Next Stop: Moorea

Our morning in Papeete was wonderful. After a buffet breakfast with delicious fresh fruit and French cheeses, not to mention the croissants (this is, after all, French Polynesia), we all plopped on the beach and enjoyed a warm sunny day. Only a few clouds kept me (and Joe) from become red hot lobsters. Yep. Sunburnt the first day. Oh well...at least now I look like I've been on vacation, instead of looking like the Pilsbury Doughboy.

The best local beer here is Hinano. If you've studied the magnets on our fridge, you've seen the one we have of their logo (or at least the girl on their logo). It's a nice light beer that you can drink all day in the sun and not get too plastered...okay, maybe not all day. It's really very good, and Joe and I are hoping to find t-shirts to replace the ones we bought years ago and have worn to threads.

So after a nice lunch and a couple of beers, we checked out of the Sofitel and took a transfer to the dock to board the ferry for Moorea. It's a quick trip, like a commuter bus, only between islands.

Moorea is shaped like a three-toed duck's foot (don't fuss with me, I know there's no such thing as a three-toed duck...I'm just sayin'). The dock is on the southeast shore, our hotel is on the big toe (if, in fact, you were looking at the right-hand foot of said duck), near the deep bay you can see in the picture. The five of us were crammed in a van, along with another couple, who told us "You seem like a fun bunch" (seem is sooo subjective), and our 20-odd pieces of luggage and took off for the hotel.

We got settled just in time for happy hour and dinner. I'm going to try and figure out our new camera today, so I'll upload some fun pics tomorrow. We're all still recovering from the time difference. We hit the hay about 9:45 last night, but slept until about 7 this morning...we're getting used to it...we'll have a later night tonight. I feel sorry for Brett, who'll join us Wednesday as we take off for Sydney...he'll have no time to adjust. I'm kinda looking forward to torturing him. At least a little bit.

Well, internet connection here is available only in the lobby and in the bar. You can guess where I'm sitting. And it looks like they're open, so I'll close for now. I hear it's going to snow in Amarillo later this week. That's just awful.