Tahiti 2005 – Day 11

Our Tahiti Cruise!

Day 11 – 20 Dec 2005

We awoke this morning in Papeete – our cruise had come to an end. However we still had most of the day to look around and relax on the ship. It was another hot hot day, but we were determined to make the most of it and enjoy our last day of vacation.

The view from our balcony. We prepared to vacate our room, grab breakfast, and head into town.

Papeete is a pretty busy city and it’s got some rough spots, but there is beauty all around.

Nope, we aren’t home yet – we found this McDonalds only a few blocks away from where the ship was docked. It had the look and feel of a real McDonalds. We had just eaten before we came down here so we didn’t try the food.

It’s hard to read in this reduced image but a Big Mac w/fries was 800cfp (or $8.00). They also had the McFeast, and “The Boss” combo meals.

We came across this artist that was creating absolutely stunning art images using nothing but paper and spray paint. Even his “brushes” were made of out paper. It was very impressive. We had already bought enough art work on this trip so we were happy enough just to watch it.

Back at the ship we had a late lunch, watched a movie on-board while waiting for them to call our luggage tag color, and then when they did it was time to leave. We boarded a bus and it took us to the airport where we stood in a very hot and stuffy airport for about 3 hours. There was a line to collect our luggage the cruise ship had brought over, then a line to check in for the flight, then a line to get our luggage scanned, and then another line to get our carry on luggage scanned. The ticket said boarding would start at 8:45 at a half an hour past that they still hadn’t started. Then they announced boarding for first and business class and then everyone crowded the gate to get on the plane. It was so hot in that airport, people just wanted out of there. They never even called anymore seating, they just started letting people in. It was disorganized and frustrating but we got on and the plane did take off on time.

The flight to LAX went pretty well with mild turbulence. We got all our luggage, and went right through customs with no problems.

So ends our journey.. for now.