18 December 2007

10 December 2007
A south seas hi there to all,
This is a cruise that does a lot of cruising. After leaving Moorea we headed to sea; the south seas that is. Our first destination was Bora Bora, a place where anyone who has ever visited this part of the world inevitably visits. Bora Bora embodies the total essence of a south seas island. It is an island surrounded by an atoll surrounded by coral reefs that extend out into the ocean for several hundred yards. From the air it must look like a doughnut with the lagoon being the dough. It seems to be almost perfectly round with the “hole” taking the form of a couple of sharply rising mountains.
The tours at Bora Bora mostly centered on exploring the lagoon. My bridge mentor Marty accompanied a tour that traveled in the lagoon to a place where those who wished could get in the water and swim with huge Manta Rays that had had their stingers snipped from their tails. Some of the Rays were six feet across. Sounds like a scary experience to me but what the heck, if one can swim with the dolphins any thing else should be easy stuff. One tour involved a jeep ride up one of the mountains, giving the participants a grand view of the lagoon, the atoll and the sea. I talked to two couples that made the trip who claimed that the bruises they received on the sitting part of their anatomies would take years to heal. The road was more than just a little bit bumpy. Ahh, those wonderful lasting memories of Bora Bora.
The area where our tenders took ashore was ripe with opportunities to shop, but not much else. I took a walk down the narrow main “highway” for several miles to check out “Bloody Mary’s” bar/ restaurant. It was closed for the holiday season ??? But I did have a chance to read the long list of famous people who were claimed to have visited Bloody Mary’s. I didn’t find anyone I know on the list.
Bora Bora is home for a sizeable cultured pearl industry. I took a “free” shuttle ride to an “oyster farm” where I was given a first class tour of the facility. In my last log, I noted that a museum I had visited talked about the continued use of centuries old techniques for harvesting pearls. In reality, most pearls today are the product of farms like the one I was visiting. I was shown how the pearl farmers help the oysters grow the size and shape of pearls that the market demands. As you have already guessed, the “farm” also had a very nice showroom with super friendly sales people. I was shuttled out to the farm in the back of an old rusty converted pick-up and was escorted back to the dock in the back of a stylish sedan.
We are into “at sea” time and our bridge games are running full tilt. We had a number of absolute beginners who wanted to learn the game so, while Marty lectures to the seasoned players and advanced techniques, I have been working with beginners. By beginners, I mean real beginners. Half of the class on the first day couldn’t distinguish between clubs and spades. I taught people how to shuffle cards and arrange the cards in their hands. I had sixteen the first day and nineteen the second day. I think this will be a lot of fun for me and for my new bridge players. Marty ran six tables of duplicate on the first day and that will probably grow with time. All of a sudden I have dozens of people on board who greet me with a “Hi Billl” as I wander around the ship.
After leaving Bora Bora we will be at sea for three days. Then we’ll spend a half day at Pictairn Island (Mutiny on the Bounty fame) where we will meet some descendants of Fletcher Christian and then back to sea for a two day sail to Easter Island. We’ll spend Christmas Day in and around Easter Island and then we’ll sail away for another three days at sea before we hit the coast of Peru. All in all, the next week or so will keep me busy with a lot of bridge to manage with little opportunity to play any hands.
We lose an hour on the clock every other day making for short nights for sleep. None the less, I haven’t missed my morning walk and work out each day. The walking venue on ship is a track that takes 11 trips around to make a mile. When we are sea the walking on the bouncing deck makes one look like the morning’s orange juice was spiked without having an umbrella added.
Lots of love to all,
Grandpa Bill, Dad and Barnacle Bill