Good idea, next idea

The sun is low in the west, and I have to lower my sun visor to even see the traffic in front of me. At the request of one person, today was a beach day. As we fulfill almost all of our guests' wishes, there was no discussion, although we are not really sun worshippers and tend to stay in the shade. I had a real book in my hand for the first time in a long time. I left the e-book reader at home because of the sand. The book "Blue water life: A circumnavigation that became a nightmare" by Heike Dorsch fascinated me from the very first page. That's why it never got boring. Now that the sun is setting towards evening, we want to follow our friend Christer's recommendation and visit the Belvedere. The restaurant is located above Papeetes and is the starting point for numerous hikes around Mont Orohena. What Christer didn't tell us was that the road is full of potholes. Holes in which a small car like the one we were using could easily sink. So it was a good idea to have a sundowner at the Belvedere, next idea please.

View from the Belvedere, Tahiti

So we turn onto this road, which leads to the restaurant in question. It leads steeply uphill and we are engulfed by the forest. Gaby says from behind, "I hope there's no oncoming traffic." She hadn't quite finished her sentence before we were already standing in front of a truck with a hood that reached slightly over our roof. We'd better not mess with him. At least he stopped, even though he couldn't see us through the front of his truck. Probably something to do with magic. Anyway, rolling backwards, I pressed myself against the rock face while the monster squeezed past us, dangerously close to the abyss. Gaby says, "Let's turn around." At that moment, I would have loved to comply, but unfortunately there is no way to turn around. In the end, we reach the Belvedere and are rewarded with a gigantic view. I, at least, have really earned my sundowner and so we enjoy the view of Moorea and the city of Papeete from above. We can tell from the fuel consumption that the little scooter we rented had to hoist a heavy load up into the air. If the tank was still a quarter full before the action, the fuel reserve lights up just before the Belvedere. Gaby says: "Let's turn around."

Sundowner after a hard day at the beach

To give our guest an incentive to invest, we visit the Taina Marina the next day. Since Walle missed out on the last Eurojackpot, he has hit rock bottom. Nevertheless, he doesn't give up hope of being one of the winners. In the meantime, I show him what he could do with the money he has won. In fact, as in every marina, there are one or two mega yachts in the Taina Marina. The crew, who are never short-staffed on such boats, polish and shine the boat all day long. While French Polynesia is usually home to yachts under the French flag, the mega yachts usually sail under a British flag, such as Malta or Gibraltar. Obviously, the financial sector still seems to generate enough money to be able to afford the expensive toys and crew. In addition to these mega yachts, there are also interesting objects for Walle to buy when he finally hits the jackpot. As Walle doesn't have a skipper's license, I'm naturally interested in hiring me as his skipper. The negotiations are still ongoing, but we've already made good progress and I think we'll come to an agreement before he buys a yacht.

Beach day in the shade, Tahiti

Meanwhile, according to DHL tracking, our sails are now at customs in Papeete. After leaving Phuket, they traveled to Bangkok. From there they went via Hong Kong to Los Angeles and finally to Papeete. Six days are planned for customs clearance. I'm curious to see if customs will know that. To avoid any possible complications, I've handed the process over to an agent who will take care of the paperwork. We'll see how well that works out. In the meantime, all we can do is wait. We bridge the time with a four-day sailing rally from Papeete to Moorea. The rally is interesting for us because there are also partners from Tonga, Fiji and New Zealand who can answer our questions about entry and berths in the respective countries. As we don't want to take part in this event with our sails, we have signed up on the Freya, an Austrian catamaran. The Freya is a much larger catamaran than our Katinka and we are very excited to see how it feels to sail on such a boat.

Sailing rally on the Freya

We will of course also be reporting on this event and sharing our impressions with you. Until then, fair winds and keep a stiff upper lip.