Tuesday, July 6 - All Aboard!!

We met Hilary and Ann by the restaurant and got a lovely table overlooking the pool and bay. A well-cared-for large orange cat came by for a scratch. I finally got Poisson Cru, a mound of raw tuna, onion, and cucumber with coconut dressing - absolutely delicious! Maybe better as an hors d’oeuvre before dinner, still refreshing on a balmy tropical morning! The others had lovely pastries and fruit. We returned to our rooms to pack up, as we couldn’t get a delayed check-out time and left our beautiful two-room suite at 11 AM. The hotel was happy to store our luggage until later as we can’t board the ship until 3 PM. We set off in our car a short way north to Point Venus, the northern-most point of Tahiti and where Capt. Cook observed the Transit of Venus many years ago. It now consists of a lovely old lighthouse and picnic/fishing area with small outrigger canoes pulled up on the beach.

We then drove toward Papeete and pulled off at James Norman Hall’s house, actually a re-creation of it with all his books, furniture and typewriter inside. One of his grandsons was there and the family seems to run it beautifully. The house was filled with photos of him and Charles Nordhoff, his children and memorabilia of his soldiering days and very interesting.

We returned to the Radisson for lunch, picked up our luggage and headed for downtown Papeete and as we pulled up to the port, there was the white and turquoise Paul Gauguin!!

We went through the complicated process of presenting papers, checking in, receiving cooling damp towels and a frangipani blossom, welcome photo, putting everything on a x-ray belt and picking it up again and we were on board! We went up to Deck 5 for champagne, our ID card/key and finally met Curry, her son, Eric and granddaughter, Lydia! A maid took us to cabin #430 and someone else appeared with our luggage. Our stateroom is quite spacious: large bathroom with infinite cubby holes and hooks, a desk, two closets, king-size bed, tiny sofa and table, TV and bar, plus a large window. The window doesn’t open unfortunately, but as we are very close to sea level I can see why! I unpacked - everything fit into drawers and onto hangers with room to spare! - while Hilary and Bob drove the rental car into Papeete and walked back to the ship

Bob and I set off to explore the ship and found the two restaurants, and up onto deck 8 where there is a small swimming pool and bar and Le Grill cafe. We ran into the others and made a date for dinner at 7:30 at La Veranda Restaurant on Deck 6. Bob returned to our cabin for rest and I wandered over to the bar and got a Cuba Libre. The cost of the cruise includes everything: cabin, food, all drinks, gratuities. No signing your name for every little cocktail!

Actually a big cocktail, as I brought half of it back to Bob to finish!

At 7:30 we all, except Curry and her family, assembled at the restaurant and had an excellent meal. I had pheasant consommé, risotto with mushrooms and truffle oil and sliced strawberries, while the others consumed steak, shrimps, lamb chops all with endless glasses of wine. We returned to Deck 8 for the welcoming party around the pool, but we were tired by then and returned to turned down bed and chocolates! I awoke later to feel us at sea with a gentle swaying and creaking of the ship!