First full day in Tahiti - Wednesday, July 7th

This is what i wake up to every morning at 6 a.m.  The quality of the light at that hour is just right.  Across the water lies Mo'orea, which Alan and i are planning to visit the day after the eclipse.  Tahiti, Mo'orea and a few other islands in French Polynesia are the remains of long-extinct volcanoes.  The vast majority of islands are actually not islands, but atolls built up over millions of years by coral atop the sunken remains of eroded volcanoes.  Whereas the islands can rise to a couple of thousand meters, the atolls are typically just 2 meters above the water.




Alan and i decided to split on a vehicle so we would have the freedom and the means to go when we wanted.  Our first visit was to Pointe Venus, a jut of land upon which lies an unidentified and inadequately maintained marker, to signify Captain Cook's visit to these islands in 1769 to observe the transit of Venus.  It's a pity it is not better looked after, especially given that the transits of Venus are relatively rare events.  This next transit of Venus occurs June 8, 2012, and no doubt there will be many people observing from Pointe Venus where the transit will again be visible.

In the evening many of the Ring of Fire Expeditions (ROFE) folks attended Le Belvedere restaurant high of the Tahitian mountains at 600 metres.  The food was so-so, and at least two of us had some gooey stuff--like bird shit--fall from the ceilings.  I was hit in the back of the neck, but my prognosis is good.  The one good thing Le Belvedere had going for it was its great vantage point.  Here is the view from the restaurant looking west at sunset towards Mo'orea.