Blue Planet Journey

Mo'orea!  This island in French Polynesia is only 11 miles from Tahiti.  About 17,000 people live here, which makes the arrival of a ship carrying 3000 guests a big deal.  Clearly, French Polynesia is the preferred location for those magazine shots of romantic cabins over the water, although no one mentions that boats can buzz by and peer within (we did). The topography is dramatic, as erosion has been working on this extinct volcano for 2 million years.  And the circling fringing reef inspired Charles Darwin, looking down at Mo'orea from a mountain on Tahiti,  to hypothesize a process for the formation of coral atolls. NASA Photo ID: ISS006-E-39837. One day isn't enough to even begin exploring these islands.  Since we had gone tramping in Tahiti, it was time to explore the water.  With friends Carla and Michael, we booked a lagoon excursion through Albert Transport.  This was to include 2 snorkels, 1 with sharks and rays, an...

Caroline in  Papeete , French Polynesia, at sunset.  The island of Moorea is on the horizon. Tahiti !  This island in French Polynesia is the epicenter of many South Sea fantasies.  We docked in the captial city of Papeete, and decided to try for a different adventure.  We thought we were going to hike to the Fautaua Waterfall, supposedly the 28th highest waterfall in the world. We never got there.  Or, if we did, we walked right past it without noticing. First things first.  We read that hikers needed to obtain a permit to travel to the waterfall.  Okay, our first adventure was locating city hall, which wasn't too difficult.  Finding the proper office to get a permit was a bit trickier, in that we spoke and read no French.  Caroline ducked inside an office labeled something like "Bureau des élections" which we knew wasn't the right office, but we were hoping we would get pointed in the right direction.  A kind man took...