Date April 9, 2011 Still in Paradise
We left the Tuomotus on June 14, 2010 to sail for Tahiti. It was a short and un-
eventful sail of 2 nights. We arrived on the 16th and checked in for the rally.
The first night of the rally on the 18th, we were told to meet in front of the
marina at Papeete at 5pm. We were met by the Lattitude 38 sponsers and a Tahitian ban
and walked behind the band to the Governor's mansion. There we enjoyed a lovely
spread of hordeuvers and a polynesian show put on by one of the top Tahitian
dance groups. The ladies were beautiful and the men very handsome. It ended
with fireworks around 10pm. We saw friends (fellow cruisers) we had not seen since
Panama. We had all shown up for the rally in Tahiti. The next morning, Saturday
April 19, we left the marina and lined up to race to the Island of Moorea. There
were about 30 of us who took part. We had removed our mainsail in Papeete to have
it repaired but intended on racing anyway with just our jib and staysail. We came
in the middle of the pack! Not bad, we thought. Loads of fun and lots of wind.
Upon arrival to Moorea we anchored and went to shore where we enjoyed a scrumptious
lunch of pork, chicken, and fresh roasted vegetables. Dessert was fresh fruits,
pineapple cake, and banana pudding. Delicious!! On Sunday we had canoe races (my
team rolled over right at the finish line) and we were beaten. We had tug of war races, banana stalk races (very heavy as were loaded with bananas), and after dinnner
another dance group put on a fire dance. Really cool! Only the men play with fire. Ha! Monday morning all the festivities were over and we rested. We stayed in
Moorea until the 24th then sailed back over to Papeete, Tahiti where we provisioned
again as we had decided to sail down to Iti, Tahiti which means "little Tahiti" as
is part of the big Island and reached by a narrow bridge or by boat. John, Cheryl,
and Ian on Sea Mist also came along. We had a great sail to Iti and were thrilled
to see that Steve and Helen from the catamaran Dignity were already anchored there.
We all met up for drinks and to chat about our past and future plans. One day while
there we visited the Gougain Museum. He was a French artist who made his home in
Tahiti for many years until the Tahitians deported him back to France. He was suspected of being a pedaphile. He later returned and lived for several more years
before he died. He is buried in Tahiti and they now claim him as one of their own. Figures, doesn't it? Become Famous after death and all's forgiven. More later...

New Zealand

Just checked the date of my last posting. May 19, 2010! Lots has happened since
then. I'll try and catch you up! We are now in New Zealand and it is a beautiful
country with lovely people. But wait, I need to tell you about Tahiti!
Tahiti is fabulous! Gorgeous scenery and even more gorgeous people!!!! The
surprising thing about Tahiti is that it was NOT very touristy! We tied up to the
quay in downtown Papette (the capitol) and it was very pleasant. We could take the
bus to the big box store Carrefoul in a matter of minutes right from the marina.
How great to once again buy the meats and fresh veggies we were longing
for since Panama City. Our first meal was lamb chops from New Zealand. A taste as
to what awaited us in a few months time in that wonderful country.
The main reason we had left the Marquesas when we did, as we hated to leave, is that we had joined a rally hosted by a magazine out of California "Lattitude 38" the
previous year. It was going to be held in Tahiti and Moorea the end of June so we
had to be there and we were. Our arrival was planned for June 20 into Papeete. But first we had to visit the Tuomotus. These are atolls that lie between the Marquesas
and Tahiti. We had some wonderful snorkel trips there. We swam with black tip
sharks who were docile but big. Still made you pucker up when they swam towards you.
One of the atolls had a resort on it owned by a Frenchman. He invited we cruisers
over for a potluck one night and gave a few of us a tour of his resort. Awesome!
I told Stu I want to go back there and stay when I am 80. He fed the sharks from
his dock as children waded thru the water. More later......