Avatoru, Rangiroa – January 21, 2018

At 5 am when I pulled up my shades there was once again a lady standing out on my deck.  You all know what I did – went back to sleep.  Woke again about 8 when the announcement was made that tendering would begin shortly.  In actuality, it was 8:40 before tendering started.

I was in no rush to get off as there is not an abundance of things to do on the island and I had not booked a tour.  Decided I was hungry (what’s with that???) so I headed to the Lido dome to pick up my tender ticket and then looked to see what I wanted to eat.  I ended up with a roll and orange juice again because nothing else struck my fancy.

Tendering went very smoothly (nothing like the other day) and my number was called about 10:30. The tender ride took about 10 minutes.  There were some craft stalls set up near the tender dock as well as some small cafes which were doing a booming business with both our ship and a small Wind Star ship.

I walked down a paved road which had street lights (which I found unusual for an island this size) until I came to an area which was supposed to have dolphins although I did not see any.  Walked back and stopped in to see the small grocery/general store which was also doing a brisk business.

By that time I was really hot so I headed back to the ship and once again I was in the tender with the captain.  Quickly changed into my bathing suit and went to the Lido pool and ate from the taco bar and had four glasses of pineapple juice (which I am really enjoying because I am sure they will sooner or later bring back the lemonade of which I am not overly fond).

I then spent the next 2 ½ hours alternating between the pool and sitting in the sun – about 20 minutes in the pool and 15 minutes sunbathing (couldn’t stand the heat too long).  Ended up with 80 minutes of swimming.  In the middle of this we had a brief rain shower and they closed the Lido dome so I moved to the Sea View pool which had fewer people in it but the water temperature was much warmer.

Returned to my cabin and spent a few minutes on my deck.  The view was spectacular.

The first trivia of the day was at 3:30 and only Bonnie, Rodney, and I played.  We had 8 out of 15 with two teams tying with 12.

1)Most pop song titles begin with what word?

2)What is the last letter of the Greek alphabet?

3)Most casinos are decorated in what color?

4)Ounce for ounce which fruit has the highest Vitamin C content?

5)Which is the last country alphabetically?

Since there was another trivia scheduled for 5 pm, I had brought my laptop with me and I worked on my pictures while waiting for the next trivia.  Jeanette and Tom joined us although she is still not feeling great.  We ended up with 11 points and three teams tied with 13 out of 20 (the bonus question was in what years did Brazil win the World Cup!!!).

1)Which is the only cat that does not have retractable claws?

2)Which Bennett sister was 15 at the start of Pride and Prejudice?

3)In what year did Benjamin Franklin die?

4)How many wheels does a pair of roller skates have?

5)Who was the first Latin American singer to be paid a million dollars for a movie role?

Listened to Jamm who was playing Disney hits before dinner.  Only five of us for dinner.  I had fresh fruit, English roast beef, and passionfruit sorbet for dessert.

Since I have a long excursion that meets at 9 am, I did not go to the show tonight.

Papeete, Tahiti tomorrow.

Welcoming band

Some of the stalls by the tender dock

Above are three of the local cafes

Two of the homes I walked by

Beautiful blue water

The outside of the local store...

...and the interior

recycling outside the store

I saw a number of dogs (that were not as thin as those on Nuku Hiva)...

...and one cat

Street lights and a paved road

Some of the beautiful flowering plants

An interesting tree that had bunches of seeds all over it

Saw this in the yard of a house 

the tiny Wind Star ship

a view of the church from my deck

they have now removed the other half of the rail on my deck - no doubt they will be out painting in the next few days

3:30 trivia…

1)I

2)Omega

3)red

4)kiwi

5)Zimbabwe

5:00 trivia…

1)cheetah

2)Lydia

3)1790

4)8

5)Jennifer Lopez

Smooth sailing until next time!