After two days at sea with out normal activities we moored off the coast of the island of Fakarava in the French Polynesian chain of islands. Fakarava is a long narrow island - 37 miles long by 13 miles wide at it widest, mere yards at its narrowest. Since the ship is moored off-shore the ship’s life boats are used as tenders to ferry us to shore.
We walked from the jetty carrying all our snorkeling gear and towels through the small village but after about 1/2 mile in the heat we decided that the search for a nice snorkeling spot would go faster if we went back to the jetty and rented a couple of bikes. We found the right spot, snorkeled for a long time then decided to try and find another, maybe more secluded beach along the single paved road. Ten kilometers later we turned around haveing seen nothing but private homes, palm trees and sand - no beach. And no shade from the relentless sun.
A small snack shack drew us in for lunch then we snorkeled for a bit before heading back to the ship. Sweaty, sunburned and tired, we had cool showers, took a long nap then went on a galley tour of the ship’s huge kitchen.
It takes two men to keep the coffe makers working making 100 gallons of coffee each day; they also bake 5,000 of their own breads, rolls, pastries and croissants; 2,000 pounds of meat is cooked daily, and they use 2,300 eggs every day. The food is kept on two different floors below the galley.
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