I find that writing about my life and about my travels on the cruise ship is the most difficult thing. Talking about yourself, i mean really talking about yourself is a really big challenge. I created this blog a month ago and I finally got the inspiration to talk about myself. Even as I am writing this, I find it quite difficult to finish any sentence. It’s a big struggle and I have to tell myself that it’s worth it.
And it will be.
Now for my post, I want to talk about my favourite place I have traveled to in all of the 7 months of working on the cruise ship. Moorea, French Polynesia is one of the best places on earth. French Polynesia is what we dream about when we have the winter’s blues. It is the paradise all of the travel agencies talk about. The picture that contains the saturated blue skies, the white sandy beaches, the green palm trees, the turquoise water and the tiki huts that the travel agency places have on their walls, is French Polynesia.
And I have been there. I have put my feet in the soft and super hot sand of the beaches.I have bathed in the warm and salty ocean water. I have tanned and almost burned under the bright sun and I have had drinks at a pool bar. It was the best time of my life.
I remember when the Celebrity Solstice sailed to Moorea. I had been drinking all night long the night and I only had an hour of sleep. Despite being sleep deprived, three of my friends and I walked to the only resort of the island. The island is so small that there are only a few resorts. The one that I went to I believe was called the Pearl Resort & Spa. I really am sorry if this name is a mistake. However, it was a 20 minute walk from the port where the cruise ships were all anchored. It was the longest walk I have taken due to the hangover and sleep deprivation.
However once we got to the resort, a friendly oiled man in a skirt that had a Hawaiian pattern on it welcomed us. He was shirtless, and to be honest, he looked like a wax figure due to all of the glistening his skin created. On his head was a crown of flowers. He was very nice. We asked him questions and he answered them politely. As a bonus for me, he spoke French, so I could practice my native language. He told us we could use the facilities of the resort because there weren’t too many paying guests (it was 7am after all). So, we toured the grounds of the resort. There were tiki huts everywhere. They were the expensive rooms of the resort.
There were little man-made pools with exotic fish like Dora, turtle sanctuaries, coral reefs, dolphin swimming pool and the greenest grass you will ever see. The number one problem was that almost all of the paths were paved with black cement. So, the sun beaming down on the cement made it uncomfortably hot. As I walked on the pavement barefoot, it burned my feet. I was the only one who couldn’t take the heat of the pavement. There was Ria and Joselito who were from the Philippines. Then there was Mart-Marie from South Africa. All of them have experienced extremely humid and hot temperatures.
I’m from Canada. The warmest temperature we have had is +30 degrees Celsius. I think it was more than 30 degree Celsius that day but I could bear it. The four of us jumped in the pool and bought tropical cocktails from the pool bar. Mart-Marie had an underwater camera. She had a Lumix TS4 and it was very good quality. The colours were saturated, the image was High Quality and it could take pictures under the water. PHOTOSHOOT TIME! We took pictures at the pool bar, at the edge of the pool, underwater, in front of the Polynesian statue and all around the resort. The edge of the pool towards the beach was a waterfall. The water of the pool spilled over and went back in the pool and back over the edge onto smooth black rocks.
You could rent jet skis, boats, surfboards, pontoon boats and other underwater sport gears. If you have seen my profile logo, then you have seen the edge of the dock with a roofed hut for sun blocking where jet skis are parked on my right and the beach is on my left. I walked down there with my friends and it was the most relaxing spot of the resort.
Now let’s imagine for just a minute that you are in Moorea. You sit on the edge of the dock, all you hear is the whistling of the tropical wind and the waves lightly crashing against the dock. You take a deep breath and smell the tropical odours of the palm trees, the salty ocean, the sand, the freshness of the air and even a hint of sunscreen (it is probably your own). You lift your head to stretch your neck and close your eyes. You feel the wind blowing through your hair, the sun beaming down onto your skin and the splash of the waves onto the dock over your legs. It is the best feeling. It is paradise.
Maybe I only spent 7 hours in Moorea (due to the fact that we had to travel to another scrumptious paradise), but it was the best 7 hours in my life. I felt so free and so lucky to have the opportunity to hang out in such a tropical paradise. If it wasn’t so expensive to go down there, I would recommend that everyone go. Just put your money aside or travel on a cruise ship, no? There is always a way.
Anyways, this is my first entry. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Comments and advice are always welcome.
Keep coming back for more of my amazing adventures around the world. Next week, I’ll write about French Polynesia and its islands: Tahiti, New Caledonia and Bora Bora.
Love you all,
Margot
P.S: here are some photos from Moorea! Enjoy!
P.P.S: Please no stealing of my photographs! All copyrights go to me: Margot Paul
Margot's Wanderlust 
