Feb 13 - Reunion Day!!!

It’s Reunion Day!!! My flight from Christchurch is at 1:00 p.m. I will get into Auckland about 2:30 p.m and make a beeline for the NZ Lounge where, if the stars aligned, I will be reunited with Doug. This enforced two-week separation has been hard on both of us.

Karen picked me and Henry and Irene up on schedule. Bless her heart, she escorted us into the terminal. She point H&I towards Qantas and me towards the check in terminals for Air NZ. The terminal spit out a message to see a representative. Karen snagged on immediately and left me in Jan’s capable hands. Getting my boarding pass took some manual intervention - this coronavirus has all airlines on red alert.

My flight got in to Auckland on time and I made a bee line for the International Terminal. Through security (again) and up to the Air New Zealand lounge. I snagged a spot where I could see the door, and lo and behold, not 5 minutes later, Doug strolled in. Big hug. Big kiss. Big sigh of relief from both of us. His revised ticket hadn’t shown up in the Air NZ system and it took 45 minutes of back and forth to get his boarding pass issued.

In this sea of free food and drink called the Air NZ Lounge, we passed the time until our 4:55 p.m. flight was called. The chocolate chip cookies weren’t as good as mine, but the pretzels passed the test. We both stayed away from the bar - there will be enough of that on the ship.

We have done some serious indulging on this leg of the trip - flying business class to French Polynesia and then home. The female staff wore crisp blue suits and then changed into colourful Polynesian dresses and wore flowers in their hair. They all changed back into their suits at the end of the flight. The men wore colourful shirts. We had pods on the plane where we could stretch out. The service was lovely with warm towels served on souvenir sea shells, a 4-course dinner served with real cutlery and crispy linens. More free wine/beer - more avoidance on our part. I watched “Captain Phillips” with Tom Hanks, and Doug watched "J. Edgar”. The entertainment selection was a bit thin. If you want a fabulous entertainment selection in the air, travel with Emirates Air Lines.

We landed a bit early in Papeete (Pap-eye-ET-tay) to warm temperatures and high humidity. We had gained an hour (for crossing another time zone) and a day (for crossing the international date line) so it was 11:00 p.m. yesterday/Wednesday. We all had to be screened for fever - Doug was hot, but not in the fever sense. My bag was the first one on the carousel. Doug’s was a few bags behind. Another perk of business class.There was a hotel transport waiting for us. We had to wait a bit for another couple who obviously had not flown business class. We drove through, horrors, a very light rain to the Tahiti Pearl Beach Resort. We have a two-storey mini villa with a living room, TV, half-bath and balcony downstairs, and bedroom, spa bathroom, another TV and another balcony upstairs. We won’t be watching much TV - everything is in French. We have a view of the ocean - not that we could see much at midnight. More about that tomorrow.

Here’s a bit about French Polynesia to whet your appetite:

French Polynesia is an overseas collectivity of the French Republic and its sole overseas country. It is composed of 118 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over an expanse of more than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) in the South Pacific Ocean. Its total land area is 4,167 square kilometres (1,609 sq mi). If you draw a line from Auckland to Los Angeles, French Polynesia sits about one-third of the way.

French Polynesia is divided into five groups of islands: the Society Islands archipelago; the Tuamotu Archipelago; the Gambier Islands; the Marquesas Islands; and the Austral Islands. Among its 118 islands and atolls, 67 are inhabited. Tahiti, which is located within the Society Islands, is the most populous island, having close to 69% of the population of French Polynesia as of 2017. Papeete, located on Tahiti, is the capital.

The Society Islands archipelago is believed to have been named by Captain James Cook during his first voyage in 1769, supposedly in honour of the Royal Society, the sponsor of the first British scientific survey of the islands; however, Cook stated in his journal that he called the islands Society "as they lay contiguous to one another.” Cook would stop in Tahiti again in 1773 during his second voyage to the Pacific, and once more in 1777 during his third and last voyage before being killed in Hawaii.
French is the only official language of French Polynesia. An organic law of 12 April 1996 states that "French is the official language, Tahitian and other Polynesian languages can be used.”

French Polynesia has a moderately developed economy, which is dependent on imported goods, tourism, and the financial assistance of mainland France. Tourist facilities are well developed and are available on the major islands. Main agricultural productions are coconuts (copra), vegetables and fruits. French Polynesia exports noni juice, a high quality vanilla, and the famous black Tahitian pearls which accounted for about 55% of exports (in value). Great surfing, kitesurfing and diving are major tourist attractions along with the warm temperatures and the stunning blue waters.Read more