DAY 27---PAPEETE, FRENCH POLYNESIA

                                                              PAPEETE, TAHITI

We are docked today at Papeete on the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia.  It is sunny with a chance of some passing rain showers later this afternoon.  Temperature is a warm 86 degrees.

Historical/Background Info:

        Tahiti is the largest of the French Polynesian islands with a population of nearly 190,000.  It was also formed by volcanic activity and is high and mountainous with surrounding coral reefs.  Most of the people lives along the coast, especially near the capital city, Papeete.  The interior is almost completely uninhabited.

       Tahiti was originally settled by Polynesians between 300 and 800 AD.  They represent about 70% of the population, with the rest made up of European, Chinese, and mixed heritage.  It was annexed by France in 1880 and proclaimed a colony of France making the people here French citizens.  French is the sole language here.

        Tourism is a significant industry here.  Its main trading partner is France with others being the US, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.  Tahitian black pearls farming is a substantial source of revenues, with most being exported to the US, Japan, and Europe.  Tahiti also exports vanilla, fruits, flowers, monoi (a scented oil), fish, and coconut oil.

        We were here in 2010, 2014, & 2017 on other Regent cruises.

RAIATEA PHOTOS CONTINUED

It appears this was some kind of an altar with shells from the ocean placed on it.

Our tatooed guide.

                                    These two dogs followed us at every stop while at this site.

Different colors of the water from the shallow shoreline out  to ocean.  Coral causes the differences.

The other tour bus at the archaeological site stop were served these fruits.  We were not.

                                             Getting off our Le Truck at the end of the tour.

LAST EVENING

Melissa is our wine sommelier with Dara and Komang as our wait staff.  We always try to dine at their station in Compass Rose for dinner.  They are a fantastic team.

I had made a special request for our appetizer and entree for tonight's dinner.  We started with the fried calamari.  YUMMY!

I also asked for these panko coated fried shrimp.  I had asked for 12 pieces but they thought I meant 12 pieces for each of us.  We laughed when they brought out two huge plates of the shrimp.  We asked Dara to share one with Komang after the dining room closed.
 

We call this the "Christmas tree".  It comes after they clear the table and before dessert.  Sweets!  No dessert for me last night.

         No real entertainment last night.  Our two cultural ambassadors, Heidi & Crystal, hosted a Polynesian dance party in the theater.  I don't dance so I got a Happy Happy drink and headed to our suite.  I wanted to try and upload photos but no luck.  Internet was still almost nonexistent.  They better get it fixed soon or there will be a mutiny.  Many, many very unhappy passengers as they need to pay bills online as is end of month.

TODAY  (THURSDAY)

                                                         Some views of Papeete.

                    This Wind Star cruise ship is docked with view of her from our balcony.
        

                                                                Very nice motor yacht.

        This is the end of the first segment of the world cruise.  Not all passengers are doing the full world cruise so today approximately 60 got off and another 60 will be boarding for this upcoming segment.  The second segment begins here in Tahiti and will end in Bali on February 27th.  The new folks will be boarding at noon and they will be greeted with some champagne.

        I decided not to go on my booked tour this morning.  It was an hour bus ride to and from a garden.  I had enough of gardens yesterday.  So we headed to the fitness center for our treadmill time.  We were only passengers but there was a couple ship's dancers there.

        My photos were not uploading this morning until around 10am.  I thought I was going to have to go off and try to find a place with internet.  There is a McDonalds not far from the dock but not sure they have free internet like in States.  Thankfully the photos finally uploaded so I could get them on this blog post.

        We had lunch in Compass Rose.  I enjoyed a leek tart with gruyere cheese to start with.  Then I had the VERY good pan fried veal scaloppini marsala mushroom sauce, buttered potatoes, and veggies.  The potatoes were so good I asked for more.

        Our internet packages expired at noon so I subscribed to the package for the new segment during lunch on my phone.  I did my laptop and Rebecca's phone when we got back to the suite.  Rebecca is happy now because she is streaming her Bold & Beautiful soaps.  She is behind 4 episodes as has not been able to get internet.

        I talked to Kus, internet manager, at 1pm.  He said it would probably be Fiji on February 11th before the internet repair parts and technicians would arrive to fix the internet issues.  Luckily we are are getting pretty good signal today.  Just be aware that future blog posts may be delayed.

        Rebecca is also doing some laundry today as she does not trust the ship's laundry service.  I do.  There are 3 self serve (free) laundry rooms and they are very nice.

        Plan for this evening is cocktail hour in Mariner Lounge.  We are meeting Marcia and the two NY doctors, Richard & Harvey, there for cocktails.  Then the five of us has a reservation in Prime 7 for dinner.  Again there is basically no entertainment tonight.  They are having a "Sailaway Under the Stars" up on pool deck with music and petit fours being served.  Not our cup of tea!!

        We are sailing at 9pm for our next destination, Bora Bora.  We will be anchoring there by 8am tomorrow and will be there over night.  So two days at Bora Bora.