Tahiti

At 07.00 this morning we docked in Tahiti,the end of the voyage,but not the holiday.A last breakfast on board and then we walked down the gangplank for the last time,and up another to board a ferry bound for Mo'orea.A large cruise ship was moored close to our small ship.

Pleased that we had not been on that behemoth.

The plaque above shows the shape of Mo'orea,there were volcanos at the apex of both the inward facing arms,and the yellow lizard is present because Mo means lizard and rea yellow.Have not seen one yet.

The island on the other side of the reef is Tahiti,so not far away at all.Once we arrived in Mo'orea we were treated to a panoramic tour

The highest mountain is over 1060 metres and covered in greenery.The island has a lot of pineapple plantations but the main industry is tourism,with about 250,000 visitors expected this year,just back to the same level that was occurring before 9/11.

There are many mango trees with 15 different varieties on the island,and a huge number of wild chickens and roosters.Apparently nobody tries to catch them,the ones from the supermarket taste better!

Having seen all the sights we arrived at the hotel,blue sky,blue sea plenty of fish to see on the reef and a chance to try paddle boarding and run around the lagoon in a kayak.

After which we can take the plunge back at our room

We have another day tomorrow to use the facilities and then we depart,overnight again and Los Angeles again,I do not think it will have improved!!! So I will end here ,hope you enjoyed the journey.

Ra'iatea-Society islands

Nigh on 48 hours at sea,some 4 hours behind schedule,and at at last we arrive in the Society Islands or French Polynesia.We docked at Ra'iatea at 11.30 ,whilst we were having an early lunch.The morning spent listening to a lecture from an ornithologist on his 200 cruise!
 Disembark at 12.45 going on 13.00 and travel by school bus-long benches along the sides of the bus-to Marae Taputapuatea. The ride there was through lush vegetation with a number of small rivers descending from the volcanic peaks.The island has a population of 20,000 so much bigger than most that we have been on recently.5000 live in the main town where have docked,but it feels like a significant place with some hustle and bustle.Beautiful coastline that we see frequently as we bounce along.Our guide was a french canadian who came to the island by boat 8 years ago,and has not left.However in conversation he admitted that he flew to Tahiti and bought the boat there! He still lives in the marina on board the same boat but has to pay 300$ per month for the mooring.
 When we reach our destination it turns out to be a flat area near the sea which contains a number of flat stony areas that were the religious and political centres of Polynesian life.Not too interesting to see as there is not a lot to see! But we are told that this is the centre from which all the population of the Pacific islands originally came.Not born out by any other source!

More lovely blue sea ,a large encircling reef,but high mountains up to a 1000 metres.

The chap gave us a long talk on the significance of the site ,blew his nose flute and chanted away,but as you can see the stones are not as large as Stonehenge !

On the way back to the boat we passed a pearl farm,just a small hut in the lagoon,from which they insert the irritant into the shell.but about 40 % of the time no pearl is formed.

Then past a mountain,the scene of the Disney film Moana

And finally across the bay to a small beach from which we could snorkel

Aitutaki

From Palmerston to Aitutaki was quite a long journey into a 30 knot headwind,so we arrived late,not anchoring until 10.00(We had been die in at 08.30) but a beautiful sight ,a very wide lagoon,about 50 sq miles with its enclosing reef.There are 15 islets contained in the reef  and there is a population of 1800 on Aitutaki itself.A small airport was built here in 1942 for use by the allies and this is still in use with daily flights to Rarotonga,the capital island of the Cook islands.Aitutaki is being developed as a tourist resort.There were 161,000 tourists to the Cook islands in 2017,most from New Zealand and then Australia,but 11610 were from the UK.Around 3400 visitors made it to Aitutaki ,but some of these were returning Cook islanders.our boat carried 4 folk from Palmerston who were needing to get to Rarotonga for medical treatment.So they could fly on from Aitutaki to Rarotonga where visiting Specialists from New Zealand hold clinics once per year.All the costs of their journey are paid for by a health fund.
 The economics of the Cook islands are interesting in that they are heavily dependent upon foreign aid but because the per capita income is a very healthy $24215,they qualify for Developed status which should mean that the aid goes elsewhere.
 Total population of the Cook islands is 9038 down from 11700 in 2016,life expectancy is a healthy 76.2 years despite 56% of the population being officially obese!
 Anyway we are at sea today, all day, covering the 520 nautical miles between the Cook islands and French Polynesia.Yesterday ,once we arrived at this beautiful atoll we took a boat across the lagoon to One Foot island , snorkelled and walked for an hour and a half and raced back to the boat.The highlight of the snorkel was seeing giant clams,some 1.5 metres across,growing on the sea bed.

Some fish to see but mainly just admiring the beauty of what the lonely Planet editor calls the most beautiful island in the world.

On arriving back at the wharf I rushed into the local shops to find a tee shirt saying Cook Islands for a friend in France,made it back to the wharf in time to catch one of the last zodiacs back to the ship,and here we are bumping around once again.

Palmerston,Cook Islands

We arrived at Palmerston at 09.30 this morning.A picture book tropical Island.

There is a big circular reef with other islands included in the reef,surrounding a central lagoon.Below is a model of the complex, from the school on the Island.Palmerston is the island at the lowest point of the photo.The other islands are all uninhabited,although the small isle to the right of Palmerston in the photo used to be a leper colony.

And a model of the island itself

But first we had a damp zodiac journey from the ship to shore through a narrow channel in the reef,damp because a brisk wind raised  across sea and the channel had some tight turns,necessitating a local to pilot the boat into the lagoon.We were welcomed with singing and dancing and a tour round the village.

Unusally the singing was in English,the national language of this island,all other islands in the Cook islands use Maori,but therein lies the tale.

 Captain Cook landed on the deserted Palmerston island in 1777 and named after Viscount Palmerston the then Lord of the Admiralty.In 1863 William Marsters arrived on the island with two local wives a friend and his female partner.Originally a ships carpenter,he had gone to Australia in a gold rush,come away with two pots of gold and so we were told the gold is still in its pots on the island.The friend soon left so William took the lady as his third wife and sired 23 children.He allocated a part of the island to each wife and her children and this division survives to this day.In 1891 the British government annexed the island but granted William a 21 year lease.This was later renewed up until 1954 when the family was granted ownership of the island.It is now administered by the Cook Islands in association with New Zealand.There are only about 36 people left on the island and this,we were told,would decrease to the 20s over the next few months.There is a main road

But no tar in sight!The lagoon is 7 miles across and the total area of all the islets around the lagoon is only 1 sq mile.

Still idyllic for a day or two.Although Elizabeth did not fancy living there.

Inevitably the island relies upon support from abroad to develop any services,the health centre is a nurse who is there sometimes !

There are chickens and pigs but the islanders diet is largely fish, coconuts and other vegetables grown on the island.The bird was a pet,but I am not sure what species it is.

Plenty of other attractive sights

There is a school with two teachers but only 11 children ,how long can the population survive there??

At Sea

Nothing to report today as we have spent the whole day at sea en route to the Cook islands.Elizabeth does not enjoy days at sea! But has rested well and just about managed to eat her meals.

Niue

A morning at sea,rather rough,did nothing for Elizabeth's wellbeing,but she managed to eat some lunch and was very pleased to arrive in Niue and for the ship to dock in the lee of the island.
 Niue is only 101 sq miles, a raised coral atoll,or just a rock in the Pacific,2400 Kms from New Zealand.

The weather was brighter and warm.Once on shore we seperated,Elizabeth for a cultural tour and me for a trip to the Matapa chasm.In fact the advance publicity was incorrect,and I ended up doing the cultural tour plus the Matapa chasm and E the same tour minus the chasm ! Oh well,we both enjoyed ourselves but could easily have stayed together.

The Chasm proved to be an enchanting spot,a long inlet reached by an easy walk.

The water was a little cool ,being so shaded, but there were fish galore.From there we proceeded on an unusual tour to a new supermarket.

All goods imported from New Zealand,arrive once per month in a container by boat.Then to a small but smart museum,past the old primary school,now used as offices ,past the model of a coconut crab

and down to the new hospital(really an out patient and daycase block)and back to the landing place.Where there were some beautiful outrigger canoes,fashioned from a single log,but very well done.

The economy of Niue is,as would suspect,not good.The population is currently only 1618,down from 4667 in 1950,and about 90-95% of Niueean speakers currently live in New Zealand.All Niue eans have a NZ passport as well as a local one,and it is only 3 hours by plane to Aukland,flights twice per week.But exports last year were only US$ 201,000 whilst yearly GDP is US$15.7m.So the major source of income is an annual grant from NZ that was US$10.1m in 2013/4.So the annual per capita income is US$ 5800,most of the employment is in the civil service ,but this has been cut back in recent years to clear the island of debt,which happy position they are managing to maintain.The exports are stamps,coconut crabs,some processed tuna and a few agricultural products such as coconuts.

Back to the boat for a splendid barbacue