 |
| Dropping in on our fish friends |
It probably challenges the imagination for many of our readers who have jobs, but we are BUSY, BUSY, BUSY. Doing what? First off, living on a boat is more complicated than having a house or condo; for starters, we need to maintain the boat so we don't sink, catch fire, or get blown into the rocks. That's a couple of hours per day.
 |
| Nice sea turtle- we accidentally disturbed his nap |
Then there might be some recreation; none better than a visit to see our friends below (the fish). Scuba diving is one of our true pleasures and now with our very own dive compressor, we can dive anywhere. Well, almost anywhere.
 |
| We love the small fish |
 |
| Great coral (and a surprise eel) in Teahupoo |
 |
| Christmas trees of coral everywhere you look |
 |
| Diving off the dinghy is so much better than a dive boat |
Yesterday just before happy hour, about 50 small (and some not so small) sharks visited Cooks Bay and swam around near our boat for about an hour. We had courage enough to kayak and paddle-board, but scuba and snorkeling was definitely a rule-out. We're still not cool with sharks. But on days we dive, the whole ceremony of getting ready, diving, and cleaning up takes 3 hours. Cancel my calls !
When our friends/family need food, they drive to Whole Foods and are back in 30 minutes. On L'ORIENT, we walk (dragging our wagon) to the Super U (a French grocery chain) and schlep our full wagon back to the dinghy, then to the boat over dirt roads for about a mile. Hey, it's part of cruising. We do this probably once every week and it takes 2 hours. Shopping in the store with our muddy, all terrain wagon is fun and attracts a lot of attention. Many Polynesian folks have actually expressed interest in buying one themselves. Oh, Amazon... the business opportunities!
 |
| Key innovation- bungee keeps everything secure (even pizza) |
 |
| Now loading it on Crabby to take to L'ORIENT |
 |
| This is not a costume- traditional Polynesian floral crown |
Finally, there's exercise (because scuba and walking to the Super U aren't counted as exercise, despite my protestations). This would be a long walk or hike, generally on a mud trail.......unfortunately Google Maps doesn't distinguish asphalt from soupy mud. Quite often there's substantial clean up from a walk around the island. But when you are in a place as beautiful as Moorea a little mud is a small price to pay to see this... Probably 2 hours in all.
 |
| Hills above Moorea; no rain on boat but always wet up here |
 |
| Looks like a Harry Potter movie set |
 |
| Kind of the Switzerland of the Pacific |
Now it's happy hour. Choosing a bottle from L'ORIENT cellars, showering, and putting the chairs on the bow for sunset watching takes time.......occasionally, we start running behind and catch only the last rays of sunset (which happens at the annoyingly early hour of 5:30 PM here in the Southern Hemisphere winter). The smell of jasmine washes over the boat from shore. I know what you're thinking- "Yeah. Tom and Kirstin have it rough. I didn't know they suffer in this way".
 |
| Cook's Bay, Moorea- Our home for the coming days |
We roll into dinner, where Kirstin conjures up some yummy ethnic cuisine or a Sous Vide masterpiece. After chatting about the day during dinner, there's negotiation regarding Netflix and what we will watch. Lately, the Formula 1 documentary has usually won out. We limit our Netflix to an hour. Can't have too much screen time.
So there- we ARE busy ! We've moved the boat from Tahiti to Moorea (about 15 miles). We are taking it really, really slow. One bay at a time, one dive at a time. Living slow is the best way when the scenery looks like this.
Maybe some reading (another hour), and off to bed. An exhausting day but someone has to do it. We'll continue to.
