Raiatea and Moorea

Friday was the last full day we were on the ship.  We anchored off shore and were tendered to the small port of Raiatea.  Raiatea is the second largest of the Society Islands, after Tahiti in French Polynesia. The island is widely regarded as the  center of the eastern islands in ancient Polynesia and it is likely that the organized migrations to Hawaii and other parts of East Polynesia started at Raiatea.





A traditional name for the island is Havai'i, homeland of the Maori people who migrated from Raiatea to settle in New Zealand.  Se fisited a Vanilla farm in the pouring rain!





 Today we really did see the beauty of French Polynesia.  We took a catamaran tour of Moorea and were treated to a beautiful morning of clear seas, beautiful landscapes and tropical fish.  We then anchored and were able to swim/snorkel and enjoy the beautiful waters, sailed back to the port and were tendered back to the ship.  

As we were packing and getting ready for our long travel day ahead to get from Papeete Tahiti to Maui, we looked out of our window to see how the locals would gather in their outrigger canoes and try to race the tenders to shore!

We met up with Ralph and Donna for our last evening on the ship where we were fortunate enough to eat again at Red Ginger.








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