Cruising through the Polynesian Islands
“To move, to breathe, to fly, to float. To roam the roads of lands remote, to travel is to live.” – Hans Christian Anderson
2024 was a phenomenal year of travel, with French Polynesia being the grand finale. I determined that it was better to cruise solo rather than island hop. As it turned out it was a great choice, and I made many new friends onboard.
I loved the early mornings as the ship navigated the coral reefs and came to anchor. The green leafy islands grew larger with their unique shapes and textures and colors. One day there were three dolphins that accompanied the ship, another day there was a gorgeous rainbow in the horizon.
I made the effort to actually delve into the culture of the islands and meet the local people where I could while feasting on the beauty of the crystal-clear waters and white sandy beaches.
Other than the two days in Papeete when it rained nonstop we were lucky to have rain on and off and even some rainbows without any significant impact to our activities.
The people of the islands are Christain, having been converted to Christianity by the various missionaries that made their way to these islands with the European seafarers. All of the islands boast beautiful stone churches of the various Christian denominations.
Many of the sacred pagan places that the islanders worshipped were destroyed during this phase but a few survived and in fact I believe we actually saw Marae on every island that we visited.
On the island of Huahine, in addition to the blue-eyed eels we saw these fish traps that have survived through the times. Our guide told us that this is the lazy way to catch fish since all the fisherfolk have to do is to relax, drink beer and wait for the fish to come into the trap.
Crabs apparently eat the hibiscus flowers that are rampant all over the island. We did a demonstration throwing out these flowers from the windows of our tour bus and saw the crabs come crawling out of their hidey holes to drag the flowers. The flower in this case as you can see is significantly bigger than the crab dragging it.
I’m glad they served soft shell crab the day before because I don’t think I’d have had the heart to eat them after seeing this scene.
The quintessential over the water bungalows of the resorts that are liberally scattered over these islands. The ultimate in resort living.
We also visited the bungalow that Marlon Brando stayed in while filming Mutiny on the Bounty before he bought his own private island and created a resort where he entertained friends and family.
No wonder the local people don’t worry about how much they make or the cost of living on the islands since they have plentiful fruit, vegetables, and fish. Snorkeling and diving are a dream for enthusiasts of water activities.
The water is warm and clear and beautiful even if you just wade into it.
Island living at its finest. I could see myself laying on the beach with my kindle a fresh green coconut beside me after a morning of snorkeling.
Most of the islands don’t have farmers markets etc. and the locals just bring their home-grown fruit and vegetables and set up a roadside stand to sell them.
Since the weather and the wet is not conducive to keep the bottoms of the boats rust free, the locals have these hangar-like things that hold the boats above the water when not in use.
We had a day on the Paul Gauguin private island that was set up complete with an elaborate Barbeque, bars, a few shops and even a massage tent where you could enjoy the ambiance of the ocean breezes while you got a massage.
I saw turtles in so many different places but alas never got to be able to take a picture so this one is not mine, but I couldn’t resist including it.
One of the nuggets of knowledge I picked up during my travel in this region is that UC Berkeley has a campus on Moorea where undergraduate and graduate students can come to take classes in biodiversity and ocean related studies.
Even in India where I grew up, I have not seen trees laden with mangoes like I saw here in the islands. I enjoyed eating the delicious mangoes every day with my breakfast. What a life.
According to Google Statistics based on 2024, I took 19004 photos, 497 videos, captured 1130 smiles and had a streak of 30 days in a row when I took photos every day. 2025 has just begin, let’s see how I fare in 2025.