Papeete 3 of 4

The sun was warm and waves gentle as we skipped across the deep sparkling turquoise waters of the South Pacific. When our skipper spotted a pod of dolphins we headed towards them but the sudden appearance of a whale and calf soon had us sailing in another direction. It was exhilarating to see the whale breech several times and then to gently guide her calf across the bay. Many other tourists joined in the "spotting game" and it became quite crowded as we all sought the best photo shots. Ken used his telephoto-lens camera and some of his shots are quite good. Due to the safety of the whale no one was able to get too close to the pair but one fellow from another boat swam out across the waters to get closer to the pair. When he stopped for a breather he found that they had managed to elude him each time he thought he was getting nearer. Eventually he gave up the chase and returned to his craft. What gentle creatures are these mammals of the ocean! How special it was for us to see them moving so elegantly ahead of us.

Another thing we saw was a group of board riders surfing the waves that were breaking across the outer coral reef. It looked difficult but many of them had some great fun manoeuvring across the breakers. Most of the waves within the lagoons and bays on the eastern side of the island on this day were gentle so the surfboarders had peddled out to meet their challenging breakers. I guess they'd travel in on the incoming tidal waves at the end of the day. Tahiti usually has wonderful surfing spots all around the islands but the surf is usually shallow and powerful and surfers need to take care not to be cut by the live, sharp reef which encircles many of the islands. The wind during the dry winter season usually blows off shore and throughout the wet season onshore winds are more prevalent. At least this is what was explained to me- once an avid surfer- it is surprising to me that I do not have the desire or energy to ride the waves at 74. Once I thought I'd never lose my love of the surf but time and age puts everything into a different perspective.