Raiatea, French Polynesia

We had a good day at sea on the 20th, then came in to the island of Raiatea, French Polynesia on the morning of March 21st...  

Approaching Raiatea

Such a beautiful little island surrounded by many tiny islands, called motus, with wonderful white sand beaches...   Our tour started at 9:00 a.m.   We were able to dock at this harbor, it was a pretty harbor with many small boats docked nearby.

in the Pier area

We boarded a boat which took us up the Faaroa river....the only navigable river in French Polynesia...   We passed by many of the small motus on our way....

We seen a lot of beautiful foliage.... ginger, vanilla, & coconut trees.  

Entering the mouth of the Faaroa River

Very dense foliage on both sides

Beautiful blooms on many of the trees & bushes

Sometimes one tiny bud just beginning to bloom

Happy trees getting their feet wet

After we left the river they took us to one of the little motu’s and we had about an hour and a half to swim, lay in the sun, and relax...  It was like what dreams are made of.....surrounded by coconut trees for shade, and crystal clear waters as far as you could see......  We did not take our snorkel gear but it wasn’t needed as you could see many colorful fish just standing there looking.....They served a hugh tray of fresh fruit, filled with mango, melon’s, pineapple and the little tiny banana’s....The sun was very hot but we wore lots of sunscreen and did not get burned.....

Standing near one of the grass huts and shelters built on the beach

There were also showers around and picnic tables

Beautiful flowering bushes everywhere we looked

Wonderful swimming

Shower on the beach

Wonderful secluded areas where we could get off by ourselves

Too soon the afternoon was over and time to go back to shore....  It had been a low energy day so we just cleaned up, went for dinner and spent the rest of the evening on the veranda watching the scenery we were passing until dark.....   We closely went by miles of the gorgeous shoreline of the society islands, the locals stopping to wave as the big ship passed by them.  

One of the tiny Motu's as we were leaving Raiatea

There are a few of these little islands for sale.....

Just a few multi millions and you can have your own.

Sailing close to shore

Fisherman on his pier

Areas that were inhabited and some that were not

Zoomed in on a rocky cliff

Wouldn't you love to live here.......

Bora Bora loomed in before us

Tired from a long day of excitement we were in bed by 9:00 last night.   The ship docked off shore in Bora Bora to spend the night and will be in Bora Bora until 5:00 tonight, March 22nd.  We have a tour scheduled at 1:00 this afternoon that will take us around all sides of the island and give us some snorkel and beach time....  We are going ashore this morning to visit the famous “Bloody Mary’s” then will meet the tour group before we take off on this afternoon’s tour.

As I’m looking out the window of our cabin at this time, I can see 8 shades of blue dotted by as many greens on the shore of all the lush foliage that covers Bora Bora.  It is almost too much for my mind to absorb, let alone describe.......   

The Village of Bora Bora

I’m having a hard time trying to post these messages as often as I wish I could....  Getting connected is hard and I have to go down to the lounge in order to get on line,  (and that is hit & miss) then as soon as I get connected someone stops by wanting to visit.  There never seems to be enough time to just set and write like I want to and it’s killing me!   I wish I could just sit on the veranda and let all of the words roll out of my mind but it’s impossible at this time. .....Between ship activities, dressing for dinner, slow internet connections, and the tours, we’re on the go a lot.   Sending pictures just takes too much time and space on my allotted time if they download at all, so it’s not working out like I had hoped....  The day will come though when I’m sitting back at home that I can share all of this with you and give it the proper attention it deserves......  Until then I will just assure you we’re having a wonderful time and indeed living the journey of a lifetime.....