Day 21 MOOREA

Moorea March 25. As most of our family and extended family know, Ken Is in heaven when he is on the sea. Thus, it will come as no surprise to most of you that our ingress and egress around these islands and into port has been carefully monitored and closely supervised by Ken in his self appointed position as "Captain at large". Thus, he has been available and on deck for our early morning port arrivals and, of course, provides me with his candid summation of what I can expect when I view the port of the day. Our arrival at Moorea received one of his most enthusiastic declarations for it's scenic beauty and charm. By now, I have become almost immune to the beauty of these islands which I am sure reflects a callous and lacking character. Please don't tell anyone.

Don and Linda booked a dolphin tour and though sightings were not promised, they enjoyed a wonderful day of viewing the dolphins and were not disappointed. They seemed to find their guide informative in his role of researcher and dedicated in his commitment to the study of dolphins and whales. He sounded a bit "full of himself" but I think they found him knowledgable.

Ken and I elected to do a jeep tour of the interior which included pineapple plantations, dirt roads, drive through streams, hills, valleys and awesome views of the beautiful bays below. Our destination was the Belvedere lookout which provided a wonderful view of the two lagoons that are unique to Moorea. As we made our way back down the mountain, we stopped at a a religious site for a brief encounter with the legends of the Polynesian culture. Back among civilization We stpped at a local establishment for a first hand view of the pollination of the vanilla bean and given a garden tour of the flowers and plants of the island. Moorea is a charming island of refreshing beauty, that seems to extend a friendly welcome to visitors to their island. Our guide, a young man in his 20's (I am guessing) was interesting and courteous worthy of the tips that he received from his "customer base".

Our next destination is another atoll, Rangiroa. I will give you an update on that stop tomorrow.