I woke up early this morning (around sunrise) to see what the weather would bring. I had considered taking the ferry to Moorea and back if the weather was nice. The weather was not nice. It wasn’t raining at the moment, but it had been raining. I decided to get some more rest.
I tried to organize my baggage as much as I could since I only carried in my small carry on bag in the hotel. I had also left my boots in the car, so I also made sure to put them on because it is easier to wear them on the plane than to pack them in the suitcase.
After checking out from the hotel I started to walk downtown. I got one block away and realized that I had not taken either an umbrella or a rain jacket. I decided to return to the car to get an umbrella as it wasn’t looking too great at the moment.
I did a little bit of souvenir shopping downtown and as I was heading back the sky opened once again. Luckily I had my umbrella this time. I walked back to the car and decided to go to THE museum on the island. That’s right there is only ONE museum open on the entire island (unless you call the ‘Pearl museum” a museum, it’s really a pearl store with some displays).
The James Norman Hall museum was a small house he lived in on Tahiti. He grew up in Iowa of all places. He signed up to fight with the British Army and later the French Air Force as a pilot. He was shot down while flying and was captured by the Germans, eventually he was allowed to escape. After returning stateside he wrote some books about his experience fighting in foreign militaries. He would go on to write “Mutiny on the Bounty” which was based on a true story about Captain Bligh who was instructed to take breadfruit trees to the West Indies so they would have cheaper food for the slaves. A few movies were made from the book, including one with Clark Gable and one with Marlon Brando (which must be why Marlon Brando decided to buy his own island in French Polynesia).
I found a few books from Samuel Clemens (his real name) which I had fully expected to find.
I spoke with the person working at the museum for a bit and she reminded me that I failed to see the tomb of the last King, so I drove off to there next. The weather was still very much rainy, but there was no walking required to get to the tomb, it was easily visible from the back of a church (which I suspect was built on top of an Marae they destroyed).
From here I went to Carrefour and got a baguette of bread – only 55 PCF (less than 50 cents). It was pretty good. I ate the baguette while on top of the parking structure thinking it might stop raining, but it didn’t. I spend some time rearranging the rest of my luggage as I didn’t want to mess with it outside in the rain and dark at the airport later tonight.
I made a stop at the post office for some stamps before driving back to Papeete.
This building was near the yacht club.
I filled up the tank in the rental car. it took 4,600 CPF (about $40 USD). Gas is expensive in French Polynesia.
I drove past the Queen’s apartment as I had missed that as well, and after driving by it I understand why, it was all fenced and tarped off. Nothing to see here folks.
I drove to the Carrefour near the airport for a late lunch / early dinner. I got 200g of sliced ham, a lime soda and a small ice cream. It took the last 1,000 CPF bill I had in my pocket.
After eating my snack I drove to the airport. There just wasn’t anything I needed to see anymore, so might as well get to the airport early so I didn’t need to rush.
I returned the rental car first, I drove it a total of 325 kilometers, so there was another $150 charged to my credit card, however a taxi to/from the lodge I stayed at would have been $100 each way and I wouldn’t have been able to see as much without the car.
I checked in for my flight at the counter. At first they wanted to say my bag was over weight as it was over 23 kg, but United allows for more than that when you have status with them, so I didn’t have to disassemble my bag. I asked about an earlier flight from San Francisco to Houston and they said it was sold out.
I still had plenty of time on my hands. I looked at the seats for the second flight and there was an exit row seat available, so I got back in the queue and had the seat changed to an exit row (aisle seat).
Sill with more time on my hands I decided to sent United Airlines a message through Twitter again. I asked about changing the flight from San Francisco to Houston as I saw I was able to book a new ticket on two earlier flights. They rebooked me on a flight leaving five hours earlier at 1 PM (not 6 PM) and booked me in the exit row seat (middle, but still extra leg room).
I wandered about the souvenir shops briefly before I was motivated to go through security. I found a French Polynesian flag for a car window without a price tag. The woman said it was 250 CPF – and luckily for me I had about 270 CPF in my wallet, so rather than take home two dollars of useless change I bought the flag.
Security didn’t take too long, but I had to take out the laptops, tablet, etc.
The airport gate area was outside (roof, but open air) and without any power outlets. I did notice a sign showing that there was a working area upstairs, so I took the lift up to the first floor and found comfortable seats and power outlets.
The flight did board late (surprise), but people actually seemed to get on the flight quickly. I took a few pictures of the welcome sign because no one was trying to take selfies now unlike when we arrived.
I had a nice aisle exit row seat (except for the flight attendants constantly bumping into me).
Although I was tired I stayed awake to have the meal. The choice was chicken or pasta. I chose the chicken. It was edible, it also came with some kind of cold pasta and a roll.
I did my best to get some sleep after watching part of a movie. The neck brace did help me sleep.
The flight was pretty uneventful. I finished watching the movie and they gave us a vegetable pizza for breakfast. I only at the cheese.
Today’s timeline:
