Cruise The World With Us

Saturday – February 22, 2025

You might have thought this was going to be about James Bond. Wrong! This is the title Kelsey picked – quite appropriately – during our 4 X 4 tour of the backwoods of Tahiti. More about that later.

The day in pictures started with a time-lapse capturing the sunrise and 3 very fast cats leaving their berths at the marina. Jan and I went to the dining room for breakfast. I asked for some Tobasco sauce to put in my tomato juice and on my eggs. They brought me the Jumbo size bottle – 12 ounces (only it was 350 ml). I’ve never seen a bottle that large. The labeling on the front was familiar but the writing on the back was in Italian – so I’m guessing a purchase by MSC corporate in Italy. I included a photo of what is called MSC Express Breakfast – but it wasn’t complete. I didn’t want the sautéed mushrooms because I couldn’t finish all that.

Our 4 X 4 adventure wasn’t going to begin until around noon so we wanted to know how hot it might be. There is a screenshot of the expected temps for the day. And the weather did live up to the forecast – HOT! While we were waiting for our excursion to begin we relaxed on deck 13. Berthed at a pier next to us was an unusual ship which combined containers and passengers. Perhaps that isn’t that unusual, but it was the first time we had seen a ship like that in all the ports we have visited. As we were waiting we saw the passengers participate in the mandatory life vest drill – didn’t take a photo of that – just lots of people in orange life vests.

Time came for us to leave the ship and walk to the excursion pickup area at the terminal. Our “ride” was a Ford pickup fitted with 2 padded bench seats in the bed of the truck. Over those seats was a metal tube frame with canvas covering the top (and rolled up to drop down if it rained). Our guide/driver for this adventure was Hotu – a native of Tahiti. He had his name tattooed on his left arm at the shoulder so it was not hard to remember (especially after he ditched his t-shirt as soon as everyone was loaded). He made sure everyone buckled their seat belts before we started. Trust me – we were VERY HAPPY THERE WERE SEAT BELTS! Hotu showed us where we would be going – into the crater of the volcano that created the larger portion of Tahiti. The overall shape of Tahiti is like Maui in the Hawaiian Islands except the larger portion is on the West – the larger portion of Maui is on the East.

We headed out on a paved road for the center of the Northern portion of Tahiti. I included a couple screenshots from the MAPS app on my phone. Also included a short video to show how smooth the ride was on this portion of the trip. Once we turned South the roads changed to provide the “shake” for our journey. There are a couple short videos to show how that looked and a screenshot of where we were headed (toward Mount Orohena crater).

At our first stop Hotu gave us some general information about Tahiti and asked us questions to see how much we knew about its formation. There is a photo of a small waterfall in that area and a panorama showing the vegetation around us. The road we were on followed a river that has its origin in the mountains. Inhabitants used to be able to travel the river in canoes but can no longer do that because it has been dammed in several locations to provide hydro-electric power. Hotu said that the majority of electrical power for Tahiti comes from this hydro system. They are installing solar panel arrays to supplement and use diesel generators for the remainder. When he was discussing the coral reef that surrounds Tahiti he said there is only one spot off the coast that does not have reef – where the river enters the ocean. The lower water temperature from the river does not provide the warmth coral need to live.

Along the way we saw trees with bright orange flowers. These are from the family of flame trees we saw yesterday. Our next stop was at a waterfall where we both had time to admire the waterfall (which never runs dry) and learn more about Tahiti from Hotu. There is a selfie of us at this location and several video clips including one where Hotu was getting frustrated with another group that had stopped at the same spot. Their guide was “talking over” Hotu in French and perhaps you can see his frustration. He explained the Polynesian triangle with anchor points in Hawaii, Easter Island and New Zealand. We saw more of the trees with orange flowers at this location.

The road was beginning to get more bumpy and the temperature was increasing. You’ll see a short video of Jan and Kelsey bouncing around as we drove to our next stop – a reservoir with another “never ending” waterfall. You’ll see a screenshot of the area, a selfie of us with the waterfall, a photo taken by Hotu of us by the waterfall, a still of the waterfall, Hotu with Kelsey and Jan and a short video of the waterfall. By the way – the reason many of the waterfalls never run out of water is that it rains nearly every day in the mountains and provides that “never ending” supply of water.

Final destination was the center of the crater of the volcano that created this portion of Tahiti. There is a screenshot of that location and several stills showing the steep hills that were once the inside of the volcano. The road does continue to the other side of the island but we didn’t have the time to make that journey and return in time for the “all aboard” of the ship.

Our return to civilized roads was just as bumpy – there hadn’t been any road repair crews working while we were on our trek. Jan was trying to hydrate because it was HOT HOT HOT. I included a screenshot as we approached the river crossing and another video of the full crossing followed by another “bump” video before we reached the smooth road at Urarii Manu.

Once on the smooth road we stopped to watch some surfers at an area free of the coral reef (remember the river water keeps the coral away). I find it soothing just to listen to the sound of the waves. There were wind surfers nearby – but not close enough for close up video or photos.

The final video clip of the day is a time-lapse as we sailed away from Tahiti towards Moorea. Actually, we sailed away to be at least 3 nautical miles off the coast of both Tahiti and Moorea. In doing so our casino and shops could open. We sailed around the area tonight to be ready for our arrival in Moorea on Sunday.

Video and photos from today can be found here.