Day 26 Jan 30 - At Sea

Bruce woke us at 9:20 with his daily activities announcement. It was 81 degrees with 83 percent humidity under cloudy skies and 21 knot winds. We had coffee on the verandah and readied our laundry to send out. We missed the breakfast buffet hours but found the continental breakfast still out. We ate rolls and pastries on the back deck and I worked the crossword while Glenda read. I went back to the cabin at 12 to update the blog and to answer some emails and pay some bills online. I went to the front desk and bought 110 New Zealand Dollars for $98.88 Cook Islands (Rarotonga) uses the NZD and we have several New Zealand stops coming up. I returned to the back deck at 1:40. We stayed until 3 reading and enjoying the cool breeze. We went to bingo at 4 where I won the blackout game for $100. Tonight's formal night theme is Viva La France. We got ready for dinner and went to happy hour in the Crow's Nest at 7. After dinner, we took a couple of pictures of the people in the shops who were dressed in their French outfits and went to the Crow's Nest until 10:45. We then went to the casino and managed to lose in about 10-15 minutes before retiring to the cabin.

Day 25 Jan 29 - Bora Bora

Our wake up call was at 7 and it was 81 degrees with 86 percent humidity under partly sunny skies and 4 knot winds. We had breakfast in our cabin and dressed for the beach. We boarded the tender to the dock at 9 and upon arrival we were transferred to a nice party boat with about 30-35 people. We had a little boy 20 months old and he danced and clapped to the music from the crew. We went around various small islands before stopping to get in the waist high water with the rays and sharks. Glenda went in while I took pictures from the boat. Then we cruised some more before stopping at a small private island to swim for one hour. I actually got into the water this time. The little boy did not want to leave the beach and kept running from his mother, but once they got him back on board, we had fruit and juice and the music started again and he was a happy camper. It was a great tour and not as hot and humid as yesterday. Back in town, we looked through the shops and Glenda found a dress to spend most of our Polynesian Francs on. We tendered back and boarded the ship at 1:15. I had placed my wallet and money in a plastic baggie that leaked, so I had to launder money while Glenda went to the back deck. I updated the blog and checked email and down-loaded pictures. I went to the back deck at 3 and we stayed for the sail away until 5:30 when we went to clean up and dress for dinner. During the sail away we visited with Natalia, one of the performers on board from Tahiti until Auckland. She and her dance partner do Tango with Flamenco flavor. Before dinner, we went to the Crow's nest for happy hour and after dinner, where our assistant dining steward brought us a special dessert not on the menu. It was a Copa chino Bomb, ice cream with a hard chocolate shell. We returned to the Crow's Nest and visited with Casey, Don, Peter, and Barbie. Before we left, Natalia and her dance partner arrived and we visited with them until 11:25. They will perform the February 1 show and we promised to attend.

Day 24 Jan 28 - Morea

Bruce woke us up at 7 with tender instructions and we finally got up at 7:45 when they started calling tender numbers. It was 79 with 90 percent humidity under partly sunny skies and 5 knot winds. We had coffee on the verandah and went to breakfast at 8:30. We got on the tender about 9:15 and went to the village, where we bought a t-shirt, a pant set, pearl earrings and Glenda had her picture made with a tattooed native in a thong. It was very hot and humid, so we tendered back to the ship and boarded at 10:45. Glenda went to deliver coconut soap from yesterday to Peter and to Don while I updated the blog and down-loaded pictures. I went back up to the aft deck at noon and we visited with Alan and Sandy, Don, and spoke to Jeff and Corrine when they came back on board from their night at one of the hotels with stilted rooms on Morea. We finally gave in to the 91 degree heat at 2:55 and returned to our air conditioned cabin. We got our things together for our tour on a boat and stop at the beach tomorrow in Bora Bora. We cleaned up and dressed for dinner and went to the happy hour in the Crow's Nest at 7 until dinner at 8. After dinner, we returned to the Crow's Nest for the happy hour at 9. We visited with Casey, Peter and Barbie until 11.

Day 23 Jan 27 - Papeete, Tahiti

We awoke to Bruce announcing that the ship had been cleared at 7:35. It was 79 degrees with 87 percent humidity under mostly sunny skies and 15 knot winds. We had coffee on the verandah and then dressed for the weather, including sun screen and went to breakfast at 9. We went off the ship at 9:35 and walked through the visitor center before going to the public market where we got coconut soap, postcards, a shirt and a wrap. We then stopped at the same café that we stopped at the previous time we were here and had a drink with Angie and Brian. We returned to the visitor center and Glenda bought a caftan. We re-boarded the ship at noon and went to the cabin to cool off and drop our purchases. It had been forecast to rain, but was very hot and sunny all morning. About noon, the clouds started forming in the mountains. We went to the back deck at 12:30 after mailing postcards at the front desk and stayed until 3:25 when we went back to the cabin to cool off. At 5 we cleaned up for dinner and the Captain announced that we were on our way to Morea, a mere 19 nautical miles away and that we might drift for part of the night to save fuel depending on the weather conditions. We went to the happy hour in the Crow's Nest until dinner time at 8. After dinner, we went to the Crow's Nest for a Beach Party theme where we stayed until 11:15.