Rivière Orufara

When we opened the curtains this morning, we were greeted by calm waters, brilliant sunshine and exquisite blue waters. We are anchored at the island of Moorea (MORE-ay-ya) in Opunohu Bay. The island was created by volcanic action so it rises steeply from the water with one road that runs around the island just a few feet from the water’s edge. The island is green, green, green.

At the breakfast venue that we chose, we were offered either indoor or outdoor seating. Since we most definitely would NOT be eating outside at home, we opted for an outside table. We enjoyed lovely views of the bay and the island. It’s quite warm and humid - the soft Pacific breeze kept it just nice. The service was, as we have come to expect, friendly, upbeat and efficient. Each server asks your name and then addresses you by it for the duration of the meal. John Paul, our waiter, filled us in on a tidbit of information. There is going to be a gay wedding with 120 guests when we get to Bora Bora. There are 77 of those guests on board. We wondered because we saw a gaggle of people all dressed in white seated together last night.

We picked up our snorkelling gear from the back of the boat where a marina drops down for instant water access for kayaking and paddle boarding. We didn’t book any excursions for today. Tomorrow we have signed up for an e-bike tour of Hauhine. It’s only 4 hours 27 km/17 miles. Our slothful lifestyle of the past couple of weeks might come back to haunt us.

We spent the morning reading - I know that is a bit sacrilegious - but we are playing it really, really safe with Doug and trying not to trigger another episode like we had in NZ. We both are in the throes of really intriguing books.

Had lunch outside on the aft deck. The buffet theme changes each day - today it’s “French” - no surprise there. They make pretty good cookies here.

We read for the afternoon.

We went for dinner about 6:30 p.m., which was about an hour after we set sail. To our dismay, Doug began to feel terrible. He had to leave the dining room, leaving me to eat alone like a Grade 9 wallflower. I summoned the doctor who checked Doug to make sure that nothing else was going on - stroke, heart attack, etc. Nope, just vicious motion sickness. The doctor gave Doug an injection to make him sleep.

After a promising start, things are going downhill fast on this cruise.Read more