While still on Moorea (we have since moved on to Huahine. More on this later), we decided to tour the island with our friends on BPD. We rented 2 scooters and a small car, and set off for our first "circumnavigation".

Jim and I had first-turns on the scoots, and we led the girly-car up to a phenomenal look-out point called Belvedere. From here, we could see both Cook's Bay and Opunohu Bay in their entireties, including a post- card quality view of the Maltese Falcon at anchor. For those who aren't familiar, Maltese is probably the most famous and unique mega-sailboat currently afloat. Owned by a Bay-area venture capitalist, she is 300 feet long, has 3 masts, and charters for huge amounts of money (think 10's of thousands of dollars per week). Better hurry with your reservations, though, because she's for sale for just under $200,000,000. No typos here.

After enjoying the lookout, Nancy and Tiffany did their best Hell's Angels interpretations and roared off on the mopeds. Perhaps "roared" is a bit too dramatic, but they had a ton of fun nevertheless.

Our tour continued, and we enjoyed a great lunch and a few cold ones at various venues around the island. Because Moorea only has the one road that circles its perimeter, with no cross-roads or other routes, we made good time and had the vehicles safely back in time for happy hour. Another successful day. Our overnight-passage to Huahine didn't quite fare as well as our motorized excursion around Moorea. We knew there would be large swells from the SW, and light winds at our backs as we sailed to the NW. Unfortunately, these two phenomena conspired to create a most unfriendly ride, probably the worst we have encountered yet. Quick snap-rolls, with a sphincter-clenching "corkscrew" motion thrown in, and the constant slatting and popping of sails ensured that neither Nancy nor I slept that night. Though the motion was very tough on the gear, we fared better than either BPD or Elusive, who both lost battens from their mainsails.

We are currently at the southern end of Huahine, in a very nice anchorage. We joined back up with Scarlett O'Hara, whom we hadn't seen since Fakarava, and the 4 of us (Scarlett, BPD, Elusive and Meridian) have been hanging out in the pensions and on the beach. In fact, yesterday afternoon, we all had a little beach party to celebrate Sophie's 7th birthday (which is actually on Monday the 30th, but in true Sophie fashion, she doesn't so much have a birthday but rather a birthmonth). Gifts, laughs and chocolate cake ensued, and the occasion was enjoyed by all. All except me, however, as to my horror I saw the recorder (flute) that BPD gave to Sophie. Similar to giving crack to an addict, she hasn't put the dang thing down yet, and has mastered exactly one key (E, as in Excruciating). Looks like the sleepless nights will continue for awhile.