I am home now. For some time. Spring here. Days have gotten longer. Still seems cold to me.
I did get my lost day back. Two Friday March 16ths, in place of my earlier lost Sunday.
Went Auckland to Pape'ete by plane. Traveled all day. And arrived early in the morning on the same day and date. Even though it was early, there was a muisical and dance greeting, with 12 dancers in traditional Polynesian costume.
Cash machines didn't work for me at the airport. So I got a cash advance on my debit card. I had never even thought that possible. The kind woman at the bank thought it would work, so I had her try. Only fee ended up being $0.45 that my bank passed through from the card processing company for converting the foreign currency I received to a US dollar amount.
So then I had cash for the bus to town - Pape'ete, which is the main city on Tahiti. Caught a ferry boat to a neghboring island - Mo'orea. It ended up being plenty remote enough for me. So no need to travel on to Bora Bora or the Marquesas.
From the ferry terminal, I took the local clockwise bus around to the Southwest side of the island. I had found a possible place to stay from some travel brochures at the travel center in Pape'ete.
The bus dropped me off at the driveway. I walked up and they said they had been expecting me. I said it must be someone else as I was just showing up un-announced. And if they have a place for me and I liked it I would stay for two weeks.
I liked the bungalow. I liked them. They liked me. I liked the other guests I met. It all worked out fine. It was my home for two weeks.
I did get to fish some. Off a bridge, a pier, and while swimming! Just small fish inside the lagoon. Part entertainment, part sustenance, and part instinct. Tasty too.
A few haiku . . .
Swim, rest, walk, fish, hmmm?
At Mo'orea today
Choose one, two, or three!
Sandals choose to stay.
Not swept out to sea, nor lost
in jungle, like me!
At the end of my stay in French Polynesia, I returned to Pape'ete for a few days.
Then flew home on March 30.
So that's it for this trip.
And now will start to decide: where to next?
Labels: Auckland to Mo'orea to Home
