Where in the World are Mike and Jan?

Waikiki Beach is iconic, even in Hawaii. It is the shooting location for many TV shows and movies, including From Here to Eternity and Hawaii Five-O (of course). So we took off for the beach, stopping on the way for a delicious açaí bowl, which we described and showed photos of in October when we were here on another cruise.

All the photos were taken at or along Waikiki. As you look at these other-worldly photos, keep in mind that the wide beach running along the ocean is artificial – comprised of imported sand, largely from Manhattan Beach, California. We read that it arrived by barges, and it is dizzying to think of the number of barges of sand required! Almost 2,000 feet of sand has been replenished over the years at a cost of $2.4 million, as erosion claims about one foot of sand per year.

In the 1800s, Waikiki was a retreat for Hawaiian royalty, and they enjoyed early forms of surfing on longboards. A few small hotels appeared in the 1880s, and the area became more popular once Robert Louis Stevenson stayed on Waikiki Beach as he explored the South Pacific (winding up in Samoa for the rest of his life, as we related a few weeks ago). The high-rise hotels started to go up in 1955, and this area has only grown in size and popularity since then. Believe it or not, the income generated from Waikiki makes up a whopping 42 percent of all of Hawaii’s tourist income!

So we wandered along the beach and took photos. There are various statues, a small water feature with waterfalls, a gigantic baobab tree with multiple trunks, and people, people, people – all enjoying both the beach and the ocean. There were far more people than we saw on all the beaches of French Polynesia combined. It was warm but not as hot as in French Polynesia, and we noticed one more thing: during dinner, at 6:30 pm, we could still see the entire landscape outside. Just a few days ago, when seated next to the window at the same time, it was just utter darkness at 6:30 pm. So we have moved back into the light! It is great to be back in the US – back in the US – back in the US of A!

We visited Cruel Sun, Maui, Hawaii, today. You never heard of it? That is the translation of the word, “Lahaina.” In 1820 it was chosen as the Royal Capital by King Kamehameha II, but only lasted as the capital until Honolulu was named as its replacement in 1845.

We last visited here four years ago, and it looks exactly the same. There is a long main street with beautiful items for sale in retail shops, along with their most famous ice cream shop, Lappert’s. In addition to premium ice cream and shave ice, it offers Dole Whip, a pineapple sorbet. The island used to be a center of pineapple and sugar production (before tourism replaced them), and there are many pineapple-themed foods and souvenirs to be found in the shops of Lahaina. At the end of town you can now find the Maui Outlet Shops. Everything is walkable. We saw a movie theater and got momentarily excited about seeing a movie. We have been on ships or small islands for quite a while now, so we haven’t seen many new releases. But we found the theater only shows films in the evenings (and of course, we were here during the day).

As you will see, it was a dark and stormy day. Some people got absolutely drenched when there was a sudden downpour. We walked through a light rain that stopped after 15 minutes or so, but the afternoon brought more showers. The rain did mean that it wasn’t quite so hot as normal, so that was great.

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As we said in our post of the same location when we were here in November 2018 – look at that title! What a mouthful!

Nuku Hiva is the name of the island we visited in the Marquesas, the largest in fact, and as you approach, at once it feels very different from all of the other islands we visited in French Polynesia. No wide, sandy beaches with lazy palm trees throwing some shade. Rather, the Marquesas are a series of volcanic mountains that have dramatically risen from the ocean over millions of years, with any “beach area” minimal at best, and generally black sand due to its volcanic nature. The population here once totaled about 100,000, before western “explorers” appeared and brought western diseases with them. By 1911, the population here was just 3,000. Today, it is a little over 9,000 – nowhere near its high.

We found the village of Taiohae to be little changed since our last visit. There are two small, curving arc-shaped bays with some sand and palm trees on both sides of the port, although nobody was out in the water. The surf was a little rough, and as our tender boat came up to the dock, we were slammed against it by an unexpected surge of water.

Everyone walks up the small hill in town to get pictures from above and to visit the statue, Tiki Tuhiva, on Tu Hiva Hill. She is 35 feet tall, and she rules! A “tiki” isn’t just a figurine you name your bar after. Tiki, according to South Pacific tradition, is the god who created everything. The Marquesans carve everything, and we mean everything. We didn’t pass a rock or large piece of wood that didn’t have a carving on it. Sadly, the Polynesian traditions of body tattoos (denoting class and status), along with carvings, were forbidden by the missionaries that the French sent after they took control in 1842. These cultural customs were lost for many decades. They are now back with a vengeance! While not proponents of tattoos, we were happy to see that the ancient traditions have returned.

Leaving French Polynesia feels bittersweet. We have been in the region since mid-October, and are now heading for Hawaii. It has been such a beautiful place to be for six months! Yes, there are mosquitoes and flies; yes, it is very hot and humid – BUT the gorgeous vistas and crystal waters have been amazing and at times other-worldly. Mike has done more diving than usual, and he ranks two of his recent dives among the best top five ever. After we disembark in early May, the ship and its crew will spend the summer cruising to Alaska – far, far different from the warm, humid islands of French Polynesia.

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Here we go again! This feels like an embarrassment of riches…for the fourth time in just a few months, we are back in Bora Bora. AND, we fell under the power of Bora Bora’s lure yet again. Since we have always rented a scooter here and driven completely around the island, we remembered the outstanding beauty of the water and the sky and wanted to see it all again. But the memory of having driven on a scooter in Tahiti for five hours, with the attendant saddle sores, was sharp, so this time we rented a Fun Car.

What is a fun car, you ask? It is a teeny-tiny two-person electric car that, in its entirety, is a little smaller than the size of a ferris wheel cage. There are two photos of it below. Of course, it drives just like a regular car, except there isn’t a window to roll down – the door is one piece of glass. There was a small sun roof for air circulation, and the vehicle did have air conditioning. But we quickly discovered that using the A/C dropped the remaining power precipitously, from 100 percent to 89 percent in just a few minutes. So we learned to love the sun roof with just a little breeze. We suppose it is called a fun car because we stopped frequently for photo-taking, and every time we turned around and saw this tiny munchkin car, we laughed.

Having been in many places in the world, we really do think Bora Bora is the prettiest island of all. As you will see in the photos, every time we drove just a mile or two and stopped for photos, the water and sky were different colors, dependent on where we were in relation to the sun and the geography. It is so interesting to see. All the islands of Tahiti have pretty multi-colored water and gorgeous skies, but many have a large numbers of houses on the beach, making good chunks of beach inaccessible. Businesses like restaurants also claim a lot of the beach access. But Bora Bora is very generous with views of the beach and parking for scenic viewpoints. It is all beautiful and wide open for swimming, snorkeling, and water sports. We saw a paraglider today, its parachute colors brightening the sky.

We were here over the weekend, and then after a quick trip to Papeete to pick up new passengers, we’re right back in Bora Bora. Mike went diving and said the manta rays were about about 10 feet across. They were the largest animal Mike had seen while diving, and the sight of them was other-worldly. In the pre-dive briefing, the dive guide told the divers to stay as low as possible and move as little as possible, so as to not scare them away. She said that they had a curious nature, so might approach us, but if they went past us, not to chase them, as they might otherwise return. Sure enough, several mantas passed above several times, looking majestic as they moved slowly by, as if they were moving in slow motion. Some reef sharks were seen on the second dive, which are, of course, a very common sight in French Polynesia. There are photos of rays and sharks below, but they were taken with an older GoPro camera. Due to that and the murkiness of the water, they aren’t the best quality, but will give you an idea of what’s down below.

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This was our second time in Raiatea, the first being last October. But it was raining for most of that day, so we focused mostly on Mike’s diving excursion. Today, however, we walked around the little town of Uturoa and followed the ocean boardwalk and pathway for a while. The views were lovely. Mike went diving in the afternoon, and he saw several black tip reef sharks, possibly some of the same ones he saw at the same dive spot six months ago.

The visibility was good and the dive site, known as Mira Mira by the locals, is pretty colorful, with a good variety of sea life, but the reef sharks are the stars of the area. The last time Mike was there he was surprised when he saw two of them swimming near him as soon as he put his mask in the water. This dive was pretty similar. They were there for most of the dive, circling around the divers. At one point, early in the dive, the dive guide was pointing out a white tip reef shark sitting at the bottom between rocks, as they often do, when he pointed over Mike’s shoulder. When Mike turned to look, one of the black tip reef sharks was passing a few inches from his head. It startled him for an instant before he saw that it was just an old friend.

As is common with these volcanic atolls, there is a reef a distance off the mainland, which juts close to or above the surface. That is true with the Mira Mira dive site. As the dive master said he might do before the dive, he led Mike close to the point where the waves were breaking and they floated a few feet below the surface and enjoyed the sensation of the wave surge. Then they returned to deeper water and the sharks before finishing the dive.

A few thoughts about sharks: they do bite people from time to time and occasionally even kill people, but it is a rare occurrence. Far more people are killed by falling coconuts each year than sharks. When scuba diving, especially in the South Pacific, there is a lot of discussion about sharks, but it nearly always focuses on where one can find them and how to get close to them. In a recent dive in Sydney, Australia, Mike was listening to a dive guide’s pre-dive briefing to a group of divers about lemon sharks. Lemon sharks can grow to 11 feet in length, and a few unprovoked bites to humans by them have been recorded. Australia is known as one of the more common areas of the world for shark bites. When the guide spoke about the possibility of seeing lemon sharks on the dive, his face and voice became very serious and he tried to catch each of the diver’s eyes to make sure they were paying close attention. His next words were, “If you see one, approach it slowly. If you rush toward it, you will scare it away.” Mike smiled, and thought that these were statements one would hear said only to divers.

Raiatea means “faraway heaven” and “sky with soft light,” and they seemed to have nailed the name! It is the second-largest island in French Polynesia after Tahiti, and seems to have been the jumping-off spot for early explorations to New Zealand and Hawaii. We looked for, but did not see, the strange, rare, local flower that grows only on this island – tiare apetahi. Google it – it looks like it forgot to finish growing, as it has five petals forming a half-circle. When it opens each day at dawn, it is with a slight crackling sound.

The biggest revenue on Raiatea comes from the production of Tahitian vanilla, which is supported by a local research facility. Coconuts and pineapples are also grown, of course, and pearl farming provides income to the locals. The island, indeed, proved itself to be a faraway heaven, with glorious water and deep blue sky. It was a delight for our senses in all ways.

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We know, we know – You are thinking, “Are they ever going to go to anywhere NEW???” All of these gorgeous atolls/islands/motus look much the same. It was our first time in Rangiroa, but it felt like an old friend as we walked across the island in 5 minutes (again) and wandered along the windward side again. It wasn’t as windy as Fakarava’s windy side, but nobody was laying out on the beach or snorkeling on that side, either. Everyone was on the calmer and prettier lagoon side, with pale, clear, jade-colored water and drooping palm trees.

Rangiroa is the largest atoll in French Polynesia and the second-largest in the world. Like a string of pearls, forming a circle, the atoll is 46 miles long and 15 miles wide, so large that the entire island of Tahiti could fit comfortably in its central lagoon. There are two major industries on Rangiroa in addition to its famous diving spots and other water sports, and one is very surprising. The first is pearl cultivation, and six of today’s ship excursions were to “Discover the World of Pearls.” They come in a range of colors here, from white to shades of gray to cultivated black pearls. The second largest industry – surprise! – is wine-making. The vineyards are on the edge of a lagoon beside coconut trees, and they produce two harvests per year.

We found, once again, that while the temperature is very hot, the people are very warm. All of the locals waved to us, said hello, and had big smiles. We passed by several homes that looked very inviting. Once again, the colors of the ocean are simply amazing, with a range of blues, jades, and turquoises. The clouds are white and look overstuffed, and the sky is a penetrating blue. Below are just a few of the 200 photos we took over a few hours. We also shared a sweet encounter with some children. All in all, a perfect day for wandering around French Polynesia.

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Fakarava is a tiny, skinny atoll floating in the South Pacific and is the second-largest atoll in the Tuamotu Island group. It is described – unbelievably! – as being 37 miles long and 13 miles wide…BUT, that is including the ocean water that is in its sphere. The actual “land” looks like a wavy string resembling the number 7. Our ship was anchored on the leeward side, and our walk across to the (very windy) windward side took 5 minutes, if that, proving that it is NOT 13 miles wide!

On the leeward side is where all the small boats, and our ship, were moored; where people were swimming and sunbathing; where the calm blue water was gorgeous and inviting; and where the stores and restaurants were located, although there aren’t that many. The atoll’s population is only about 850 people. Houses were found on both sides of the island, but as you will see in the photos, the wind and surf are pretty enthusiastic on the windward side.

Fakarava has one of the world’s most pristine and undisturbed coral reef ecosystems. It is home to the highest concentration of gray reef sharks in the world (their school numbers about 700), and they are fully protected. Consequently, one of the biggest draws on Fakarava is scuba diving. Mike said the dive here was one of the top three in his 45 years of diving. He saw dozens of gray reef sharks and large shoals of other fish.

It was the largest concentration of sharks that Mike had ever seen. Some were very active, hunting just a few feet from the divers. Others were sitting still on the bottom, making use of the strong current flowing past to oxygenate their gills so that they didn’t have to swim. At one point the sharks scattered and the dive guide later said that he was sure that meant there was a hammerhead shark nearby, although we didn’t see it. Other divers, diving on the other side of the boat, said they saw several hammerheads.

Life here is hot, sleepy, and slow. There are only a few miles of road, so there are hardly any vehicles. There is no public transportation. People get around on bicycles or scooters. The atoll is first mentioned by a Russian navigator in 1820, who “named” it Wittgenstein Island. Never mind that it already had a name and was already inhabited by native Polynesians. Thankfully, the atoll reverted to its native name of Fakarava. It seems to fit well, evoking the South Pacific character.

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Did you know….the number of annual visitors to French Polynesia in a year is equal to the number of weekly visitors to Hawaii?? That is amazing! Yet, we bumped into several people who think nothing of flying from the West Coast to Tahiti, just an 8-hour flight. One was a man from Colorado, who is bringing his two teenage daughters here several times, each time for just a few days, to get scuba-certified. Others fly here just to take a cruise around Polynesia, and then fly back to the US.

The overwater bungalows were “invented” in Moorea in 1967. A failed vanilla plantation was developed into a resort called Bali Hai Boys, and they built the overwater bungalows for guests, a concept that has since been used around the world. Another fact, interestingly, is that there is no Tahitian word for “please,” since people here share willingly with no need to ask!

We spent a week in Moorea, and Mike went diving twice with the same company (Nemo’z Diving). They picked him up at the door of our hotel, and he saw loads of huge turtles, a few moray eels, a few sharks, and a few trigger fish. In one of our posts about Bali, Mike said the only time he had ever wished he had something in his hand to defend himself while diving was when he encountered a Titan Triggerfish off the coast there. He had never heard of them and was swimming along minding his own business when a colorful, two-foot long fish started to come at him, trying to bite him with its huge, weird-looking teeth. Not having anything to push it back, he put his fins between them and swam quickly away. Mike, not knowing that the triggerfish has a defined territory, swam back into it and (unhappily) repeated the encounter. When he got to the surface, he asked his dive guide, who was laughing uproariously, “What the hell is that fish’s problem?!” Mike later found out what it was and that they are known for biting divers’ hands or portions of their ears off when they wander into its territory.

When Mike stepped on the dive boat here, he saw the poster (in the photo below) about triggerfish, prominently mounted on the boat. The dive guide briefed all the divers about them and talked about how the triggerfish protects its brood of eggs on the seabed by chasing off any intruders, but was calm and nonaggressive if it wasn’t protecting eggs. The guide told the group that if a triggerfish got aggressive, just put your fins between you and it and swim quickly away. In the meantime, the guide would intercept the fish and try to intimidate it with noise and movement. That sounded fine to Mike, as in the only encounter he had with a triggerfish, the intimidation went in the other direction. A couple of triggerfish were spotted during the dive, but they ignored the divers. Apparently they were bachelors.

Unfortunately for Jan, she is a “Mosquito Magnet,” and if both of us were sitting out on the deck eating, all the mosquitoes would bite her and totally ignore Mike (unlike trigger fish). She has 27 bites on one leg, 19 on the other, and several on her arms. About half of them developed into welts the size of a quarter! All of these bites came after using an ointment that was 80 percent Deet. And the clusters in the bend of the knee are especially annoying, as each step squeezes them! Consequently, kayaking, snorkeling, hiking, and even walking outside, were out of the question. When not in the car circling the island, she pretty much quarantined inside with some well-appreciated air conditioning. Even so, some mosquitoes got into the room at night – once again, they favored Jan and ignored Mike! It is a gorgeous island, but most every accommodation is along the beach, where there is also a lot of vegetation. Resorts do spray to achieve some mosquito abatement, but we read that mosquitoes can “sense” their desired flesh for biting from about 150 feet away, so – they clearly had the upper hand!