Day 23: Papeete, Tahiti

Sunday January 26th, 2013

Today is the first of 3 days in French Polynesia.  We have been to Papeete (Pap-a- yeti) last year, and so Karen and I decided to just explore the markets and shops of the town, crossing our fingers that they would be open.  Papeete, is the capital city, and is not a very attractive place.  The island is volcanic, and a narrow strip of land is all that is between the sea and the rise of the lush mountains, so a single highway runs along the shore, and there is not much to see unless you get out of town.  Having done that last year, we chose instead to go back to this wonderful local market, which we learned opened just for the two ships in port.  One ship was a huge one, that had been responsible for leaving the gift of flu on Pitcairn, so we wanted to stay well clear of her guests!!  

The second picture below is of a chinese ship we saw over near the container port.  It sure needs some paint doesn't it?  We were told that the cruiser shown in the foreground of a couple of pictures below belongs ti a Saudi prince.

It was hot and humid, but sunny - which was the first day in weeks that they hadn't had rain.  Karen and I spent about 5 hours just wandering about, buying some of the beautiful shell jewellery and fabrics, and a great hat for me to wear in the sun.  We went to a small two story mall area, that I had discovered last year and found some great  bargains.  We noted that most of the shops were permanently shuttered and closed.  One shop keeper told us that for the last 5 years it had become almost impossible to earn a living, so depressed was the tourist industry, because of the U.S. economy.  It is also a very expensive island, even with the discounts.  We had the most delicious lunch of local shrimp and Mahi- Mahi, outside at a little cafe, then we went back to the ship to shower and change.  We elected to go to the Sail-Away party and eat casually in the Lido, instead of getting all dressed up for the dining room.  

We were really excited about our next port - Moorea- which is an unspoiled island easily visible from Papeete.  It was a VERY slow cruise overnight to Moorea.