HALIFAX TO FRENCH POLYNESIA 

GETTING THERE:   Our flight from Halifax to Toronto was an hour late, leaving us only 45 minutes in Toronto to clear US customs and immigration and travel the length of Terminal One.  I found a wheelchair for Betty and ran through the airport pushing the chair with one hand, pulling a travel bag with the other and yelling for loitering pedestrians to clear the way.  I only collided with one poor soul, but as there are no license plates for wheelchairs, I don’t think I’ll be charged with hit-and run.  Despite our names having been called several times we were allowed on the flight and the person at the gate checked to see that our bags had not been taken off. 

In my opinion wheelchair pushing should be made an Olympic sport.  After all there are many large airports, meaning that the host country would not have to spend millions on new facilities. 

We had a scheduled 3-hour layover in Los Angeles and expected to have time for some food and relaxation.  However, we had to get from Terminal Six to the Tom Bradley Terminal.  This involved taking a shuttle bus, which got caught in a traffic jam.  Again, we arrived just in time for our flight.

PAPEETE TAHITI:   We arrived at 6:30 a.m. and were picked up by a pre-arranged shuttle.  As we could not check in to our hotel until 1:00 we arranged with the shuttle driver a private tour of the island.  Tahiti is what you should expect of a tropical paradise, and we saw waterfalls, black sand beaches, etc. 

Perhaps the highlight of the tour was a stop at Pointe Venus where the 18th century explorers anchored.  The still-standing lighthouse was built by Robert Louis Stephenson’s father.  Captain Cook visited on his last cruise, prior to going to Hawaii to be killed and eaten by the natives.  I am not certain whether or not he was “cooked.” 

On this voyage Capt. Cook had a young navigator by the name of William Bligh.  After Cook’s death Bligh was given command of a commercial ship and sent to Tahiti to dig up breadfruit plants and transport them to the Antilles, where it was hoped that they could be planted as a food source for the slaves. 

Bligh and the crew of the Bounty spent several months in the tropical paradise where the men particularly enjoyed the freely-offered sexual favors of the native women.  Discipline became a problem   and some of the crew were punished by lashing.  Hollywood makes Bligh out to be an unusually cruel person.  Eventually there was a mutiny led by Christian Fletcher, the 3rd officer.  Historians argue about how cruel Bligh actually was, and whether or not Fletcher was justified in leading the mutiny. 

In any event Bligh and several loyalists were set adrift and Fletcher and his mutineers and several “captured” Tahitian women sailed off.  As our cruise will more-or-less follow the course taken by Fletcher and the Bounty you will hear more later. 

ROULOTTES:    In the evening we arranged transportation to the port where many, many food trucks set up to offer meals in a park-like setting.  We choose one of the trucks at random and sat at a picnic table for our dinner of grilled mahi mahi and grilled swordfish. 

STATEROOM 7003:  On Saturday morning we boarded the Marina, a ship on which we have sailed several times so it seemed a bit like coming home.  At the very front of deck 7 there are a few staterooms with triple sized balconies.  Most passengers are not aware of this and those that are aware tend to avoid them out of fear that there will be more motion at the very front of the ship.   

Usually cruise ships are fully booked, but for some reason the Marina is only 2/3 occupied, at least for the first half of our cruise.  Guess we’ll have to live with getting easy reservations at our preferred restaurants. 

RAIATEA:   On Sunday morning we docked at this small island.  Basically, the only thing to do here is snorkel and as Betty cannot get in and out of the small boats we opted to have a look at the pier-side shops.  Not much to see so the heat quickly drove us back to the ship.  Seems like a good day to sip wine and do the laundry.