Day 15 Moorea

Since Moorea is about 12 miles away from Papeete - we set sail about 5 am and arrived by 7 am in Moorea. This island is known for growing pineapples. In fact when J was off the ship, he saw empty pallets of being moved by the tender boats to Moorea - so that they could be filled with pineapple and returned to our ship!  Talk about fresh tropical fruit. Sadly for me, pineapple is one of the foods I react badly to, so tend to avoid choosing that fruit when choosing my breakfast fruit!

Today J set off to hike the 3 coconuts trail and met four women who had rented a car and offered him a lift to the start of the trail!  So in fact he climbed to the top of A trail, but was unsure if it was actually the three coconuts trail! Once he returned he double checked a map to learn he did climb the correct trail but not to the end. 

I returned to the Dr on-board and had further treatment in my ear. He irrigated my ear - eeyouch!!  And once the wax was removed, he could see yes, indeed my ear was infected. So he proceeded to provide me with antibiotic ear drops that I need to use for 5 days in a row - with a stern warning to return if it doesn’t get better. Good thing we have so many onboard ship credits. The first Dr visit cost $170. Today’s visit was $99 for the irrigation and $175 for the antibiotics with Dr fees adding up to a total of $370 (all in US $). My one year medical insurance policy for travel outside of Canada will more than pay for itself, once I get reimbursed for these expenses. 

I didn’t have pain in my ear sleeping last night - so hopefully we are on the mend now. And I didn’t have the drama of one fellow who was at the medical office last night - he had his leg all torn up, bandaged by the time I saw him - somebody had stolen his backpack and he chased down the perpetrator (on land in Papeete)  and got the backpack back. He wasn’t a particularly accommodating patient in that he left the office before signing for his paperwork. I expect they will still deduct the charge from his stateroom credit card. 

John returned about 12:30, pleased with his morning outing, so we then headed up for lunch. We enjoyed lunch on the terrace with the stunning view of Moorea. 

After lunch we lasted 10 minutes in the sun on lawn chairs - that is where we both had to tap out. Temperature was 29 C with 76% humidity. So we walked around deck 14 and took pictures of Moorea. I was happy to retreat to our stateroom and enjoy the lightly air conditioned room. 

I rearranged some future excursions, booking privately online. Private excursions always allow for smaller groups and a lower price tag than ship excursions. The ship assures you they will not leave port without you if you are on one of their excursions- so you have to be diligent about using reputable companies, if booking privately, who will get you back before the ship pulls out!!

At 5 pm I went to the Destination services desk, where I asked if we had cleared the wait list for a kayak excursion tomorrow in Raiatea. Still no luck - but the attendant did suggest we come down to the Marina Theatre tomorrow morning at 8:45 am to see if there are two no shows. 

Two of the women from Missouri who were in the car stopped by the stateroom. They kindly invited us to join them for a private dining room reservation booked for Feb 20th. We said we would be delighted to join them! 

We then went to the Captain’s Welcome reception up in Horizons Lounge onndeck 15 Forward - aptly named because you can see the horizon from the windows!  

Dinner was in the Polo Grill tonight!  The 5 mini desserts were the highlight for me. J and I played two board games tonight. Now, with additional ear drops in my ear, I am ready for bed!