Perfect weather today!!
Pulled our curtains aside to see us cruising on the ocean side of the Rangiroa Atoll and a scaringly close distance from the beach. The depth of water on the outer of the atolls drops down dramatically so as long as you have the correct pilot on, it is amazing how close he gets. The photo above shows you the entrance to the atoll which was extremely narrow at only 100 feet and 30 feet deep. A pilot came on board when we first got to French Polynesia and will stay with us until we leave the region – gotta be thankful for that.
This is the ocean side which as you can see is rather chopped up with the wind and current.
As soon as we came into the atoll you can see how calm and clear the water was and not to mention just how warm it was. We had organised a snorkeling tour of an area called the Aquarium which was unreal. Unfortunately we do not have a waterproof camera but we can say we had never seen sea life like it before.
It was about a ten minute boat ride to the small reef within the atoll and after a quick talk about not touching the sharks or the moray eels we were chucked over the side. We had an hour in which to snorkel and it is the best snorkeling we had ever done. The fish life was so rich with a variety of species. As we were snorkeling around we all of a sudden had this huge flurry of fish which surrounded us and were in a frenzy. It took us a while to realize that the operator on the boat was throwing food to them and making sure it landed exactly where we were snorkeling. Lucky for us it didn’t attract any of the sharks.
We saw two moray eels, from a safe distance which Di was most grateful of. The temperature by the time we were snorkeling was 31c and the humidity crippling.
After such a fun time we went for a little wander around the port area which was very small. There was one grocery shop which was a tin shed and we popped in to have a look but had to get out quickly as it was so stifling.
There is an abundance of coconuts just hanging around and if you don’t want to climb the tree you can easily find a freshly fallen one on the ground.
We went for another swim and snorkel just off the beach before we headed back to the ship and just near us was a house with a mum dog and her pups having a wander around. Di of course couldn’t resist a cuddle of this little one and mum wasn’t at all bothered by all the attention.
We couldn’t last very long outside so headed back to the tender and made our way back on board to the ships pool where we got all the salt off us. The pool water was indeed a lot cooler and woke us up with a jolt.
Beautiful sunset off the back of the ship. We are about 14 degrees off the equator now and the humidity is picking up but not necessarily the temperature. Very relaxed night tonight as now most of the entertainers have left the boat back in Tahiti and not a lot on. Fine by us. We are more than able to entertain ourselves by chatting with people and wandering around.
Rather than call it just a seagull, we are going to hype it up and call it a Kestrel – 16/16.
Rowkin Rovings Blog 