Day four of our Polynesian cruise, and today the Wind Spirit was docked off the island of Taha’a, another one of the Society Islands. But a view of Taha’a a few hundred metres off the starboard bow of the ship was as close as we got to the island as no tender service was being offered.
Instead, the tender crew were taking passengers across to Mahaea, a nearby motu, for a day of desert island paradise!
When we arrived at the motu, it was clear the ship’s crew had had a very busy morning. The island was decked out with sun loungers, beach umbrellas, beach games, kayaks and paddle boards, a shop selling sun cream and insect repellent and a full bar!
After a brief walk around the motu (very brief, in fact – it couldn’t have been more than 50 metres from one side of the island to the other), we spent a few moments figuring out which direction the sun was moving, and picked two sun loungers offering some morning sunshine and a shady afternoon. We’d brought our Kindles with us, and spent the morning lounging by the water. At some point, this began to feel just a little too self-indulgent, so we climbed into a kayak and pretended to exert ourselves with a short paddle out on the crystal clear (and very shallow) waters.
At one o’clock, a barbecue lunch was served, including fish tacos and the most amazing mango sorbet!
After lunch, Kit challenged me to a game of Cornhole. With a target of 50 points agreed, the game was on. Ten or so ends later, the score was 47 to me and 44 to Kit, so the next end would almost certainly be the last. After three of our four throws made, the score was 50-50, and – with the pressure on – Kit took the win when his final bag landed in the 3-point zone while mine sailed wide.
Before we headed back to the Wind Spirit, we had a final swim in the ocean. The sun had been beating down on our tropical paradise all day long, and although the water was anything but cold, it was a very refreshing end to a very relaxing day.
