Tuesday Feb 13th. - The storm before....

.... the calm..... or the bigger storm?  For those that followed our ride across Canada many years ago, Tahiti is shaping up to out do that one.  There is apparently a cyclone somewhere around Tonga and it’s doing a pretty good imitation here!

So, far from our dreams of hiking and swimming, we are in fact simply lurching from one buffet to the next, our ever increasing bulk amplifying the motion of the ship as we walk.  Bystanders beware, give us ample passage.

There are two schools of thought right now on the ship.  Those that believe the weather will improve (including, I think us) and those who are in some cases even abandoning their holiday plans, going as far as to  depart the ship.  If tomorrow improves we hope to go to another private beach for snorkelling but today they don’t even want to run the landing craft.

This morning we did throw caution to the - very ample - winds and head on shore for a look around the town of Vaitape.  There are actually some quite nice stores but, like all of French Polynesia, they are very expensive.  We did look into renting a car/scooter/e-bike - that remains a possibility for tomorrow as well.

However, for now, if we can’t be active there is another scone and clotted cream tea to enjoy. The more we eat the cheaper it gets!