Live from the Westerdam-Join the "Pearls of the Pacific" gang's South Pacific Cruise

[kazu]

The pig is revealed....

 

 

 

This was cooked with the pig - spinach, sweet breads and poi

 

 

 

Back later with the full food porn, motu pics, Patrick's surprise and more, but right now, dinner calls!!!!

 

 

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[Vict0riann]

It was a beautiful site for a feast.

 

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[kazu]

It was a beautiful site for a feast.

 

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It certainly was :) :). A little piece of heaven ;)

[kazu]

Going to try a little bit of food porn.

 

Here is our feast on Patrick's tour..

 

 

That leaf you see is our plate!!! Yes, it's our plate. How cool!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[kazu]

And on the fire for us - Mahi Mahi & Tuna.

 

I have to say that the pig was delicious!!!

 

And the banana fruit bread was scrumptious.

 

 

 

 

 

The Motu was very beautiful and a vey idyllic spot.

 

 

 

 

Patrick's "canoe"

 

 

 

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[kazu]

Then Patrick had a surprise for us.

 

I did get caught up in something I hadn't planned but thankfully I have no pics of that.

 

The surprise after lunch

 

 

https://vimeo.com/163659287

 

https://vimeo.com/163659676

 

I believe I am wearing out the Internet - LOL.

 

I will finish tomorrow and of course get the On Locations and menus up!

 

Cheers from the South Pacific where the sun shone for a whole 3 hours. Lightening storms tonight.

 

For whom it may be of interest, HAL cancelled all their water excursions today. Our private tour went as planned :) :)

 

I understood the cancellation yesterday as I thought things were at risk. Today, the risk and the seas were not the same. Not sure why they did what they did unless they were afraid of complaints from people that got wet. But I am glad ours went and we had a great time!

 

 

 

 

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[Scrapnana]

Then Patrick had a surprise for us.

 

I did get caught up in something I hadn't planned but thankfully I have no pics of that.

 

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But some of us do!;):D

[Krazy Kruizers]

3 hours of sun -- hopefully you will soon get more than that.

Your tour looked to be wonderful. And all that food!! Yumm!!

But no vodka???

[Ontariotrekker]

So happy that everyone was able to get off the ship and enjoy Patrick's tour - it looked fabulous.

 

Wishing everyone continued calm seas and blue skies -Shar

 

PS to Kazu - in case you haven't heard - NFLD got 30+ cms of snow with breakhouse winds of 100 + kms. Enjoy the warm breezes!

[kazu]

So happy that everyone was able to get off the ship and enjoy Patrick's tour - it looked fabulous.

 

Wishing everyone continued calm seas and blue skies -Shar

 

PS to Kazu - in case you haven't heard - NFLD got 30+ cms of snow with breakhouse winds of 100 + kms. Enjoy the warm breezes!

 

 

OMG on the snow in Newfoundland!!!! They get hit so hard. I feel for them.

 

 

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[Bluemoon319]

Bluemoon - here is the link

 

http://halcruises2016.blogspot.com

 

 

 

Thanks so much for the link. I have been enjoying this CC thread & look forward to reading your blog. :)

 

 

One thing I don't understand....you all were swimming with black tips?! :eek: They're known to become aggressive when around food & have been know to attack humans. Did they feed them REALLY well before you all got in the water or something?

[kazu]

3 hours of sun -- hopefully you will soon get more than that.

Your tour looked to be wonderful. And all that food!! Yumm!!

But no vodka???

 

 

No vodka KK - no hard stuff. Beer, wine, champagne. It was all good for us :)

 

The tender operations are being done very efficiently. I saw at least 5 tenders lowered but I think there may be more. They were going so often yesterday there was barely a wait. DH and I returned to the ship after the tour to shower and change and headed back ashore. We didn't even wait 10 minutes for the tender and returning less than 5.

 

There are fellow catching the tender waves in something like a kayak, but it has two prongs at the front. They paddle quickly to catch the waves at the back and carry on in the tenders wave. They seemed to be having great fun.

 

 

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[shrimpboat123]

OMG on the snow in Newfoundland!!!! They get hit so hard. I feel for them.

 

 

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They got close to 40cm of snow. The good news is we have dodged all the snow storms that Halifax and NFLD got. It is sunny and 18C here today. Jane is out on the back deck getting her tan for the next cruise. :)

[Vict0riann]

The surprise show at the end of our stay on the motu was a fire show. Can't have fire without a match! Kazu was roped in to do the honours. That was a show in itself, and had everyone screaming with laughter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Vict0riann]

Finally, it worked! Then we had the fire show - he even balanced the lit ends on his feet.

 

 

 

 

 

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[Ontariotrekker]

Did you find the local 'scenery' a little eh distracting??

 

 

Shar

[kazu]

Did you find the local 'scenery' a little eh distracting??

 

 

Shar

 

 

LOL - I am not good with a lighter in the wind.

 

I tried not to look at the "scenery". LOL.

 

 

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[1of4]

 

<snip>

One thing I don't understand....you all were swimming with black tips?! :eek: They're known to become aggressive when around food & have been know to attack humans. Did they feed them REALLY well before you all got in the water or something?

 

Not sure what sharks you are thinking about but black tips are reef sharks and every time I have swum in the ocean with them I was told they are not interested in us - too much other food available. Spent a week on the Great Barrier Reef on a dive boat and we saw plenty of them. I would never have allowed DD to go snorkeling if they were aggressive.

 

The larger and more aggressive sharks can not get across the barrier reefs and are deeper water sharks.

[kazu]

Well, it is so foggy and grey that it looks like it is going to pour.

 

Weather forecast must be bad. Our captain has come on to announce an itinerary change.

 

Instead of going to Moorea, we are proceeding directly to Papeete. It is crucial that he be able to dock at Papeete to bunker and get supplies. So we will arrive a Papeete early in the morning stay overnight and then proceed to Moorea

 

Captain has apologized for the change but emphasized it is crucial and due to weather.

 

I have no problem with the change as I do want to be able to get off at a docked port this time.

 

We do have a private tour that Gigianne has arranged with Franky Frank in Moorea. She is on top of things and has emailed him already. Hopefully the change is no problem.

 

What will be will be. .

 

 

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[Krazy Kruizers]

Golly -- can't believe that you are having more bad weather and that your itinerary has to be changed a little. Hope your tour in Moorea won't be affected with the change.

Great pictures!!

[Happily@Sea]

Our [Road Scholar] group leader who has lived/still visits regularly in this area - said the weather in Moorea is just as bad today as our weather is. By visiting Papeete first the captain is hoping to be able to tender in Moorea the next day. She was talking to the Tahitian pilots and they told her about the weather conditions in the other areas.

[SilvertoGold]

Papeete is really a great overnight!

 

I hope it is not raining, because the waterfront walk across from where you dock is very nice!

 

If the weather is good, it almost feels velvety: warm, soft breeze, dark and a romantic, winding walkway. Make sure you say Bon Soir to the few locals who might be fishing off the seawall.

[Scrapnana]

Although so foggy I could not see out my window this morning, things cleared some and I decided to go into town. Met with some roll call friends as we were waiting for the tender and they invited me to join them taking the $5 shuttle to Bloody Mary's. More roll call members joined us there and we ended up having lunch. Although there was a quick cloud burst on the bus ride back, we were able to get back to the ship before the real downpour started (It has been pouring for the hour I have been back).

 

Some pictures...

 

Entrance to Bloody Mary's

 

Open air, sand floor

 

The menu

 

I had a very tasty cheeseburger

 

We could see the ship from across the street from Bloody Mary's

Edited April 22, 2016 by Scrapnana

[kazu]

Our [Road Scholar] group leader who has lived/still visits regularly in this area - said the weather in Moorea is just as bad today as our weather is. By visiting Papeete first the captain is hoping to be able to tender in Moorea the next day. She was talking to the Tahitian pilots and they told her about the weather conditions in the other areas.

 

 

Thanks for the info Carole.

 

Apparently Cyclone Amos is geared to hit American Samoa on the weekend and one of the reasons for the change to Papeete tomorrow.

 

I like the change as it actually gives us more time in Papeete. While we were overnight before, we arrived late at night and were leaving in the afternoon so it all works out.

 

What the weather will be is another question.

 

It is teaming this afternoon again.

 

If anyone has any sunshine bottled that they would like to send our way, all donations are gratefully accepted :)

 

 

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[kazu]

Here are the On Locations and Dinner Menu from yesterday. Our first day in Bora Bora.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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