Papeʻete - last day

Today is our last day in Papeʻete. A good portion of the crew and passengers are leaving the ship, and new ones are coming on board. Accordingly, there is a bit of 'High Life' on the ship.

We were actually supposed to go paragliding, but the provider didn't show up and didn't respond to calls. So, we had another day in the city, visiting the market, various shops, the pearl museum, and taking a short hike in the neighborhoods on the hillsides.

The market is nothing special during the day. It has little fresh food and mainly tourist products. The only pearl museum in the world is quite modest as well. It seems mainly aimed at selling pearls and instilling a bit of trust. The prices are pretty steep and whether a necklace really has quality AAA or AA2, we cannot judge. However, 200,000€ seems quite expensive.

You can also walk in just a few minutes to the neighborhoods on the hillsides. It is very green there, the view is beautiful, and you can see the neighboring island of Moʻorea, where we were yesterday. Living up there is indeed cheaper, but it is clearly the wealthier island residents who live here. There are many high fences, but you are always greeted warmly. To get back down, I had to use Google Maps because the neighborhoods are a maze of dead ends.

On a monument, you can see the former French emblem, the rooster. This fits well with the chickens that roam freely in the streets amidst traffic.

Maria went on a 4x4 tour to the island's center in the afternoon. Perhaps more info will follow.

Additionally, we looked at another cabin on the ship. We decided not to take it, as it only has stairs and no lift.