As we left The Cook Islands, and its New Zealand connection, behind in our wake, literally, we enjoyed another day at sea. On these days we slept in, attended lectures about the islands yet to come or about marine wildlife, did school work with the boys, read books, swam and walked. No time to be bored!
We spotted occasional far-off islands and I wanted to know the difference between Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia. I learned that the distinctions are geographical, cultural, as well as linguistic.
Polynesia, which means “many islands,” was named first and referred to all of the islands in the Pacific Ocean. Later, explorers further grouped the islands into Melanesia, which refers to the dark skin of the islands' inhabitants, and Micronesia, referring to the many tiny islands in the region. I still find it hard to tell you which island belongs where.
But we were now headed to Uturoa, Raiatea, part of the Society Islands, and which is in French Polynesia. As the temperatures reached the high 20’s or low 30’s (around 90F) we clambered on shore to the sights and sounds of enthousiastic dancing and music. Kids and adults danced in grass skirts, jumping and stamping - I don’t know how they did it in the heat.
The town of Uturoa is on Ra'iātea, the largest island of the Îles Sous le Vent in French Polynesia. I walked to find the Library, my favourite place in these Pacific islands. There were parks and shops, a hardware store, an ATM.
In the Welcome Plaza right by the dock, a special ceremony was held because it was the first time that the Zaandam docked here. The captain received a special lei and performers made music and danced.
Our next Polynesian island was the fabled Bora Bora. I had studied the area beforehand and, wanting to explore the island with our two teenagers, had booked bicycles. We walked off the ship, found our bicyles and cycled south to Matira beach.
We found a shady spot on the pristine white beach and dove into the azure water. We savoured our time snorkeling and floating - knowing we had to cycle all the way back in the 30º heat! The windy road with quite a bit of traffic wasn’t perfect. But it was a lot more fun to see Bora Bora on a bike than from an air conditioned bus. I marvelled at the steep, green slopes. I had not known that Bora Bora had such tall, majestic mountains, all fringed with white beaches and surrounded by crystal clear waters. It was pretty prefect.
Huahine was next. We had to take a tender from our ship. Once on shore, the boys and I took the common local transit system: Le Truck! Le Truck is local bus with open windows and wooden benches running lengthwise from front to back. Once we reached the other side of the island, we claimed a spot on the grass in a little park. The boys had a ball bombdiving off a dock with local kids. I strolled over to the boulangerie and returned to the park with a freshly baked 3’ long baquette. A great lunch! To top off our afternoon of swimming, whales greeted us in the bay when we returned to the ship.
But perhaps our favourite island of them all was Moorea, FP. This heart shaped island did steal my heart! As soon as we made it to shore, we took a taxi to a park. We had booked 2 person kayaks. But not just any kayaks - these were completely clear plexiglass kayaks. A lovely young couple who owned the company, met us and took us all over the bays and along the shore. We quickly got the hang of the kayaks and marvelled as schools of rays flitted like dark shadows underneath us. The coolest sight was giant turtles “flying” under our kayaks, then popping up next to us to see what kind of weird creature we were..
We paddled and snorkeled while turtles, eagle rays, sting rays, reef sharks frolicked in the coral fringed sea. Paradise! This island was so awesome that I really had a lump in my throat when we left it…
A glass bottom kayak to see turtles and rays!
