The plane from Heathrow was near-as-damn-it on time. It was an Air New Zealand flight, with your own 'entertainment centre' and – unlike flights I've used recently – everything was included. Watched 3 movies during the 11+ hour flight: Jeff Bridges' Oscar-winning latest (sadly, he didn't get the girl); "It's Complicated" (ditto Alec Baldwin); and "Sherlock Holmes", which I'd seen on my Birthday, but it was fun to watch again – RDJ is always 'watchable'! Had two nice meals, and even got a G&T.
Got to LA, reclaimed my baggage (for about 5 minutes) and then wandered round to the Tom Bradley Terminal. Although I'd already got an Air New Zealand boarding card for the Tahiti flight, given to me at Heathrow, I had to 'check in' again and get an Air Tahiti Nui boarding card with the same information on it. It said that the Terminal had WiFi so, when I'd checked in, I went to find it. Unlike at other airports I've visited, all the shops and food are BEFORE you go through Security/Passport Control, and the WiFi zone was on the 1st floor, alongside all the eateries.
Sent a couple of emails – one to my girls (seeing as it was 5.30 in the morning UK-time, thought it best not to phone) – and then went to get through the barrier. Just like when I checked in, the queue was enormous – there were actually 2 separate ones, so I chose what seemed to be the shortest.
After Air New Zealand, Air Tahiti Nui wasn't half as good. Although we still had our own personal 'entertainment centre', you couldn't stop/start the movies when you wanted. There were several movies to choose from – and some music – but, if you missed the movie's start, there wasn't a 'rewind' button. Food wasn't as good either, and the closest they had to G&T was soft drinks. Listened to my i-Pod for most of the way but, just like on the Heathrow to LA flight, got a couple of hours' sleep – which might have helped with the time differences.
Got to Papeete (Tahiti) at approx 6 am their time – having 'lost' 3 hours from leaving LA. The Airport was basic, but it had a 'food court', a couple of gift shops, a bank (where I changed 100 Euros for some Pacific Francs), a McDonald's (sigh) and an internet cafe. There wasn't a WiFi signal in the Airport, so I had to wait until 8 am for the internet cafe to open. When it did, I spent an hour (and 1,000 Pacific Francs) online – using my laptop rather than one of the cafe's computers. No news from Asolare – apparently, Peter sent an update email about 2 hours after I went offline – but I was able to check her position, found out that Ocean Jasper and Crazy Horse were in Rangiroa's Kia Ora anchorage (and Lady Ev VI was on her way), and also send my girls an update email - this time, in the UK, it was 'almost bedtime'.
Had a 5-hour wait in Papeete until my 'puddle jump' to Rangiroa. Bought myself a t-shirt, sent Lynne a postcard (as requested) of a Tahiti sunset, and then went into the Departure Lounge (using that term in its widest sense), positioning myself under a ceiling fan. (The Air Tahiti Nui pilot had told us that, at 6 am, it was 26 degrees ... and it only got hotter!)
Air Tahiti - a small plane
I knew the Air Tahiti plane was going to be small – I suppose it could have been smaller. When I actually got on board (the embarkation is no more than 15 minutes before takeoff), I noticed that there were 2 rows of 2 seats ... and most of the seats were full. After saying that, the plane did have 3 stops – Rangiroa being the second one – so quite a few people got on/off at the different places.
When we reached Rangiroa (5 minutes early), everyone had to disembark, as the plane needed to refuel. I went into the Airport building (again, using the term in its widest sense) and hung around for a few minutes – Peter had said that, if he wasn't at the Airport, he'd be at the Kia Ora which was (allegedly) a stone's throw away. There were a couple of people sitting in the building, and I asked them which direction the Kia Ora was in – the road outside went right or left, and I didn't want to head in the wrong direction. I was told that the Kia Ora was closed, and they asked if I wanted to stay in their Pension (guest house). I explained that I knew about the Kia Ora's closure, but still needed to get there. Under duress, they pointed me in the right direction ...
I needed to turn left out of the Airport, and headed down the road with my laptop bag on my back, pulling my suitcase behind me (must have looked quite a sight!). As mentioned, Peter had said that the Kia Ora and the town it was based in were very close to the Airport (HAH!). When my feet started hurting, I decided he'd got it a bit wrong! Thankfully, a taxi-driving "knight in shining metal" came to my rescue – I was a "damsel in distress" twice in as many hours – and asked where I needed to get to. I gave the town name (Tiputa), and also mentioned the Kia Ora. Again, I was told it was closed (bless). The taxi driver, who had his grand (or maybe great grand) daughter with him, took me to the town's dock. I saw quite a few yachts in the anchorage, but Asolare wasn't one of them – or at least I didn't think she was. The taxi driver suggested that I take a water taxi round the boats, but I wasn't keen on that idea. Just off the beach, there was a cafe/bar full of people, so I went in and asked if there were any World ARC crews there – I was met with a mass of blank faces, so guessed that the answer was "No".
We'd passed the Kia Ora, and I'd noticed a sign that said something like "Closed for refurbishment". However, I asked the taxi driver to take me to the Kia Ora's dock – or as close to as he could get – so that I could get a better look at the yachts in the anchorage. I could see he wasn't happy, so let him drop me (and my luggage) off near the Kia Ora's main building, and I walked out onto the dock.
Thank goodness for World ARC flags – I saw two, and guessed that they must be Ocean Jasper and Crazy Horse. There was a dinghy tied up at the end of the dock, with an outboard motor, so I wandered back towards some noise (sounded like someone was cutting the grass or using a strimmer) in the hope that whoever owned the dinghy could give me a lift to one of the WARC boats. I saw a couple of people in the Kia Ora's main 'structure' (can't call it a building), and went to ask for their help.
Having explained my situation – just flown in from Heathrow, meeting my friend in the Kia Ora anchorage, was hoping to get to one of the yachts etc – they were (putting it mildly) unhelpful. The main gist of their part of the conversation was that I was on private property, they were shut, and they wanted me (and my friend) gone. I asked about the dinghy, and was told that its owner was too busy. They asked what Channel my friend would be using. Surprisingly enough, this wasn't something that had come up in conversation, as I was expecting to be able to get in touch by email or text/phone. Unfortunately, although there were 2 mobile networks available when I reached French Polynesia, both were 'forbidden', with a 'no entry' sign on their details. Also, because my phone was asking me to select a (forbidden) network, I wasn't able to get into my list of phone numbers (or my photos, for that matter) so, even if the Kia Ora people had let me borrow their phone, I didn't have Peter's number to-hand. "Oh dear!"
The conversation ended abruptly when the Kia Ora man (cannot call him a gentleman) basically said that they were going back to work, and I should 'go away'. So there I was, with no Asolare, 2 very unhelpful Kia Ora people, and no idea what to do next ...
Thankfully ("damsel in distress" #2), when I walked back onto the dock, I noticed that Crazy Horse's and Ocean Jasper's dinghies were on their way back to the yachts – apparently, they'd been snorkelling together in 'the cut' (the entrance to Rangiroa's atoll). Using the foghorn that Mum passed down to me, I started shouting "World ARC yacht, hello!". Apparently, by the time the noise reached them, it just sounded like "Help!", but it had the desired effect, and what turned out to be Ocean Jasper's dinghy came towards the dock.
Two people were on board – Jim (Ocean Jasper's owner) and Maggie (one of his crew). I asked which yacht they were from, and explained my predicament. They asked if I'd like to come onboard while they got in touch with Asolare, and I (think I) said "Yes please". Part-way back to Ocean Jasper, the heavens opened, and we all got very wet very quickly. Thankfully, although my copy of "Yachting World" got damp around the edges, the important stuff in my laptop bag came out unscathed – who cares about clothes (?); they'll dry!
Got onto the Ocean Jasper, at which point the rain stopped (sigh). When I was safely onboard, Jim got Peter on the radio – I now know which channel the World ARC fleet use to get in touch with each other. Apparently, he'd seen the storm that we'd been drenched by, and had decided to hold back, so expected to be in the anchorage in about 90 minutes.
Ocean Jasper has 2 couples on it – Jim and Ana (the owner and his partner) and Bob and Maggie (a couple of their friends, who are also 'a couple'). They asked if I wanted to change my (wet through) clothes, but I decided to stay as I was, and to have a shower when I got onto Asolare. They were all very busy doing stuff below decks, and apologised for the fact that they couldn't "sit and chat". I was just pleased to be off Kia Ora's property, and away from Pixie & Dixie!
Almost exactly on time, we saw Asolare coming into the anchorage. She didn't 'park' too close, so I had another ride in Ocean Jasper's dinghy, this time with Bob and Maggie. Got welcomed aboard with a kiss from Peter and a "Hello" from Clare and Mark. I'd met Clare in Las Palmas, but hadn't met Mark before. Bob and Maggie stopped for a drink and a chat, and then made their excuses – "So much to do; so little time" – and left. After that, it was time for a shower and a much needed change of clothes ... into something cooler and drier! Didn't check my watch, but I think it was approximately 3.30 pm Monday Tahiti time (2.30 am Tuesday UK time). From setting off from Heathrow at 4.15 pm on the Sunday afternoon, it had taken me 34 hours to get to Asolare (or 39 hours if you counted from when we left Tracy's at just after 11.15 am). WHAT A JOURNEY!
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