A Strange Experience

This fellow greeted us in Tahiti.

Last evening we had a  strange experience.  We walked on land.  The ground under our feet did not go up and down or tilt from side to side.  It has been 11 days since we have had this experience, so it felt a bit strange at first.  However, we soon got used to it.  We were not supposed to arrive in Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia, until the morning of the 26th, but we were able to get in on the afternoon of the 25th.  We perhaps could have arrived even earlier, but we had to wait for an Italian ship to leave the pier.  This is a popular stop for cruise ships with 3 others docked in the same area.  There was a ship next to us when we went to bed, but it was gone this morning.  A ferry came in next to us this morning.  I do not know where it came from -- perhaps Bora Bora.

We walked around Papeete for a while last night, just to get off the ship.  Since we had not had dinner, we decided to take advantage of the "food trucks."  These are not what I expected.  Food trucks I have seen before had one window where you ordered your food, paid for something that had been prepared before, like a sandwich and drink, and walked away to eat it in a local park or bench somewhere.  These were food trucks on steroids.  Three sides of the truck opened to reveal a full kitchen.  A grill was placed outside and full meals were cooked to order.  You sat at tables with either chairs or plastic stools and your food was delivered to you piping hot. I planned to get a picture of the trucks in daylight, but we left at 5:30 and the trucks were just beginning to arrive.