HAPPY BIRTHDAY DONNIE!
01 July 2012 | Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
Don says, 'Thanks for all the Birthday Messages everyone'. Yesterday, Don got the epoxy/fiberglass job done so now our chain locker is back to it's old self. The V-berth is repacked with all the god-knows-what stuff that we can't possibly live without. Life onboard is getting back to normal. The weather has been kind of funky though. Cloudy and threatening rain, the clouds over Moorea are stacked up like crazy. Looks like they'll have big squalls over there tonight. It's still warm though, low 80's and a bit cooler at night so nice for sleeping. I guess it's just normal winter weather in the tropics. We met with our agent today and got our final check out paperwork to leave Tahiti. We then went to Kim Fa which is the duty free booze store. The prices are great so we stocked up. You can buy a bottle of 'Old Lady Gin' (shut up Jeff) for $590 CPF which is about $6 US. At the local supermarket the same bottle was $3500 CPF which is about $37 US! We took delivery of our order this morning and looking at those bottles I realized that we really aren't drinking as much as we did in Mexico. I think it's the weather. You just never know what's going to happen so you have to always be on your game. Guess that means that more than one gin and tonic is out of the question...OK...two. We also received the package from my mom I was expecting...my new Canon camera...YIPPEE! Last November I bought a 'package-deal'...a nice compact Canon camera with a separate underwater housing for taking diving. Well, the camera died before I got a chance to try it underwater (ironically I think it got wet which killed it). So now there's nothing stopping us from leaving....well...there is one thing. And this demonstrates rather well the incredible customer service here in French Polynesia (except for our GREAT agents Cindy and Maryline of course). We dropped off our propane tank last Thursday and we were told 2 days. Well - turns out Friday was a national holiday (again) and everybody is closed Saturday and Sunday. So it was hopefully picked up Monday - then add two days and VOILE - Wedsnesday! So when I say we're leaving on Thursday...all depends on whether the propane has been delivered and who the heck knows!