Slurp!!

"That was the best day of my life," said Ellie on Wednesday morning. We all had to agree that our last morning on Moorea, truly stands out as one of the best of the trip. Moorea is surrounded by reef and the lagoon on the inside is the color of a swimming pool. The snorkeling out shined anything we have yet seen. The coral is getting more colorful and the fish entertain us for hours. Everyday we see a new one to look up in the fish book and add to the collection of underwater photos. The island is mountainous and green, offering terrific views no matter which way you look. There aren't many beaches, but the two we visited were a hit with the kids.

I think most people have been kissed by a black lab, but how many have been slurped by a black ray? On Wednesday we took the dinghy to the northwest corner of the island to check out the wildlife. We were not disappointed. On the way across the bay, a pod of dolphins put on a show. One jumped straight out of the water, did a 360 and splashed back down. Pete and Carter grabbed snorkel gear and tried to swim with them, but weren't able to get very close. On the west side of the bay, we went zipping along beside the reef to find the reportedly tame sting rays. On our way, Pete spotted 2 sea turtles taking a nap on the bottom. They didn't stick around long, but everyone got a good look. Farther along in the channel, our guest Carrie spotted "some big fish". Five foot black tip reef sharks were patrolling the channel about 15 feet down. What a spectacular morning and we haven't even gotten out of the dinghy. In the shallows near the sharks, we found the rays. Black sting rays about 3 feet across with tails another three feet long glide gracefully back and forth over the sand. They are flat diamond shaped animals with eyes on top of their heads and mouths underneath. Divers have tamed them with offerings of fish in the area off a luxury hotel. They swim right up the front of you, poking their noses out of the water brushing against your stomach, looking for handouts. We petted them and fended them off as we had no fish. Carter stayed in the dinghy because the water was too deep for him to stand, but the rest of us stood in waist deep water laughing as they bumped into us. Pete got some great pics with the new underwater camera setup. As the morning wore on, more and more boats showed up and the amount of food being offered increased. The sharks then got a bit more curious and approached in the shallows looking for a snack. They only came about 15 feet from the people and didn't appear aggressive so Carrie and Pete got some more photo opps with them. We were thrilled to have such a day when we had a guest on board.

The day before, we made a dinghy trip to Cook's Bay, about a mile away. There we visited the Moorea Juice Factory. Local farmers were unloading pineapples from their trucks all morning. The juice is out of this world. The factory was closed to the public for renovations, but the store had terrific samples and souvenirs. We all bought our budget worth of goodies.

Carrie wished she had more than a week to stay, as we still had things to do. But life goes on at home, and she needed to be back at the airport Wednesday night. We sailed back to Tahiti in the afternoon and just dropped the anchor as the sun disappeared. Today we're catching up on laundry, water, grocery shopping and rest. Having fun is so tiring. Tomorrow we head back to Moorea for a day or two and then Huahine on the weekend.

We're considering how much longer we're going to be out sailing and considering buying a travel sized washing machine. Several boats have them and it would save a fair amount of skin on our hands not to hand wring all the clothes. Our "one island at a time" plan is working well, so who knows what the future holds for us.

The clouds have come in today and I figure it'll rain now that all the clean laundry is hanging out. The sun always returns though and the clothes always dry, so I'm planning a quiet afternoon reading and maybe making some cookies. We'll have a potluck dinner with Wyndeavor tonight and enjoy another day in paradise.

-Kellie