Tahiti 10 Nov

10 Nov 2008

Brenda and I did some serious shopping at the super market and I am happy to note that the bulk of the provisioning of the boat has been completed. Arnold caught the ferry for Moorea and he walked his way around which he didn't mind because of the exercise. He plans to return in a few days and will rent a 125cc motorbike. Brenda and I caught the bus for the Lagoonarium which turned out to be a successful outing. We arrived at the back of the market just in time to catch a bus. On the way we must have been giving out that lost tourist body language because a young man across the aisle asked in broken English if he could help us. We explained and his partner who spoke pretty good English told us that they would tell the driver to stop when we reached the place. During the trip we could see some of the passengers discussing our stop and by the time we got to the stop it seemed that most of the people in our section of the bus were concerned about us getting off at the correct stop.

The Lagoonarium is at the end of a long walkway along the shallows toward the reef. At the start of the walk is the best restaurant that I've seen in a long time with its elegant nautical décor. Part way along the walk way there is an offshoot leading to a thatched shelter where people can sit and, as we did, have lunch. At the end of the walkway are entrances leading down below water level from where we can see various groups of fish segregated by mesh barriers. It gave us an opportunity to see a vast array of fish – from sharks to tuna and snappers to reef fish of all shapes, colour, and sizes – that we would not have seen ourselves in the wild. The bus arrived less than 30 seconds after we emerged and he dropped us off directly across from the boat. The entire trip cost a total of 800 Fcp for bus fares and 1000 Fcp entrance fee. 1800 Fcp translates to about $30.00 AUD all-up.