Punaauia Lagoon, Tahiti, Society Islands

Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Fri 16 May 2008 22:18
17:34.771S  149:37.328W
 
On Sunday (5/4) we left the town dock in Papeete with our new, slightly less pale crew aboard and motored west through the lagoon to a nice anchorage on the west side of Tahiti.  The anchorage was strategically located just outside a large marina where dinghies are allowed to dock.  Once on land, a very large Wal-Mart-like supermarket was within walking distance.  Well, like Wal-Mart in that it is very big and sells everything from melons to flat screen TV's, but unlike Wal-Mart in that prices are about double or triple what Wal-Mart would charge us at home.  Sometimes more than triple.  Of course the extreme pricing always seems to be associated with those items we simply can't live without.  Like beer for example.  A mere $60 per case.  The choice of beer ranges from Heineken to Tahitian, and as long as you choose either Heineken or Tahitian you'll be fine since that's all they have.  And gin.  Our pale-faced friends require gin for their South Pacific adventure, and a 3/4 liter bottle goes for about $45.  We've re-named it liquid gold.  We did buy other, more life-sustaining items at the store - enough to feed four people for two weeks - and that set the four of us back a total of $600.  Cheap, Tahiti isn't.
 
On Monday, after we put our newly acquired guests through the pain and suffering of spending big dollars in the supermarket, wheeling big cartloads of food along the road to the marina in 90+ degrees of sweltering heat, transferring the many bags of sweating food from the cart to the dinghy and then from the dinghy to the boat, we left the Tahitian lagoon and motorsailed the short fifteen miles to the island of Moorea.
 
Picture 1 is the reflection of the sunset on the clouds over Tahiti (with Kathie looking on).  Picture 2 is the same sunset, but viewed in the opposite direction.  The sun is setting behind the nearby island of Moorea.  You can tell we are still in civilization at this point given the airplane flying through our sunset view.  Picture 3 is our crew starting the process of relaxation as we motorsailed from Tahiti to Moorea on Monday.
 
Photo credit goes to Bill for these and all the upcoming Society Island pictures.  I have decided to take a leave of absence from picture taking while Bill is on board.
Anne
 

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