Position Report -  17:30.139S 149:49.157W

We anchored in Cook’s Bay, which incidentally was NOT the bay that Captain Cook discovered on his third visit to the region.  He was actually next door in Opunohu Bay but why quibble?  The anchorage is right in front of the Bai Hai Resort and they allowed us to use all their facilities.

Cook’s Bay is breathtakingly beautiful with mountains that leap vertically right out of the water surrounding ¾ of the bay.  As it happens, a bunch of the BWR-ers, including Margie, came down with strep throat and the flu in Moorea!  I had hoped it would pass quickly.  Flash forward 4 days…. and I was still sick so Peter is going to have to give you the lowdown on Moorea sometime as I didn’t see anything at all outside of Cook’s Bay.

However, one of the best memories that we’ll have from this trip happened in Moorea – Peter’s 60^th birthday party!  And, I couldn’t have done it without the help of my fellow Rally-ers.  Earlier in the week, I had mentioned to a few people that I wanted to have a party for Peter for his 60^th.  (Not so surprisingly, many of the men on the Rally are celebrating their 60^th birthday this year)  Anyway, when I got so sick that I literally couldn’t get out of bed for four days, I was really bummed out and then Gillian from Spirit of Nina came over to the boat and so don’t worry, we’ve got it all set up for a surprise party at the outdoor restaurant in the Bali Hai Resort which was officially closed for business that night. 

On the day of his birthday, we told Peter that, since I was just recovering from being so sick, I hadn’t had time to organize a party so we’d be going out to dinner with Gillian and John for a “quiet” dinner that night.  I could tell Peter was disappointed and all day long, everyone in the anchorage made a point of stopping by and saying Happy Birthday but NO ONE asked him what we were doing, or they said that they had heard that we were going out to dinner with Gillian and John and “wasn’t that nice!”  Peter was getting more and more depressed.  At one point, Maria and Steve from “Aspen” - the other Americans on the trip - stopped by with a card and Peter said pleadingly, “We’re going out for Italian food tonight, do you want to come?”  And Maria, with a totally straight face (I had to look away) said, Oh thanks but Steve wants me to cook Italian at home tonight!”  I thought Peter was going to cry!  He looked so devastated!  Later, he said to me, “Even the AMERICANS don’t want to celebrate my birthday with me!” 

Right up until the very last minute, I think he had hope that something was going to happen because when John called an hour earlier than expected to invite us over to their boat for a drink, Peter said to me, “Do you think they’ve invited some other people over for my birthday?”  It was all I could do to say, “I don’t think so, honey.”  The truth was that we needed to get Peter on Spirit of Nina, which was anchored at the far end of the harbor, in order for everyone else to dinghy in to the restaurant!  So when we arrived, of course, there was no one else there and the look on his face said it all….That’s it!  No party for me!”

We had a bottle of champagne and then we bought some time with small talk until it was time to go.  As we approached the Bali Hai dock, the restaurant appeared dark and closed (although everyone was hiding behind all the furniture) and they had even arranged for one of the hotel employees to pretend she was our taxi driver and she met us at the dock with a lei and a crown of flowers for Peter  “compliments of the restaurant.”  So he got off the dock and begrudgingly allowed the woman to deck him out in flowers and, at that moment, the lights went on and everyone yelled, “Surprise!  Happy Birthday!!!”   Well, you could have knocked him over with a feather!  He was totally fooled and the smile on his face was worth it all.

We had a fabulous night complete with an amazing potluck dinner, music, dancing and games.  (In addition to cross dressing, this group loves games too!)  We played “Pass the Hat” sitting in a oval and passing hats backwards from one head to another.  When the music stops, the person without a hat is OUT.  When it finally got down to Ger from Simanderal and Pete from Fai Tiri, we knew it was going to be a fight to the finish but Pete just stuck the hat in his pants and Ger wisely conceded defeat.  We played another game where we had a 200 foot line that had to go down your shirt and pants and then up the next persons pants and shirt effectively tying 10 people together and then you had to get all the line back out again.  I know, I know, these are grown men and women here but just go with the flow...

Last, but not least, we played a game where each contestant had to put on a huge life jacket, snorkel mask and gloves and then they were given a long somewhat dull knife and a barbeque fork and they had to try to cut open a package that had been wrapped VERY tightly with layer after layer of newspaper and tape.  You slashed and stabbed at the package until the music stopped and then the next person had a go at it.  It was pretty hilarious and, of course, in the end, they let Peter win.  After much effort, he revealed the prize – a huge bar of chocolate.

And, finally, the cake!  Sue from “Camomille” made a beautiful chocolate cake for Peter and we all enjoyed it while Peter read a poem he had written early that morning (when he still had hopes that there was going to be a party and before he was sure that there wasn’t….)