June 2000

The highpoint of June has to be our cruise through French Polynesia.  We flew (7.5 hours) from LAX to Papeete, Tahiti, and boarded the Renaisance Line's R3 for a ten-day cruise.  After a day to explore Papeete--which reminded us more of the Caribbean than Hawaii--we set sail for Huahine.

The ship tended to do its steaming at night, and the first night, both Sheila and I were awakened by what we took to be an earthquake.  Eventually, we both realized it was just the ship being underway.  Given my past Navy experience, I was mostly embarrassed that our TV was hanging out of the cabinet at its full extension, and the papayas we bought in the Papeete market were rolling all around the cabin.  I should have remembered to stow things properly for getting underway.

We took a bus tour of Huahine and then went snorkeling.  Most of the fish were similar to those we've seen in Hawaii and in the Caribbean, but there were also, sometimes subtle, differences.  The water was clear and warm.

Our next stop was Moorea, where we took another tour of the island the first day and went snorkeling the second.  The snorkeling tour was a small one, with only four other tourists.  At first, we snorkeled inside the reef, where, among other things, we saw a very large moray eel and learned to recognize fire coral (don't touch it) (don't touch any of the coral is a better guide).  Then we moved outside the reef and anchored in about thirty feet of water.  I was the first person in the water and found myself looking eye-to-eye with a shark, about three-and-a-half to four- feet long and about twenty feet away.  We agreed to disagree and he left.

The isalnd of Raiatea, our next stop, has been slow to welcome tourists, though they are now building facilities to cash in on the industry.  We wandered around town a little, trying to find some place to eat Polynesian food.  Part of our problem was timing: choosing to come ashore during siesta time.  We bought a little junk food and went back on the ship.

Bora Bora was the most impressive to me.  Imagine a large, circular reef with only one opening to the sea, with large islands inside the circle and others as part of it.  You can leave the main island, travel four or five miles by boat to the reef and be in knee-deep water again. Our snorkeling tour of Bora Bora involved a shark feeding that lacked sharks.  Imagine a group of tourists in masks and snorkels, clinging to a rope like popcorn strung for a Christmas tree, while the guides thrash around in the water ten to twenty feet in front of us, dumping chum in the water to attract the sharks.  In any event, we saw some interesting fish who ate the shark food.  The second stop was to feed sting rays, and they were there in great numbers.  We were in water about four feet deep, and you tried to stay afloat so you wouldn't step on the carpet of sting rays below you.  In the midst of watching the sting rays (averaging about four feet across), I swam to the edge of the activity and found myself looking at another shark, about the same size as the earlier one.  Fortunately, people in the boat also saw it, so I wasn't acused of shark fantasies.

The second day on Bora Bora, we took "Le Truck" (a bus consisting of two benches along the sides of a truck body to explore the island on our own.  We ended up at a very nice hotel, where we had a lunch including "poisson cru," the national dish of French Polynesia.  It consists mainly of raw fish, marinated in lime juice and stirred into a collection of chopped vegetables, spices, and coconut milk.  It was pretty tasty but, like sashimi, I don't think I'd make it my main diet.

I was able to work on the ship, having brought my subcompact Sony Vaio.  It served me well, especially after I found a 110 outlet behind the coffee station, where I could get coffee and tea very early in the morning.  I even survived ten days without email.  The world also  seemed to survive my being out of communication (which was a little disappointing, to tell the truth).

The ship itself was great.  We had a spacious suite with an equally spacious lanai.  We enjoyed (1) no smoking, (2) no children, (3) no dressing up, and (4) no fixed seating for meals.  The food was great, the staff were, by and large, great.  And in addition to cruising, Sheila and I both had out bodies pampered.  I had some kind of electrical/herbal body wrap, a massage, and a PEDICURE.  The last of these was a delightful surprise.  I had great resistance to doing it, and now I'm looking around to see where I can get it done regularly.  I was able to work out in the fitness center or walk the exercise track on an upper, outside deck.  This, plus watching what I ate, resulted in my gaining half a pound, thus keeping up the momentum of my current fitness commitment.

Back in Anaheim, I been working at the office and getting ready to leave for Vermont.  Next month's update will probably be all about Woodbury, Vermont, where, I just learned, there were three days in June when it DIDN'T rain.  Hope they've gotten it out of their (weather) system.