Raiatea - Day 1.
The ship will be docked at Raiatea for two days, allowing everyone to come and go as they please. No tender schedules that have to be followed. The ship will be docking in about 2 hours or less. Hopefully the weather will cooperate today. The seas are a bit rough this morning.
We contracted a private tour with Lysis at Hinerani Tours for a private motu excursion for 3000 CFP each. They have a display board at the end of the craft display area right off the dock at the main harbor at Raiatea. Mike and Dominique from Houston, TX joined us - there were a total of 8 people on the trip.
We took a motor launch over to a beautiful little motu just off the main island. It was marked "Motu - privé". There were shallow waters on one side of the little island, so after taking lots of scenic photos, including Dom in her leopard print swimsuit looking like Jane of the Jungle.
She posed for some pictures on a very odd-looking curved-trunk tree holding the coconut that almost fell on us. Sandy and I posed under those tree's other arched section.
We went snorkeling and saw a lot of beautiful fish, including angel fish, pipe fish, and the Picasso fish, which looks like an artist painted it's body. It is about as big as your open hand and an inch thick in the center, with a cream-white body with diagonal black, light blue and gold stripes like a zebra. Across the eyes, like eyebrows, it has a brilliant royal blue patch of color, and the tail fin has a small black stripe in front of it..
Sandy saw an octopus pop up from the coral and then retreat when it saw her. She got my attention and I swam over to see it, clinging to the coral head, perfectly blended into the colors of the coral. You could see its breathing siphon pulsating, pumping water through it. When I waved my hand over it to make a small pressure wave in the water, it instantly flashed a rapid series of light and dark colors across it's skin, like a warning - don't bother me.
We came back in to the table on shore where Lysis' wife had prepared fresh fruit, drink and coconut bread for snacks. Everything was delicious. Then she turned on a tape player with some traditional Tahitian music and did a beautiful dance for us.
After we left the motu, the guide took us over to a pearl farm near the shore in a small cove. We heard a very good lecture for about 10-15 minutes about what is involved in creating a black pearl, and then walked across the street over a connecting bridge to their small sales room. They had some beautiful pearls, of course, but I bought myself a nice Tiki god necklace carved out of mother-of-pearl from one of the black oysters. It shimmers in the sunlight and looks very nice. It only cost 1000 CFP (about $8).
As we cruised back towards the ship, we saw so many beautiful shades of blue water. Everywhere you look the colors change depending on the depth.
We came back to the R3 after landing at the docks, and we went straight to lunch at the Club restaurant. We have found this restaurant to have the best food, great service like a 5 star establishment, and the variety of dishes is excellent from day to day. They have had some of the most interesting combinations of foods in their appetizers, salads and main courses that I've ever eaten.
After our leisurely lunch was over, Sandy stayed in the room to catch a nap while I took a tour of the ship's bridge up on deck 8. The entire bridge takes up the front section of deck 8 with a huge panoramic view from left to right with windows, allowing the Captain and bridge crew to see anything ahead. All the systems on board ship are totally computerized. The smoke sensors all over the ship are set to detect even the smoke from a single cigarette. Since this is a totally no-smoking vessel, anyone smoking, even out on their balcony, will trigger the alarm on the bridge. If they see that the alarm is in a stateroom they will call the room first and ask if they were smoking or burning anything. Anyone caught repeatedly defying the no-smoking rule will be put off the ship.
We met Mike and Dom for dinner at the Club restaurant, and after another wonderful meal, served by our favorite waiter there, Justin (from New Zealand), we went to the Cabaret Lounge to see the "Children of Raiatea" dance show. They had young children ranging in age from about 4 or 5 to early teens, and adult women dancers also.
They put on a very entertaining show, and near the end one of the little 5 year olds in the front was doing a hip-shaking dance and was yawning at the same time. The audience saw that and everyone laughed out loud at the same time, somewhat startling the little girl. The adult dancers came out near the end of the show and did a wonderful grass skirt dance, and when everything was over, the children and the women posed for photos. During the show we had the drink special of the day, a "coco-loco". It has coconut rum, coconut flavoring and some other liqueur. It was not unlike a piña colada, but had some different flavors. After the show we called it a day and went to bed.