Post by Aubrey and Brenda on Nov 20, 2011 12:05:08 GMT -8
To Teresa, our tour guide and to our friends on the mainland.
Thanks Teresa for the wine and snacks. That was a wonderful treat as we arrived here on island #6.
Our entire trip has been delightful through day 20. The highlights have been the ray and shark snorkling in Moorea and Bora Bora. Yes we did both and each had it's unique differences. We hand fed the rays that felt like velvet and , yes, Brenda fed them too. As we entered the food chain, the sharks were swimming all around us, but must not have been hungry for human flesh that day, so the guide fed them fish. The 4wd excursions riding in the back of a pick up truck sitting on hard benches on Moorea and Bora Bora were both fun and rough. Great views on both from the heights of each island. The accommodations have been 5 star every place that you booked including the room here at the Hyatt where I'm presently sitting on the balcony overlooking the pool and ocean to a view of Lanai. WOW!!!!! In Papeete we were in an ocean view SUITE OF ROOMS; in Moorea , a large bungelow with a private pool, which was very cold; in Bora Bora, a WOW bungelow over the water, with our own private dock from which we snorkled in 10 feet of water several times and disturbed the sanctuary of numerous beautiful fish. We also got bread from the restaurant and fed 100s of larger fish(2-5 lbs) from our balconey; then, the only thing that Brenda and I booked was the bed and breakfast in Hilo on the Big Island, which was not air conditioned, mosquito infested, and humid with millions of tiny little frogs playing trumpets outside our open windows, all night long. Brenda wisely bought a fan at Walmart that first night, which saved the day for us. We did, sort of, get used to the charming room, but were very glad to get back to 5 star a/c. Hilo is on the wet side of the island, so it rained daily, but thankfully, none of our excursions were negatively effected. It's really interesting how each island has a rain forest on one side and Arizona dry land on the other side of the island. The Pearl Harbor tour was great as well. I bought a book written and signed by a general about the Japanese War and got 4 generals who were in Pearl Harbor during the raid, to sign the book. The Zip line was fun , but it took some encouraging to get Brenda to do it. She loved it. The helicopter tour was also great, but that too took some encouragement to get Brenda to do it, since there had been a tragic crash and deaths on Moloki and an emergency landing on the Big Island a few days before our flight.(different company from ours). The only negative part of the helicopter tour was that there was very little volcanic activity. We did see some lava flow through a small crater and a little lava flow on the surface. No flow into the Pacific or wild eruptions like you see on the advertisements for helicopter tours. Even so, we did enjoy the flight and Brenda was glad that she went and survived. The land volcano tour was less dramatic, but nice none the less. We visited and walked out on the 1992 flow that added 100s of acres to the land mass of Hawaii; we walked through a lava tube and we viewed the glow of the lava from 1/4 mile away at night.
Two accidental happy moments were when I called a Memphis banker while in Oahu at 7am( 11am Memphis time) and was reminded that Memphis vs Belmont was on ESPN within 10 minutes of when I called. We watched the entire game that Memphis won by 16. Then last night while moving our car to self parking, I accidentally came across a free Luau setup for 300 Memphis fans here in our hotel with the party starting in 45 minutes. I found the Memphis crew and Brenda and I both went to the Luau with our Memphis friends.
The negatives were few. The Papeete circle tour was fair, but it did rain all day. Bloody Mary's was not worth the effort. The presentation was great, the food over cooked. Everyone one that we talked to that went there was disappointed. The glass bottom boat was fair to poor. Visibility was marginal which took away from it. We visited the rays and shark area and watched from our boat as others were in the water with the fish, which we'd already done once.
Our only incidents were firstly, Brenda slipped down the ladder as she was entering the water for the ray and shark feeding on Moorea. She developed some very colorful spots on her buttocks and the back of her legs. It's all cleared up now. As for me at 6' 5" tall, I've bumped my head at least 4 times getting in and out of vans and the helicopter developing some colorful scraps on my head.
Today we are relaxing in our fabulous room with it's fabulous view, preparing ourselves for the basketball part of our adventure, which begins tomorrow at 10am(2pm Memphis time) against #17 Michigan.
Aubrey and Brenda
Thanks Teresa for the wine and snacks. That was a wonderful treat as we arrived here on island #6.
Our entire trip has been delightful through day 20. The highlights have been the ray and shark snorkling in Moorea and Bora Bora. Yes we did both and each had it's unique differences. We hand fed the rays that felt like velvet and , yes, Brenda fed them too. As we entered the food chain, the sharks were swimming all around us, but must not have been hungry for human flesh that day, so the guide fed them fish. The 4wd excursions riding in the back of a pick up truck sitting on hard benches on Moorea and Bora Bora were both fun and rough. Great views on both from the heights of each island. The accommodations have been 5 star every place that you booked including the room here at the Hyatt where I'm presently sitting on the balcony overlooking the pool and ocean to a view of Lanai. WOW!!!!! In Papeete we were in an ocean view SUITE OF ROOMS; in Moorea , a large bungelow with a private pool, which was very cold; in Bora Bora, a WOW bungelow over the water, with our own private dock from which we snorkled in 10 feet of water several times and disturbed the sanctuary of numerous beautiful fish. We also got bread from the restaurant and fed 100s of larger fish(2-5 lbs) from our balconey; then, the only thing that Brenda and I booked was the bed and breakfast in Hilo on the Big Island, which was not air conditioned, mosquito infested, and humid with millions of tiny little frogs playing trumpets outside our open windows, all night long. Brenda wisely bought a fan at Walmart that first night, which saved the day for us. We did, sort of, get used to the charming room, but were very glad to get back to 5 star a/c. Hilo is on the wet side of the island, so it rained daily, but thankfully, none of our excursions were negatively effected. It's really interesting how each island has a rain forest on one side and Arizona dry land on the other side of the island. The Pearl Harbor tour was great as well. I bought a book written and signed by a general about the Japanese War and got 4 generals who were in Pearl Harbor during the raid, to sign the book. The Zip line was fun , but it took some encouraging to get Brenda to do it. She loved it. The helicopter tour was also great, but that too took some encouragement to get Brenda to do it, since there had been a tragic crash and deaths on Moloki and an emergency landing on the Big Island a few days before our flight.(different company from ours). The only negative part of the helicopter tour was that there was very little volcanic activity. We did see some lava flow through a small crater and a little lava flow on the surface. No flow into the Pacific or wild eruptions like you see on the advertisements for helicopter tours. Even so, we did enjoy the flight and Brenda was glad that she went and survived. The land volcano tour was less dramatic, but nice none the less. We visited and walked out on the 1992 flow that added 100s of acres to the land mass of Hawaii; we walked through a lava tube and we viewed the glow of the lava from 1/4 mile away at night.
Two accidental happy moments were when I called a Memphis banker while in Oahu at 7am( 11am Memphis time) and was reminded that Memphis vs Belmont was on ESPN within 10 minutes of when I called. We watched the entire game that Memphis won by 16. Then last night while moving our car to self parking, I accidentally came across a free Luau setup for 300 Memphis fans here in our hotel with the party starting in 45 minutes. I found the Memphis crew and Brenda and I both went to the Luau with our Memphis friends.
The negatives were few. The Papeete circle tour was fair, but it did rain all day. Bloody Mary's was not worth the effort. The presentation was great, the food over cooked. Everyone one that we talked to that went there was disappointed. The glass bottom boat was fair to poor. Visibility was marginal which took away from it. We visited the rays and shark area and watched from our boat as others were in the water with the fish, which we'd already done once.
Our only incidents were firstly, Brenda slipped down the ladder as she was entering the water for the ray and shark feeding on Moorea. She developed some very colorful spots on her buttocks and the back of her legs. It's all cleared up now. As for me at 6' 5" tall, I've bumped my head at least 4 times getting in and out of vans and the helicopter developing some colorful scraps on my head.
Today we are relaxing in our fabulous room with it's fabulous view, preparing ourselves for the basketball part of our adventure, which begins tomorrow at 10am(2pm Memphis time) against #17 Michigan.
Aubrey and Brenda