French Polynesia

It is Sunday and we are in Papeete, Tahiti. We spent 5 days traveling from Hawaii to Tahiti. The voyage is over 2000 miles, almost due south, and slightly further than the distance from LA to Hawaii. Tahiti is somewhat east of the Hawaiian Islands so there has been no further time-change this week. The weather between Honolulu and Tahiti was good and we were able to swim on board. We spent Saturday in Moorea. (See photo of Cook’s Bay.) I also took a picture of a breadfruit tree (picture)in Moorea. Papeete is but 20 miles from Moorea and you can see Moorea from the harbor in Papeete. (See photo.) These are part of the Society Islands, named by Captain Cook. In the word, society, you can hear the word, association, and what Cook had in mind was the proximity of these islands to one another. Of course they are volcanic in origin, and sit on top of a “hot spot” relatively close to the earth’s moving crusts. Admiral Bougainvillea visited here in 1768, before Cook. A picture taken in the park, named for the Frenchman, is included.See the statue behind me. As it is Sunday, all the stores are closed. But a crafts/fresh-food market was open in downtown Papeete this morning.(Photo)By the way, there is a Tahitian Franc, although the Euro is the official currency. Tonight we are off to Bora Bora (several hours’ cruise) and then to Raratonga in the Cook Islands. We will cross the dateline later in the week to arrive in Nuku Alofa. More about that next.