Tropical paradise? If you can stand the heat and humidity

Sailing into Tahiti yesterday afternoon, we could see clear evidence of its volcanic origins, especially as the aptly named Diadem Mountain (below) came into view.  We docked in Papeete (it took us a long time to learn to pronounce it Pa.pe.yeh.te) which is the capital of French Polynesia and holds about 27,000 of the island's 190,000 inhabitants.  The residential areas circle the island where the steep mountains level out a little before sinking into the sea.  The hillsides were covered by the lush vegetation we expected on a tropical island.  Of course, being located in the tropics, there is little seasonal change in the weather.  When I looked at my weather app, the highs for two weeks ranged from 85-88 degrees, the lows from 76-78 degrees and the chance of precipitation went from 20-80%.  I hope we can adapt to the heat and humidity, because we'll be in it for quite a bit of this trip.  As Utahns used to our dry heat, it's pretty oppressive, but my hands are in the best shape they've been in for a long time!

Tahiti is made up of two volcanic mountains joined by an isthmus.  That larger island is officially called Tahiti Nui and the smaller is Tahiti Iti.  Papeete is located at the yellow pin.  

This was the view of Papeete as we tied up at the dock.

We disembarked for a little walk around the port-side park.  I enjoyed browsing through an open air market with lots of carved Mother-of-Pearl jewelry.  I also found a piece of fabric for the crazy quilt.

Our evening's entertainment was exciting music and dance by the group O Tahiti E.  The Star Theater was so filled there was standing room only. The group performed again today to accommodate those who hadn't been able to get in last night.

The Tahiti Temple is only a little more than a mile from the port, and since our walking tour of Papeete wasn't scheduled until 3:00 pm, I decided I'd like to attend a session in the morning.  I found a taxi right on the dock to take me there.  Contrary to what I expected, it's not visible from a distance and sits just off one of the roads leading up the hillside.  It was very small, but beautifully decorated with island motifs.                                                                      

 I couldn't resist taking more pictures of the beautiful tropical flowers everywhere. 

Foreign currency is always interesting to me.  We hadn't been able to get any French Polynesian bills before we left, but I bought some much needed low cotton socks to wear in my walking shoes and got this 1000 Franc note as change. The exchange rate is 1 USD to 99.12 CFP, so this equates to $10.   I love to see what symbols each country selects to put on its money.  The coins are much bigger than ours.

I decided I could walk back to the ship from the temple.  I stopped in a few shops and took my time, but by the time I finally reboarded, I was hot and tired.  We had signed up for the included excursion which was a walking tour of Papeete, but I felt that I had done my own self-guided tour and David didn't want to be out walking in the heat.  So the entertainment for the afternoon was watching this yacht transport boat which was docked beside us.  When we arrived on Monday evening, the deck of the boat contained several boats of various sizes sitting on a dry deck.  When we looked out at it today, the deck was flooded with water and some of the boats were gone.  We watched as divers secured supports under the hulls of the boats while they were afloat, so that when the water level dropped, they would remain upright.  Apparently the carrier ship works on a ballast system like a submarine, letting the air out to allow the ship to sink lower into the water while the gates at the back are opened to let in water.  Then to raise it, they pump air back into the ballasts. 

                               We sailed out of the harbor after just 24 little hours in paradise.  

I know I will have posted a plethora of sunrise and sunset photos before this voyage is over, but being on the water gives those daily events so much more prominence than when we are home.  As we sailed away from Tahiti, the neighboring island of Moorea was spectacular silhouetted by the setting sun.  We'll be in Bora Bora in the morning.