Saturday June 11

Saturday June 11
Yesterday’s travels were pretty routine, fortunately. Our 3 flights (to Portland, Los Angeles, and Papeete) were all on time and our luggage arrived with us – always a good thing. It took about 45  minutes to get through immigration, customs and then the transfer to our hotel. It seemed longer because we were so tired after 19 hours on the road. We spent the night at the Hotel Tahiti Nui (nui means “big”) which was quite modern. The rooms are all off a central open air courtyard and there were almost no lights. Each room had a small blue light for the room number but that was it. It took us a bit to find our room. And the low lighting scheme carried into the rooms. I’ve never been in a bathroom so dark.
After a quick continental breakfast we boarded the Aranui just after 7:00 AM. Our cabin is quite cozy, but it will work. As we were still docked in the Papeete harbor the fire department  conducted an open water rescue drill right next to the ship.  I kept thinking that back home they wouldn’t allow a helicopter to hover for 30 minutes between two passenger ships that are about 200 yards apart.   Fortunately all went well and it didn’t turn into a real rescue. We had a lovely lunch (fish salad, lamb chops and crème brulee) with a couple from Sydney, Australia named John and Norma.  The seas started getting a little rough so we returned to the cabin and napped.  Fortunately our cabin is on Deck 3 so the rocking and rolling is not as bad as in the balcony cabins above.  At dinner time it was still rough so we didn’t go. Apparently  only about half the passengers made it.