Punaauia Lagoon, Tahiti, Society Islands
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Fri 16 May 2008 22:18
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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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