Moorea, French Polynesia - Tahitian Treasures Cruise Diary Part 8

Day 10 – Breakfast on the verandah again overlooking the entrance of Opunohu Bay. We were both feeling a lot better. We caught the tender to Papetoai Pier and thought we would walk around the village, except there was no village, only a covered area with a market, a temple and heaps of taxis doing tours of the island ranging from $US45 to $US200.

The Papetoai Temple is an octagonal shaped church and is the oldest European building in the South Pacific. 

The locals certainly make a lot of money from the cruise ships. So we walked to the end of the street and there was a hire car place and a general store.

Moorea is also known as the magical island, and was the last of the Polynesian Islands to get electricity. Captain Cook first visited Moorea in 1777 and Cooks Bay is named after him. We anchored in Opunoho Bay, and it is believed that Cook spent most of his time here, and not Cooks Bay. The main feature of Moorea is Mt Rotui, which is a rocky spur reaching 900m.

The overwater bungalow was invented in Moorea by 3 Californians nick-named the Bali Hai Boys, who turned a failed vanilla plantation into a resort with the now iconic structures. Captain Cook introduced the pineapple to French Polynesia - apparently.

We spent a week here on Moorea in 1980's and hired a car and drove around the island. It didn't look like much had changed. We decided to go back to the ship, on the way we were chatting to one of the crew and he arranged for us to get a taxi to the Intercontinental Resort for $US5 each As we were about to get in the taxi, a swarm of people pushed past and filled up the taxi, leaving us standing there. So rude!! 

We went went back to the ship, and it was the best idea.
We virtually had the ship to ourselves.
We were able to swim in the pool...

...well I was, Peter started feeling unwell again, ... and we had sun-lounges!!

Days 11-14 at sea.

I like my drinks and I know I don't drink as much as some, so I am surprised how many bar attendants know what I drink – Dewers Scotch – no ice – coke on the side. Anyway, we went to some presentations, Peter went to a drone workshop with MickyLive, which he said was good – I hope we don't have to buy a drone now! I went to a talk on 'the Effects of WWII on the Pacific by Peter Donovan – very good. There was a production show one evening which was great. These are the types of shows we would expect. This 19 day cruise, there were only 3 production shows, I'm sure we had more on the Alaska cruise, and I know we had more on the P&O pacific cruise. September 29 is when we crossed the International Date Line – we lost a day crossing the IDL, and apparently it is up to the Captain what day we lose, so we didn't have September 30. We went from September 29 to October 1^st. Didn't worry us – we are on ship time!! After crossing the IDL we also lost an hour a couple of days.... or did we gain an hour? Doesn't matter... we are on ship time!! Anyway, there was a 'Day That Never Was' party in the Sky Lounge. We mostly relaxed.

Peter had run out of medicine, so we went to the ships store to get something for the next few days. There was very limited stock to chose from and it was so expensive.

TIP: pack medicine and things you may need to avoid using the ship shop – even if you don't use them.

Maui: Lahaina - the island’s intangible mystique - Cruise Diary Part 4.

We got the shuttle to the cruise ship port and queued to get through customs. Once through, the boarding process was fairly fast. We had a walk around the ship without crowds, but I'll talk more about the ship next blog entry.That night we went to the show and had a good dinner before retiring back to the cabin. We woke in the morning to room service breakfast (our choice when visiting a port) and a beautiful view of Maui. We had no tours booked, we just wanted to walk around and take in Lahaina, so after the crowds had disembarked, we headed for the tenders.

This cruise is going to some places we have been to, and two ports we have not. Maui is one of these ports. We took the tender to the pier at Lahinia, a former whaling village. We walked along the waterfront towards a beach. The view of the ship from the beach was perfect. Our cabin can be seen in the photo - 6 verandahs along from the bridge.

The history of the town is portrayed on many information boards along the streets. 

 After the water front we walked up past the school to Front Street, and a park behind the Government building, which use to be the main marketplace, and has the largest banyan tree in the U.S.

Next to the park, in the corner facing the water front are the fort ruins replica.

Loved this photo of the birds eating lunch at the park.

The old Lahaina Courthouse was established in 1859 and now houses the Visitor Centre - ok but really a gift shop with a few brochures - art galleries, museum - with video show, and toilets. I was hoping there would be wifi, but sadly no. I was hoping to get the Historic Trail leaflet at the information centre, but sadly, again, no. Luckily the town has the information boards.

We walked along Front Street, past shops, musicians and displays. We didn't go into the shopping mall, and that was where the quilt shop was - grrrrrrr!!

The history along the heritage trail is so interesting and I could relate it to the development and history of some areas in Australia, particularly Kangaroo Island, South Australia.

All Hawaiian Islands are volcanic, and Maui is made up of a double volcano formed by by two lava flows creating an isthmus between the two lava flows.

Once back on the ship, it was drinks with a view and the getting ready for show and dinner.The show in the evening was a comedian, Al Ducharme, and he was very funny.

The cruise is following Captain Cooks Voyage in reverse, and I did not know this!!! Put it down to booking last minute, two week before the cruise left. I usually do my homework.

Last days of Cruise

After leaving Skagway, we had a day at sea before docking in Victoria, Canada.We started the day with a leisurely breakfast and then quiet hot chocolate in the Passport Bar, and spent the day looking at the shops and just enjoying the view.

 

 That evening we watch an acrobatic 'circus' type show.

 The next morning after breakfast we packed our bags 

and enjoyed the view until we reached Vancouver.

Today's breakfast was smoked salmon eggs benedict

with a hash brown and crispy bacon.

I love the crispy bacon here.

 Victoria is the capital of British Columbia and we could have easily spent more time here. We disembarked the ship at Ogden Point just after 6pm, and had planned on walking about 10 minutes down Dallas Road to Fisherman's Wharf. However, it was raining so we decided to catch the shuttle bus to the city. I would have liked to have seen the float homes at Fisherman's Wharf, and had some chips from the famous Barb's fish and chips - but maybe next time.

Ogden Point was named after an official of the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1843. In 1916, a 500 foot granite breakwater with a lighthouse was completed and two years later two piers and some warehouses were established.

The shuttle bus was $10 return and it took us to 1000 block of Government Street.

Again, we saw many totem poles, a few without the story they tell.

The Empress Dock is outside the Fairmont Empress, and opened January 20, 1908. It has had many Hollywood stars stay there, and is a beautiful, elegant building. It was almost demolished in the mid 1960’s. However, after much debate from the public, it was decided to refurbish it instead. It is suppose to have resident ghosts, a little girl and a 1920’s chamber maid.   

Across the road is a statue of Captain Cook.

Apparently Captain Cook discovered the harbour in 1778 

- 8 years after discovering Australia.

 

 We then walked along Belleville St to the British Columbia Legislature.In the grounds of the parliament buildings stands a Knowledge Totem Pole. 

I was told that all totem poles are different and tell a story. 

This one was erected to welcome visitors to the 1994 Commonwealth Games and refers to the oral traditions of the Canadian Aboriginal peoples of the north-west. 

From the top, the totem pole represents the loon (teacher and interpreter); 

fishermen (traditional way of life); 

bone player (game played by people who do not speak the same language) 

and the frog (from an old mountain story). 

The totem represents lessons learnt from the past and the hope for the future.  

 

  There are free tours of this magnificent building, which is built of raw materials from all over British Columbia. However, as our ship didn’t arrive until after 6pm, the building was closed. We did have a look around the grounds. The green roof is made of 33 copper domes of different sizes and on top of the central dome stands a gold –plated statue of Captain George Vancouver. Each night the building is lit by more than 3500 light bulbs.

We walked down the Menzies St side of the Legislature building, 

 

past the Speakers chair,

and Fallen Fireman’s monument.

We then walked back up past the Empress Dock and along shops back to the bus. 

The city has many beautiful gardens.

We were back on the ship in time for dinner and the last show of the cruise.

 

A ship in a harbour is safe, 
but that is not what ship's are built for. 
John A. Shedd