/05 ~1:30-2pm
We are here at Club Med Bora Bora and Megan is napping off her Dramamine in bed. :)
We arrived this morning by ourselves (i.e. the only new arrivals today), having taken the ATN Flight from Papeete to BOB, hopped aboard the 15minute boat ride to Viatapee, and then caught the Club Med Van to the resort. Oliver (a G.O.) greeted us (as did Philippe, the Chief of the Village) and after fresh juice and checkin, walked us to our little bungalow. We unpacked a bit, then headed out to the 'new folks greeting/meeting' at the theatre, which turned into Ed giving us a tour of the facilities and an overview of the schedules. A typically magnificent Club Med lunch followed, and then it was back here to finish unpacking and let Megan get her rest. Tonight we'll meet the folks from the dive center and start scheduling our excursions (and massages :)). Note to self: Polynesian dancing on Thursday night, Fire dancing on Sunday night.
Flashing back, we started our tip on Wednesday the 28th when we left the house at around 6am, saying goodbye to two trusting and loveable kittens whom we hope will forgive us when we return. Sure, they're being looked after while we're gone, but I'm sure they won't care much about that once we walk through the door. :P Anyway, it was PIT-LAX to start the day. No 1st class upgrade (it was packed to the gills - even the Chairman's Preferred next to us didn't make it), but here's hoping for the return. Once in LAX we retrieved our bags and re-checked in with Air Tahiti Nui. My carryon was a little overweight, but after some creative rearranging between my bag and Megan's it was all better. After a sushi lunch and ice cream dessert, we boarded our flight to Papeete, the main (and arguably only) city of Tahiti. It was an odd feeling sitting in the gate area at a US airport and feeling like I was already in another country, what with French being the language of choice there. It was a long but pleasant flight, helped by the comfyness of the seats, the complimentary socks included with the little passenger comfort bags, and a fine meal and snack. It was almost 9 hours of flying all told, but I managed to sleep through most of it. We arrived PPT at about 10pm local time and were glad to see our luggage had made the journey with us. Once our taxi was done with us (govt-sanctioned $28 taxi ride for a 5km trip!!!) we checked in at the Shereton and promptly fell asleep after close to 24 hours of continuous travel.
(Thought: Maybe Megan would like to climb up to the observation tower tonight to watch the sun set...)
Of course, since we were still on EST internally we woke up nice and early, enjoying the morning light and moisture in the air. Breakfast was a fantastic buffet including everything from regular morning repasts to poission cru, which we decided could easily sustain us in the absence of anything else. After breakfast, we discussed how to spend our one day on the main island and decided to do a bit of hiking. I'd picked up some fanny packs w/ water bottles for just such a reason, and so after a couple false starts due to me being (as by brother would say) "a logistical nightmare", we hopped Le Truck to Papeete proper where we walked around gathering necessities such as lunch and a pass to enter the Faananu Valley where we would be hiking. And then we set off to the trail head.
Now, I've classically had excellent dealings with the Lonely Planet series of guidebooks, and for the most part, the Tahiti book has been no exception. However, on the subject of Faananu Valley, I feel I could offer some improved editing. First, it's all very well to say "take this and such road out of town 2km, turn right and go straight to the trail where you turn in your pass and start hiking". Except that someone might reasonably expect to be told that it's 5km from that right turn to the trail head through a rather dreary part of town, with nothing encouraging to tell you you're still going the right way. And once you've dragged yourself 7km to the start of the trail, you discover that it might have been nice to know that in addition to the ~4 hour expected duration if the hike to the summit and back, the park happens to close at 3:30pm. We discovered this last detail at 12:23pm. Grrr. Okay, so we'll go as far as we can and have a good time. Well, at 2.5-3km there's a bridge. Okay, the guidebook says 4km to the bridge _we_ want, so on we go... (sigh). Had we taken it, we might have even done the whole intended trail up and back in ~3 hours if we'd hurried. But instead, we took the road less traveled and were quite happy to have done so. We got to ford the river a couple times, climb a mini Stairs of Cirith Ungol, explore our very own grotto, and generally hike up a primordial jungle river. (see forthcoming pictures) It was a lot of fun. Once back down the mountain, we hopped Le Truck back to Papeete (should have used it to avoid the 7km to start with, too) where we took time to obtain a $65 nose flute for a certain obsessive friend who really really wanted one, but never picked one up while she was here. I know we got fleeced as tourists, but I hope it is at least a real nose flute, and not just some random flute he pulled off the shelf to pawn off on us.
Overpriced flute in hand, we retreated to the hotel and (not so very) hot tub where I had a maitai and we sat back and enjoyed some gorgeous wind and clouds. (Note: a strong maitai on an empty stomach in a hot tub will result in some interesting behavior. :P) Back in our room we ordered dinner in, and Megan even fed me bites of the great chicken when I started to be too overcome by the sleepiness of the rum to feed myself. :) Sleep soon followed.
This morning we got up early again (in fact even 1 hour earlier than I'd have thought, due to a mishap with the alarm clock), enjoyed the morning atmosphere, and had another wonderful breakfast. We then checked out and taxi'd to the airport (only $19 during the day) for our morning turboprop flight to Bora Bora. Having sucba gear and certification got us an extra 10 kilos of weight allowance, but we still had to pay a bit extra. (A new experience for me) But everything made it, and here we are in a tropical paradise for the next ten days. :)
10/1/05 ~6:50pm
Well, we didn't make it up to the lookout for sunset yesterday. Heck, we didn't even make it to the dive signup spot in time to meet the folks from Top Dive. And as a result we didn't dive today, thereby missing an encounter with a mommy and baby humpback! But that's okay - we'll have 10 dives here in which to try to see some of our won. Nope, instead we had a marvelous, much needed nap right up till dinner (which was excellent), after which _more_ sleep was had straight through to this fine morning. Somewhere in there we made plans for taking our jet ski tour on Monday and arranged to have the masseuse contact us to schedule her ministrations :)
We woke not to the horrible weather we'd been warned about the previous night, but to puffy cloud-dotted skies and a luxuriously slow sunrise. By now, we're on PST, but were still up well before light, and it's quite nice. After breakfast, we signed up for snorkeling in the morning, during which I planned to test the new camera Megan gave me for Christmas. After a short boat hop, we donned fins and masks to enjoy the most buoyant snorkeling I've yet experienced. On Columbus Isle, we'd used small inflatable vests to provide neutral to slightly positive buoyancy, but here I had a hard time going down, even without a lungful of air! It was amazing. :) Highlights from the trip included: Many, Many fish, blue-lipped oysters, anemone and urchins. But most impressively: a huge-girthed Moray eel which even came out and swam for a while!. Much fun to start the day!
Once back 'home' we cleaned up and stopped by the boutique before lunch. We both got shirts, Megan got a temporary Manta Ray tattoo, and I picked up a cunning hat. We also looked at some pearls, but the person wasn't there to talk to - so that will have to be later. A maitai at the bar was the perfect prelude to lunch, where we sat with Ed, our guide from the previous day, and another G.O. names Maracabo(sp?) who does gardening around the club. Ed, born on Bora Bora, but grown up in New Caledonia, related the joys of vacationing from Bora Bora to LA and Las Vegas, which for someone with his background made a surprising amount of sense. After lunch we spent some time digesting with our eyes closed and then went sailing for a couple hours. The wind was excellent once we left the protection of the point to our north and we both had a great time getting sea spray in our faces and wind in our hair.
Back on the beach, we met a couple (Eric and Jill) from Coral Gables, FL who are here for the third time and have never been to another Club Med. They recommended the 4x4 safari tour to us, and we recommended Columbus Isle to them. They also said that they'd met another newlywed couple (Tara and John) from Pittsburgh here, and that they'd be sure to introduce us.
At the excursion desk we finally met Antwon from Top Dive and signed up for a 2 tank dive tomorrow morning. We also met another couple (June and Bruce from Calgary) who were planning on diving Monday and asked us to put their names on down tomorrow for the night dive on Tuesday. That they're going to Australia after their week here entertains me - He's definitely got the right name for it. Anyway, it's time now for dinner, so we're off. Maybe tomorrow we'll catch the sunset. :) - 7:28pm
10/2/05 ~10:30pm
Last night was dinner and sleep, nothing more. :) This morning, we rose even earlier than usual for a 7:35am scuba departure. 2 Tank dives off one of Top Dive's two "little boats". Backward Roll entry with our new BCD's w/ wings and integrated weights. We'll have to see about computers, since their octopi have no depth gauges. SO instead, we just made sure to stay above the guide, who had a computer (Vyper). Due to the swell (increased water level, not nifty keenness), conditions were bad at all but one of the possible sites today, so we dove Tapu twice.
Sharks! Huge Lemon sharks, many varied sized black tip reef sharks. Turtle! Puffers, trumpetfish, B&W x-wing looking suckers, okay coral, not great visibility. I'm learning to use the camera better, and the overnight charging scheme is working perfectly. Came back in time for lunch, nap and dinner. :)After Dinner was Polynesian fire dancing, along with various other Tahitian prowess exhibitions. Megan got pulled up to do some 'hand dancing' :) I got pictures. Now it's sleep again, and up to dive with Bruce and June in the morning.
10/4/05: 3:17pm
Wow! Just back from a helicopter tour of the Island. Many many Pictures. Alas, no GPS route, but Wow the View! Yesterday was an incredibly full day, with 2 dives in the morning, followed by a quick lunch (during which we met a power plant manager from Michigan named Ron) and a combination jetski tour of the lagoon (which was the best jetskiing I've ever experienced, thanks to the lagoon's calm waters) and quad bike tour of one of the motus, finished by John's coconut show (tm), in which the three life stages of the coconut were shown, opened and eaten. :) Mmmmm... We returned in time for a shower, nap and dinner, followed by the enjoyment of our bottle of champagne.
The Dives were at Ome and Tapu Iti (again), and while we still haven't seen any rays, we did see more sharks and even a submarine! Ome had mostly little fish and coral, though Matthias did check out three conch shells to see if they had occupants. Tapu once again had the Lemon and Black Tip sharks, away from which I continued to keep a healthy distance. See the submarine was a surprise, even though it's only the tourist boat, not anything like an SSN or SSBN. The only new fish for this trip was a barracuda, of which I got a decent picture with a black-tip in the background. Also, the night dive was from Tuesday because of conditions. :( John's coconut show really demonstrated how limited my previous exposure to coconuts had been! At two months, the young coconut has a much sweeter water, almost tasting like Sprite, and its meat is more like coconut sashimi (and best eaten with a 'spoon' cut from its own shell). The 4 month old coconut has fallen from the tree, and is what we usually expect from a coconut. Slightly milky water, hard, juicy meat - squeezable for coconut milk. The 6 month stage has a seedling starting to grow from the nut - leaves going up, roots down. This is the coconut heart, with no water inside, but rather an almost marshmallow-like core where the water was. A real learning experience for me.
Today we got to sleep in a bit. Unlike Diving's 7:35am departures, the Land Rover Safari Tour didn't start until 8:40am. Ah, luxury! :) The tour was the best view of the whole island we'd had yet. It involved driving around the road until we'd reach a trailhead, and then 4x4'ing our way up a mountain trail to a nice summit. The first was a good view of the south of the island. The second was to a pair of 7" guns which during WWII protected the only pass into the lagoon. One of the guides related the story of 6000 GIs suddenly showing up in the lagoon of the island of 2000 inhabitants (the majority of whom were women) at the time. (it's 8000 now, coincidence...?) When they finished unloading their ships (3 months later) Midway had already been fought, and the question of prepping Bora Bora's defenses was moot, but they finished anyway. When the ships finally departed, there were 150 new babies. :P The third site was a mountain pareo artist's shop. Beautiful view and beautiful hand-painted pareos, but since we already got 2 when we arrived we didn't see a need for more. Fourth site overlooks the airport. Once again the real showman of a guide told of the SeaBees building the airport using dredged coral sand to make concrete for the runway, building the whole thing in only 15 weeks. There were 1 fighter and 1 bomber squadron based here during the war. 8000km to the US or Australia, and the Germans and Japanese never touched it. Very lucky. Finally, the guides brought us to their pearl vender associates "Farm" where we saw the pearl culturing process described, along with grading, setting and carving. And of course some very nice finished pieces.
Just before we took off for the safari, Kei, one of the excursions folks, let us know that the helicopter would be available in the afternoon, if we would be too. :) Hell, yes! SO when we got back we snagged lunch, named all of the GPS waypoints from our safari tour, and piled in the van for the helipad! Wow. 6-man chopper (5 + pilot), "squirrel" in French, "A-Star" in the US (heh heh). Megan got the front seat, and I was in the back with Ron and another couple. 18 minutes of joy flying over the whole Island! We saw the emplacements again, along with rays and sharks(!) in the lagoon, plus the most spectacular views I think we'll have all trip. (Now we're reconsidering the all day excursion in favor of the shark and ray-feeding on the chance that we may not get to see them diving... :( )
Back at Club Med, it's drinks by the bar, signing up for diving tomorrow, making reservations at Bloody Mary's for Saturday night, and hopefully hiking to see the sunset. - 4:34pm
10/7/05:
Missed a few days in there: Turned out that we made it up to the lookout for sunset on Tuesday night, (10/4/05) despite obstacles such as the Front Desk not being able to give us the key (due to rains sometime in the past few days) though the girl quietly mentioned that if we walked out the front driveway and turned right, we could climb the stairs on our left anyway... :) On our way up, we met many folks coming down, as if they'd already seen the sun set :|, but we persevered. Toward the top, we asked a couple we'd met on the jetski tour if we'd missed the sunset, and they said yes, but that they had too and the sun had set behind an island so we hadn't missed anything. Ha! Were they confused! I'd used my GPS to look up sunset at our location, and it was still > 10 minutes away. Moreover, when we finally reached the top after a sweaty 15 min ascent which was expected to be a gentle 25 min, we saw that the sun had simply been behind some clouds and the reflections off the water must have confused the other folks. So, we got to enjoy a lovely polynesian sunset atop a ridge-line lookout by ourselves. Very, very enjoyable. :) And since we had such a good time, we decided we'd have to watch a sunrise, too.
So... Wednesday morning we got up in time to watch the sun rise from the comfort of the Club Med dock. No strenuous climbing involved - just sauntering out to the waiting chairs. After sunrise gathered our dive gear, grabbed some breakfast and headed out to go diving. The first dive was rather a trial at Muri Muri. The current kept switching on us and as a result we spent most of the dive just fighting to keep our position and not be swept out to sea or too far from the boat. We did see some sealife, notably a black-tip shark and barracuda, but mostly it was an exercise in exercise. Not a super-fun dive. The second at the sandy bottom of Toopua, however, more than made up for it. In addition to the many many fish, including a HUGE grouper under a rock, there were excellent anemones, plus the high point of our diving safari experience: an Eagle Ray floating through the distance. We never did get to see the hoped-for Manta, but the Eagle was quite a sight. We used the afternoon and evening to lounge around, read some Carl Hiassen and do a couple loads of laundry.
Thursday morning diving with Thiery again. First was Teturiroa (a.k.a. place blanc) and very very deep, with only 2 advanced pairs of divers (Me + Megan, and one other pair). It was more of a "hang out in the middle of the abyss" dive than our previous "glide over the reef" type-dives, and involved a lot of crystal clear deep deep blue. Regrettably, the only large sealife we saw was one sleepy shark on the sandy bottom below who did nothing more than move from one comfy spot to another. Still, a fun dive. Second was Tapu Nui, for our second time there, and definitely the most sharks we've ever seen in one dive! There were plenty of fish, including some bluefin tuna and lionfish, and also a really beautiful anemone with clownfish - perfectly Nemo-like. But the highlight of the dive was clearly ascending into a cloud of Little Black Fish(tm) which were being circled by about seven black-tipped reef sharks and a couple of meandering monstrous 4 meter long Lemon Sharks! It was an amazing experience seeing sharks all around like that, and I've never before had fish "blot out the sun" as that cloud of them did. It was also the first time I got even a little nervous about the sharks we've seen here, but I made sure to hug the bottom and not get too close :) and we all came back fully intact. :)
After diving we got back, cleaned up, got lunch and then hopped the shuttle into the town of Vaitapee to look around (i.e. reconnoiter our hike), so some shopping, and generally be tourists fora couple hours. Our first stop was the tourist office, where we found that they didn't have any really good maps, but pointed us to a boutique on the second floor above a snack shop, which she said might sell one. The shop did have the map, but not for sale. :( It was hanging temptingly on the wall, just inside the entrance. :S But the shopkeeper had no problem with us taking a couple pictures of the map, including one focused on the now more fully substantiated route from town up to the mountain top! We picked up a few souvenirs there (and I would have tipped her had we not) and headed out, well pleased to have a more formulated plan of attack for the mountain. Across the street was a beautifully stocked Art Gallery Boutique, but the prices were a little rich for our blood for simply decorative wooden artifacts. (Besides, Uncle Chris gave us so many such things for our wedding that we don't really need more now. We stopped and looked at a few pearl shops before going into the (Club Med recommended, but still quite nice) Nycos store, where we considered a few options. If we were ever going to get cultured black pearls, this would be the time and place, so... Megan got a custom pair of Keshi dangly earrings and also a little keshi which I'll ask Duane at Orrs to set into a nose stud for her. And I got two matched silver-green pearls which I'll have turned into cufflinks at Orrs too. Nycos could have done the cufflinks too, but they only had white gold, not platinum, and their price for the settings was more than the price for both pearls together! So, Orrs it shall be, and Duane will continue to be surprised by the experience of dealing with us. :)
While waiting for Megan's earrings to be assembled, we looked in some other shops, scouted down the trail leading up the mountain, bought some T-shirts, had a snack and looked for gifts for other folks. Once the pearl buying was complete they shuttled us back to Club Med, where we deftly had the folks at the photo hut print us a 6x8 glossy of the trail map picture for our use on Saturday for hiking. They were very kind and helpful, even to the point to photoshopping the pic to improve the contrast. Lurve the photo hut. (They also have the only on-demand US-made photo-printer in the entirety of French Polynesia.)
We got dinner and watched a very good Polynesian dance performance, done by sultry South Pacific Women, Buff Polynesian Men, and the most enthusiastic seven year old boy in the history of dance. Not quite the Grande Ballet Du Thaiti (from which our schedule into and out of PPT conspired to keep us), but we enjoyed it thoroughly.
This morning we did our last two dives: at Muri Muri and Haapiti. For the first the currents were much more forgiving this time, and we had a good reef dive, punctuated by attention from two very large and mildly threatening gray reef sharks. They eyed us much more hungrily than any others we'd seen yet, until we left what must have been "their area". The second was an excellent "final dive" for the trip: There were massive collections of fish of all hues and sizes, from the tiniest coral swimmers up to what must have been a 20-25 lb grouper(?) with a scary looking snaggletooth. There were black tips in small numbers, and we even saw three different lion fish hanging out under ledges and in hidey holes. So, we end our underwater adventures here without seeing any mantas, or even any rays of any kind up close, but it was great diving anyway. :)
After lunch we snoozed a bit, then prepped for the climb some, got dinner, prepped more, and now plan for sleep before going into vaitapee tomorrow around 9:30am to go climb the mountain. :)
~11pm
10/10/05 11:14am -
Our luggage is packed and sitting on the front steps by reception, and we're in the open-air bar, whiling away the time until our 3:30pm departure. Both of the past two days were excellent. On Saturday we got up nicely rested, packed our mountain-climbing gear, got breakfast, told Club Med reception where we were going (in case we didn't come back that night) and hopped the shuttle to Vaitapee. There, we checked on the available of a 1-day cell phone rental (none) and let the gendarmerie know that we were heading up the mountain and planned to be back by 4pm. GPS calibrated in both compass and altimeter (being _at_ sea level is mighty convenient...), and pictures taken of the mountain, off we went at about 10:05 am.
Initially the trail _was_ the road, but toward the road's end, a local man who was busy weed whacking his yard (and the road) pointed us off to the left to the trail. After a bit of casting about through melon fields we found the path and started up. We had a couple of false starts on unnecessary bushwhacking, but soon found ourselves on the mostly easy to follow, somewhat blazed trail up the west side of Mount Paihia/Hue. We climbed for two and a half hours, and this time the guidebook was right on. It was a tree-root to tree-root clamber punctuated by occasional scrabbles up rocks, and even rarer flattish portions on which to rest. Once or twice we got a bit sidetracked (particularly when the trail took an unclear jog to one side or the other) but all in all it was a very direct climb. We'd agreed that we'd climb up for two and a half hours and allow three and a half to get down; though down is usually easier than up, we would be more tired, and we wanted the extra safety margin. Unfortunately, by 12:10pm, we had only reached the start of the northward traverse around from the west to the final ascent on the northeast side. At that point, Megan was getting a bit tired, so we called off the final ascent, and simply traversed far enough to enjoy the great view of Faanui with our lunch.
Just after 12:30, we started back down , still getting off trail here and there - again, mostly at trail-jogs where straight down looked 'right' until it was "I don't remember this rock". Then we'd clamber back up to the last point we remembered, find where we'd gone astray and continue down the trail. At one point we ran into a group climbing down being led by a guide who seemed quite displeased to find us on the mountain. His charges translated that he seemed to feel he has some authority over the trail (despite it being a public trail) and didn't we know about the American who fell and broke his leg on the mountain last week, spending the rest of that day and night and into the next day on the hill, injured, and had to be helicopter-ed off the mountain?! And how could we think!? to climb the mountain without _him_, and _he_ would take us down off the mountain!
What an asshole.
Yes, we know about the stupid American who went up the mountain _by_himself_; without telling anyone where he was going and got hurt and had to be rescued, but no, we don't need your indignance at someone not paying you to guide them up a mapped and marked trail while making sure to start back before they got too tired. Anyway, he was pushing his people down the hill much faster than we felt comfortable going, so before too long we'd lost sight of him on the trail below. Later, while on another false side trail, a single local coming down the trail called to us from 10 yards over (on the main trail) and motioned for us to us the main trail. He said nothing else - merely walking ahead once we made the trail, and stopping to see us catch up whenever he went out of sight ahead. When we reached the bottom at 2:30pm, I handed him a $50 note (5000 XPF) and said thanks as he headed off into the brush.
Back at the road we again encountered the asshole, who was loading his customers into a compact car for the ride back to their hotel. He seemed to have calmed down a bit, and it came out that what he was probably most pissed about was that we were from Club Med. It seems he had tried to get them to take some of his flyers for his guide service, but they weren't interested - despite not yet having any mountain guides listed on their excursions catalog. So we parted more amicably than we'd met, but I didn't really have any question about why Club Med turned him down. Not a first-class operator. (But then neither is the current head of Excursions here, but then she's also Italian, and we've unfortunately come to expect a bit of snottiness from most of the Italians here...)
Anyway, it was only 2.5 hours up to 480m elevation (out of 600m) and 2 hours back with side-trails and lunch included, so we had 1:45 until our shuttle would be back for us. We checked in with the gendarmerie to let them know we'd come back safely (and early), and went to get something cool to drink at the snack shop below the excellent boutique with the map. An Orangina and vanilla milkshake never tasted so good. :) With plenty of free time left, we did some shopping and picked up gifts for folks back home, along with making sure we hadn't missed anything important in that little town. After shuttling back to Club Med, we showered the mountain out of our hair and off our bodies and then went to enjoy our 30 minute massages before dinner at Bloody Mary's.
Bloody Mary's is an institution at this point, having been opened by American ex-pats back in 1979. The floor is sandy beach, with cubbyholes by the entrance for your footwear. All of the tables and stools (there are no chairs) are hewn from local wood long since polished to a shine, and the ceiling suspends fronds and leaves with the best possible impression of being outside without having to worry about the rain... The menu is presented in a unique manner: Just beyond the matre'd is an open iced case with all of today's fresh meats arrayed for viewing. All of the fish is fresh caught today, and the steaks and chicken are flown in that today. You actually pick your piece of entree meat, along with what appetizer you want. The owner writes down your order and off you go to your table the atmosphere, fresh bread, and a drink while (if you're us) your sashimi tuna and teriyaki tuna kabobs are prepared. A simple salad preceded excellent dinners of marinated Oho/Owaho and Mako Shark. I now second Jen's recommendation of their maitais as The Best, and share her and Rob's fascination with the sink fixtures in the restrooms. To wit: Pulling a large wooden ring releases water down a well-flowered, free-standing rocky waterfall which ultimately provides a space for one's hands to receive the water. Unique describes damn near everything in the place. The meal was exquisite and the perfect end to a day of exercising vital powers along lines of excellence.
Sunday we got up around 7:30am to grab some quick breakfast before our all day Maraamu boat excursion. We left the docks with three other couples and the family running the excursion at 9am. Our first stop was what used to be Manta Point, before the construction started on two new hotels right at that area: the new Ritz Carlton and (another!!!) Intercontinental Hotel. The last time folks saw mantas there was about 4 months ago. Bastards. After a very pleasant but manta-free 45 minutes snorkeling, we climbed back into the boat and headed to a private motu owned by the family, where waited the three friendliest stingrays I've ever seen! Maude (one of the guides) had them eating fish out of her hand while they rubbed on and glided all over her and everyone else in the water. It was amazing to see these wild creatures tamed and clearly affectionate. Certainly the food had much to do with it, but despite being free to come and go, they seemed genuinely friendly. Dogs? Yes. Cats? Sometimes, sure. But I guess I've never given fish enough credit in the intelligence department. :)
After we'd played with them for a good while we put on our fins and went snorkeling over and in a beautiful coral garden. Part way through the swim, I noticed a profusion of sea urchins in the area. In fact several coral heads seemed to be filled with the spiny black beasts. And when we reached a point with a depression where our guide had us stop for a bit, I saw a stone on the lagoon floor that was _covered_ with broken urchin bristles. The mystery was solved when our guide used a long sharp stick to extract a half dozen urchins from a nearby coral head and line them up for the slaughter. :) They were too small to get any good human-edible meat out of them, but a few whacks from the long stick broke each one open, and the fish had a feast. We swam back to the beach and boat through a surprising collection of water temperatures. Had I not known better, I'd have suspected alternating hot and cold springs scattered about the lagoon. I know it was the sun, but still... Wow vertically oriented thermoclines!
Once back, we watched another one of the guides use bait fish to try to lure some small sharks into the immediate area, but the current was moving in the wrong direction (out to sea through the barrier reef, instead of in toward the lagoon from which sharks could come), so the stingrays simply enjoyed more food.
On shore we enjoyed our second coconut show of the trip, and I got to both shuck a couple of coconuts in the Tahitian way, and learn how to (and somewhat successfully try to) climb a coconut tree. Lunch followed. :) It was grilled everything, including my first taste of the flavorless Breadfruit(tm). Everything else: fish, ham, sausage, chicken and veggies was very tasty. After lunch, Ned led us on a hike out to the old coral head - once submerged, now part of the motu. He showed us the saltwater-drinking tree with weapon-worthy wood, and explained how to catch an octopus while walking the reef: Tow a small piece of shell behind you on a string. When an octopus grabs it to eat, grab the octopus. :) Tasty.
After the hike we played with the rays a bit more, then napped in the shade a bit. Around 2:30pm we left the motu to continue our trip around the island. Our final stop before returning to Club Med was a sandy-bottomed shallows teeming with rays, amongst which we swam and waded some more. After a quarter hour we continued on, finishing our circumnavigation of the island back at Club Med docks. It was a fine time, but I ended up with a rather sunburned back - a result of my foolish decision not to wear a shirt while snorkeling. I'd been very good about such things for the entire trip, but alas I succumbed to the idea that I'd somehow become a bit more adapted in that time. Not so much, really. At least it wasn't too bad - no peeling at all, and wearing a shirt isn't too uncomfortable, so such is life.
We came back to an excellent final dinner with these philo dough egg and fish pot-pie kind of things that were amazingly tasty. We also got a chance to swap contact info with Ron, and see the Fire Dancing show again, it being Sunday. This time Megan didn't get pulled up again, but we did have front-row seats, which was much better. :)
10-11-05 9:45pm
Now sitting in LAX waiting for our 11:30pm red-eye back to PIT. Travel(tm). Yesterday we were up, breakfasted, packed and out of our room by 10am to have a nice day of sitting in the bar and grabbing our final lunch with a couple of G.O.s, including Ed. It turns out that Ed climbs the mountain trail pretty regularly and he shared our view of the asshole guide we met on the trail. :) We also got a CD with the few pictures we'd gotten taken by the professional photographer who roams the Club. At 3:30 we hopped the shuttle to Vaitapee, then the 4pm boat to BOB, then our 5:45pm ATR72 flight to PPT via Reatea, where we cooled our heels(along with clearing the pearls through customs) until our surprisingly comfortable 11:45pm redeye into LAX. We didn't make it quite early enough to catch the 11:40am to PIT, so we stayed with our "check into LAX Marriott for 9 hours" plan. It was sooooo nice to have a comfy bed in which to rest instead of an LAX chair. But now we're here, and in about 6 hours or so we should be on the ground at PIT, driving home to two cute little kitties. Let keep hoping those 3 first class seats stay unsold... ;)