Today was an interesting day. We spent most of today (December 12th) in Auckland and then left for Tahiti around 3:50 pm, arriving at 10:00 or so on December 11th (before we left). Then we got up (morning of the 12th) and we're in Tahiti. Pretty neat...we've actually had two full December 12ths, but we never had an October 29th on the way down to Sydney.
Anyhow, we spent our last day in Auckland doing a few things and relaxing at the Western Springs Park, which was near the Zoo and the Museum of Transportation that we went to a couple days ago. Aukland was having a beautiful day with blue, blue skies and perfect temperatures. Just when we are leaving. The Park is rather large and has a sizable lake, which at one time was Auckland's main water supply. It also has a herd of these guys:
There are geese, ducks, pigeons, and black swans in the picture. Also one dark blue Pukapu on the far left next to the ducks. They are an odd looking bird and feed themselves by grabbing the food in the feet and lifting it to their beaks, which are large and bright orange. You can get some idea of how large the swans were if you look and see one grabbing a mouthful of bread from Pat's left hand. With their necks stretched out, these guys were pushing five feet tall. There were hundreds of birds all over the park and in the lake but we thought this was a special pair:
We're not sure how old the baby is, but it was staying pretty close to mom and still managing to get its share of bread from Pat. Mom got her share too.
We also stopped at the Auckland Museum and took a couple shots of the skyline and harbour from on top of the hill. There really was a pretty view of the harbor area from up at the Museum:
We left Auckland around 3:50 pm heading for Tahiti, about a 5-hour flight. Here are the relaxed world travellers waiting to board their plane for Tahiti this afternoon:
These were our final moments in the lands Down Under. We arrived in Tahiti around 10:00 in the evening, got through customs and immigration, got our car, and drove to our hotel southwest of the capital city of Papeete in the little town of Punaauia. Tahiti is an interesting place. It's not very large, most of the people live along the shoreline or up in the mountains very close to the shoreline. There is basically one road that circles the island, about 100 miles around. Papeete is very crowded, very busy, and traffic is a bear. The languages here are French (don't speak it...) and Polynesian (don't speak that either...), so communication is a lot of fun. Many of the inhabitants speak a little English, and I'd have to say, more than the French or Polynesian that Pat and I don't speak, but understanding them and communicating with them isn't easy. On the other hand, they are all polite and try to be very helpful.
This is not a wealthy part of the world. Aside from the resorts in the area, which generally seem to be very nice, the island is dirty, crowded, and the people are living in very poor conditions. There are no official unemployment figures apparently, but you would have to guess that half of the population is without full-time employment. You have to wonder what young Tahitians have to look forward to.
At any rate, all that aside, the island is beautiful. The shorelines are striking as you can see from these pics:
Pat took the picture above from the dock behind our hotel. This following picture was taken today as we drove around part of the island:
The mountains are very lush and green and rise precipitously from the center of the island and extend almost to the shoreline. Here is a pic we took on the south side of the island today:
While we were out today, we did get this picture of a boy and his dog playing in the surf:
On second thought, I think it's been a long time since he was a boy and I think the dog would rather be somewhere else...
We'll be on Tahiti tomorrow and most of Saturday, so we're planning to go out and see more of the sights. In the picture, to the right under the cloud, is Moorea, home of Bali Hai, about 12 miles away. Pat took this picture of the sunset from the dock behind our hotel this evening:
Pat's Paragraph.... Did you miss me last night? Actually you are getting me tonight which was last night, again... the secret is the international dateline. And if you continually fly back over it again and again, you'll get younger! Now if you believe that, I've got this bridge I'm looking to sell.
And I told a little white lie... there Is going to be another Pat's Potty Report. I thought the Australian and New Zealander's had odd bathrooms, but rest assured, the Tahitians (French) have very odd ones too! When you first walk into the bathroom, you think hey wow, it's nice. Then you discover things like, here we go again, no curtain or door on the shower. Oh, even better, they only have a hand held shower spray that only works while you hold it. So as you get ready to shower that night, oh no, they forgot the wash cloths. No, they did not. They do Not have and they do Not provide them. Hmmmm. I won't say it but you can think it, OK? Then you notice that an important part of the bathroom is missing. Where did they hide it? You go back into the room and look around and there is a mysterious door behind the exit door. You open it. Got claustrophobia? Then you better go somewhere else because baby when they mean a water closet, it is! And they managed to put a huge shelf over the back of the commode and a teeny sink, about 10 x10, in there with you. You need a night light? Well there is NO electrical outlet in there BUT, you knew there was a but, right? Something very special...While you are on the Throne, you can be on the Phone! And you have to stand on tiptoe to even get on this throne. No it is not a bidet, it is a commode, absolutely the highest I've ever had to use. I've often complained about how low some of the commodes have been, barely off the floor it seems. Well this one is not for vertically challenged people. Then there are the doors to the 'bath' and the 'closet'. These are huge heavy doors with handles and locks that could be on bank vaults. No one will disturb you doing your private time. Adieu....
