Oh dear. Cough getting worse not better, so not much sleep after 1:40am. A Coldrex on getting up helped, so we met D & S as planned. We simply walked off about 9:45am, past the various enterprising sellers of tours for Moorea tomorrow, across the main road (where everyone stops for you at pedestrian crossings) and a matter of a couple of hundred yards, to try and negotiate for a taxi. Considering the pushy drivers in other ports, Papeete was almost the total opposite. It took time to find anyone willing to take us for a couple of hours, but we eventually managed it.
A cost of $120USD was agreed and although Paula and I had been out to the west before, D & S hadn’t. The taxi driver didn’t say much, but we had a very pleasant couple of hours, with several stops at the usual tourist places such as a lookout, the waterfall and the blow-hole etc.
Back in exactly 2 hours, we headed back to the ship. A very, very light lunch and we all went back out again just after afternoon tea. We should have gone out a bit earlier as the market was just closing. I managed to not buy a solid, carved, 8 string ukulele for about $200. Sue had great difficulty in the pharmacy, explaining that she wanted cough lollies/sweets. When Paula finally fished out a Strepsil from her bag, after 15 minutes, the pharmacist explained that he had them in stock!
Darryl and Sue did bit more wandering whilst and Paula and I headed back to the dock area. We got back about 5:30 just as ‘the Trucks’ were setting up for the famous evening food market. I think they have been relocated from our first visit and are now much nearer the ship. I’m sure that in the past, they only set up on a Friday, so as a Monday, it probably explains why there were fewer than I remember. Those who went and ate there enjoyed it, but we opted for the ship’s buffet instead.
We called at the theatre after eating for the latter part of the Folkloric show. The theatre was packed so we watched from the rear. Some very good dancing – particularly the shimmy by the girls! The audience loved it.
We retired early at 10:45 and we now have Moorea to look forward to, but have nothing really planned other than maybe a return to the ‘Lagoonarium’ we visited a few years ago. Well, that was the plan, until we actually got to the cabin and found out that the ship docks nowhere near the ferry terminal, which means we are half way around the island, opposite where we wanted to be.
We did pick up a flyer on the dock for ‘Hiro Tours’, for $50 a head, so maybe we’ll do that instead. Maybe we’ll investigate hiring a car – but I doubt it. We’ll just have to discuss it at breakfast. Moorea is a tender port, so we won’t be getting off early.
Sailaway from Papeete is about 4am tomorrow, so I think we may just skip that and try and catch up with some sleep instead.
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