From port lecture the night before:-‘Ferry ride between Raiatea and Bora Bora is only a 45 minute ride so you can imagine that we are barely moving

27 C… hotter than today…75% humidity. 10,000 pop

Time zone….GMT -10, There are 17,000 pearls for each wifi router…lol!

Tendering from inside reef, 10 minutes.….Vaitape name of town.

Options:-Island Le Truck, private shuttle buses…USD5, taxis everything is expensive.  Most nice beaches are private….get day pass. Matira beach is only one at not cost. Swim with stingrays……6kms, Coral garden…5 minute walk.  Naval museum…40 models. Art galleries….sell what they have on display.Hiking….Mt Otemanu…619 metres(2400 ft) plus several others

Albert’s is Kaenoa’s family’s Pearl shop. Bloody Mary’s is closed for renovations……maybe! Floating bungalows….off the island on east coast. Take small boat….you can see them from the shore.

During the night we were rudely awakened by emergency alarm…..6 short and one long blast …..at the ungodly time of 2:56 am.  Apparently if was for an electrically fire in the ceiling of a stateroom half way down the hall from us.  And then we were jolted again, 4 times by announcements.  Two other rooms next to the one with the fire, were also vacated.  When I went out on the balcony I did not see flames but did smell smoke.  Try to get back to sleep after that……tough!

My tour Lagoon boat ride and snorkelling.

Mt. Otemanu was only just climbed for the first time, 3 years ago. The lagoon is a caldera …is 100 feet deep.

Cabins above water is Bloody Mary’s…is closed for renovations

Reef is just 2 feet deep. It filters the waters coming into the lagoon and oxygenated the water. The turquoise colour is made the white sand (from coral) …with sun and the clarity. Dark is very deep drop off.  Parrot fish provide 100 tons of poop, providing some of white colouring. Reef grows 20 mm per year. Coral grows close to surface for photosynthesis. A Motu is a flat island and is part of the reef ….waves break coral that float in to make motus.

We saw Eagle rays…..black, have tail but no stinger. Manta rays are lighter in colour and mottled.

As a bit of a correction regarding the creation of Pearls…..the colour of the pearls as I said before can be determined by the colour of the rim of the shell. It is the membrane that is trimmed off and chopped into small pieces and implanted along with the nucleus, not a chip. Also the nucleus’ are made from the nacre of the freshwater oyster from the Mississippi River.