Looking out over Moorea, we sit under the palm canopy of a bar built with a jetty over the turquoise waters of Papeete Bay. A little tired, but mostly relieved, an inner satisfaction spreads. We have made it. 32 hours with little sleep lie behind us. Almost 20 hours of pure flying time. We checked in in Stuttgart on Thursday afternoon, paid for the suitcase with excess weight and hoped that we would see it again in Papeete. We managed to get one suitcase past the nice stewardess without having to pay an extra charge. For the other one, 28 kg was the limit. The excess baggage costs €185 - a hefty price, in my opinion. At least we don't have to worry about our luggage until Papeete. We only have to lug our hand luggage around with us. That's not exactly a small amount either, as we've collected quite a lot. Things we missed on board: little helpers for everyday life and various spare parts for the engine.
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| Travel chaos on the Katinka |
The flight via Paris and Los Angeles is then, as usual, unspectacularly uncomfortable, and so we finally arrive at Faa, the international airport in Papeete, at 6:00 in the morning. We are Walle and me. Gaby will hopefully follow us on the second of June. Entering the country as Europeans now works without any problems. The always exciting question “Are our suitcases coming?” is also quickly answered. We head for the exit on a luggage trolley. But what is it? A queue forms in front of customs. X-ray check of all the luggage. Time and again, individual luggage trolleys break out of the line and skip the check after speaking to a customs officer who is walking down the line of people waiting. It all comes down to one attempt, I think to myself, and so I also speak to the customs officer. I reflexively answer “yes” to a question I don't quite understand and the officer clears the way for us to exit. Relieved, we continue on our way and are abruptly stopped again by another officer just 50 meters further on. The exit sign hovers above our heads just a few meters in front of us. The dog he has on a lead sets to work wagging its tail and sniffing at our mountain of luggage. Lovage, also known as nutsedge, is a type of plant that is used as a spice and folk remedy. The ingredient sotolon is responsible for the spicy aroma, which is reminiscent of Maggi. We use it on board as a spice, mainly in soups. Lovage is good for the stomach and intestines. For human noses, the scent is already very dominant and I wonder what effect it has on the drug dog. The question is quickly answered. Obviously the dog has already had to deal with a few scents in his professional career and nothing knocks him out that quickly. But lovage is not what he is looking for, so he ignores it completely. We are asked whether we have cheese or wine with us and are then finally dismissed. The way is clear and we actually manage to reach the cab rank without any further interruptions. Not that we had done anything illegal, but there would certainly have been a few discussions and the customs process would have taken a lot longer.
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| Katinka clean again |
The usual rush hour means we make slow progress, but eventually we are back in front of our Katinka. Covered in a layer of black dust, she has seen better days. We carefully settle in and try to bring the old lady back to life. It will be a few more days before we really feel at home. First we do a bit of shopping and then we have breakfast. Our arrival doesn't go undetected for long, so we have a delicious breakfast on the Tuvalu before we set off to replenish our supplies.
Slowly, the tension begins to ease and as we sit there looking out over Moorea, a leaden tiredness spreads. I think we'll take an afternoon nap today. It will do us good and make us fit again. Sleep does indeed work wonders, and so we set off in the evening and plunge into Papeete's nightlife. But we still don't quite like the beer. After grabbing a bite to eat, we head back to the boat to round off the evening. At our age, 32 hours without sleep just isn't something you can put away that easily.
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| Cleaning day on the Katinka |
And tomorrow we have to clean the boat first. The thick, black layer of dust that has accumulated during the four weeks of absence needs to be removed. Only a lot of water and a scrubbing brush will help. At least the outside of the Katinka should shine when Gaby returns. As always, we wish you fair winds and keep a stiff upper lip.
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