Stepping off the ship after eight straight days at sea feels something akin to being reborn. Sea days are fantastic for the guests, but for us? An 8 day crossing is exhausting!
And French Polynesia is, as always, its own little piece of heaven. This is one of the few Polynesian islands that is volcanic as opposed to a coral atoll, so the topography is quite different than that of say Tahiti or Bora Bora (both of which we will be visiting in the next few days). I was reminded as soon as I stepped off the tender of two things I’d forgotten to bring from the ship: sunscreen (remembered insect repellent but not sunscreen, typical me), and the memory card for my new camera.
D’oh!
Fortunately, both were easily recifited by a tender ride back to the ship, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t annoyed with myself!
It’s hard to believe, sitting with your back up against a tree and a notebook in your lap, listening ot the waves roll up to the shore (I would have gone in the water, but local authorities warned us early on that those waves were shark infested!) that only a few weeks ago I was at home in front of the Christmas tree, listening to the chill Canadian rain batter against the windows.
Now I’m…here?
How? I mean, despite it’s ups and downs (and yes, there are definitely both), how did I end up with a life where French Polynesia is…somehow a normal place to end up?
Oh well, at least I remembered which ear to tuck my flower behind!