Papeete

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My views do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.

After eighteen days at sea, we arrived at our only port where we could get off the ship on our way to Brisbane. Usually our team has to cover two emergency positions, but we were lucky this time to only cover one. We drew names to see who would have to stay on board, and it fell to me and William. William wanted to go out in the morning, which was fine with me- I would happily sleep in, get up slowly, get some stuff done and then go out in the afternoon. The big drama was that it’s up to the local authorities to decide which nationalities are allowed on the island, and we wouldn’t know their decision until we got there. I lazed about until finally, after 10am it was announced that South Africans would have to stay onboard. Poor William! But the good news was, he could cover my safety duties! I changed into my outside clothes in a flash, threw a beach towel, sunscreen and a bottle of water in my backpack, and Joseph and I sprang off the ship to find an adventure.

We were docked right in town and we quickly found the members of the production cast who were able to get off. The night before, Georgie, one of the singers, had stayed up late to research adventures in Papeete. We split into two cabs and set off to find some waterfalls. We shuffled around until each cab had someone with cash, and someone with cell service who had the phone number of someone with cell service in the other cab.

Getting there was easy. We tried to arrange for the taxi to come back to pick us up later, but the lady insisted (in both English and French) that we just call back when we wanted a ride.

Clothes were shed (mostly by the cast) and sunscreen was applied, and we followed the river slightly uphill.

Most of the dancers are here on their first contract at sea, so this was technically their first port day. The excitement was palpable. They were enchanted by these bananas.

When I had heard the word “waterfall” I was committed to the excursion. Apparently Georgie had warned everyone else with more details: it’s about a two hour hike there and two hours back. That seemed reasonable. Then after about 45 minutes we came to a sign that said we could hike four hours up to get to the top of the waterfall or we could hike another two hours to get to the bottom. As everyone deliberated the options the bugs started biting us. I voted for the bottom of the waterfall and the majority agreed.

The setting was lush and spectacular. I tried to take pictures of the cliffs that surrounded us but the majesty never seemed to come across on camera.

All we could talk about was what a great time we were having and how beautiful this place was.

The screen on my camera wasn’t nearly big enough to capture the full picture.

Eventually the path narrowed and some of the dancers turned back to make sure they could get back to the ship in time for their half-day switch off. Somehow I ended up at the front of the line.

Now we were really climbing through the jungle! I loved seeing the orange petals strewn over the path.

We climbed over trees and branches, trying to avoid the fire ants. If we stopped, the bugs would start biting.

The path became less and less obvious and had more and more obstacles. Eventually we found this sign:

Georgie said there was a point when we’d cross the water. This looked like it!

We carefully removed our shoes and held our belongings high as we tried to avoid slipping on the rocks. Some of us tucked our wet feet back into our sneakers. Some just gave up and strode through the water shoes and socks and all. We eventually gave up trying to stay dry.

We got here and the path disappeared, the chilly water deepened and we decided we had arrived!

I figured this was the waterfall:

It was absolutely about the journey rather than the destination. The girls took turns posing for the perfect instagram photo. Georgie climbed further into the jungle and lost their sunglasses. I waded in as much as I could stand the cold water. I was blissfully satisfied!

We made our way back toward the entrance, talking of Thai food, wading back through the water, climbing back over the logs of fire ants, and then Joseph realized he didn’t have his phone. He retraced his steps as much as time would allow, until he finally gave up.

While Joseph was looking for his phone, we tried to call the number the taxi lady had given us, but they did not want to acknowledge being part of a taxi service. By this time we had hiked six miles.

We walked down the hill and found a small grocery store. The people in the store tried calling the taxi service and begging them to come pick us up. They finally said they would be there in 10 minutes (we only wanted to go about 2 miles) but they never showed. Finally we just caught the bus into town, paying with foreign money that we didn’t understand.

Back in town most of the shops were closed and the restaurants wouldn’t open for another two hours. We found a place that was open and one of the singers ordered a large beer. When this arrived, we all offered to help him finish it:

We all agreed that in spite of the bug bites, lost sunglasses, lost phone and transportation issues, we were having a spectacular day. The light of the sunset lit up the buildings. Everywhere we looked was beautiful in a new way.

Finally the restaurants opened and we found an Asian restaurant that had thai food but not the pad thai we had been talking about all day. Still, we ordered too much food, shared plates and ate as much as we possibly could. We returned to the ship with our thirst for adventure quenched until next time.

I always love seeing the ship at night (because I’m usually on it at night). After dinner we broke apart, some wanted to spend every minute ashore they could. My group wanted to make sure we were definitely back on time. We rolled ourselves back on the ship for another couple of weeks at sea. My muscles complained for the next couple of days, but I enjoyed the physical reminder of all the fun we had.