Westward Bound

Kate arrived Friday night, and we went straight form the airport to the closing ceremonies for Heiva, the month-long celebration that Jennifer has written about previously here and here.  On Saturday, the three of us took our first dive in Tahiti, diving a 100 meter wall just a little south of our mooring.  It was rather incredible to look down into the blurring blue, with a sheer wall of coral on one side, and the ocean's depths on the other.  Highlights included seeing shrimp cleaning a moray eel, a huge grouper, and many small schools of smaller fish.  We got down to 80-90 feet (Kate to 97 feet), all record depths for us, and all went well.

Today, after a relaxing breakfast of crepes (thanks Jennifer!), we visited downtown Papeete, drove up to the Belvedere (the lookout over the harbor), and then around the island to our old haunt at Chez Loula and Remy, where we presented our Coupe du Monde hosts with a soccer scarf from the University of Maryland -- team scarves are de rigeur for soccer fanatics, and the ceilings of the restaurant are festooned with scarves from French teams.  We thought we'd express our appreciation for their opening their doors to us (sometimes at 4:30 am!) as we followed the World Cup.  A big thanks to Didier and Phillipe and the entire staff!

Tomorrow, after an early morning trip to the marche to buy fresh produce, we will be setting sail for Moorea, and from there, on to the other Society Islands -- Huahine, Raiatea, and Bora Bora, where Kate leaves to return home to nursing school in Denver, and we continue westward on our circumnavigation.

Internet access becomes a bit more sporadic for us, but we'll be updating as we can ... hope summer is treating everyone well, as we enjoy winter in the South Pacific.