Day 3 - Sunday 7 January 2024

Awake early again as expected, and up at 02:15 when it became apparent I wasn't going to be getting any more sleep ...... but then is was about midday back home so that's not surprising. Breakfast opened at 06.30, so I left the room at just after 6.00 to have an explore of the site; there are numerous stunning flowers in the gardens here, and numerous bugs that like to bite as well.

As I was wandering I turned round, and the backdrop of mountains was quite magnificent. What was particularly noticeable was the strength of the sun just a half hour after sunrise; I'm only 17 degrees south of the equator here, so I need to be really careful about that. There is a nice pool, but absolutely no shade near it, so lounging in the sun all day with my northern hemisphere winter complexion doesn't seem to be a good idea (update - 15 minutes was long enough to overdo it in the pool!).

Breakfast was reassuringly familiar with a very French vibe but more than a little expensive; I guess that's partly to do with just how isolated French Polynesia is, sitting in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. In fact the French-ness of the place has been a bit unexpected, which perhaps it shouldn't have been given it's a semi-autonomous territory of France. So much feels like France; the road signs, the primary language, the food ..... in fact it feels a bit like the French equivalent of Barbados which is often described as very British and feels like a tropical home away from home to me.

The plan for today; after two long days of travel just lie back and do nothing, especially with everything here being closed because it's a Sunday. So that's what I've done. I finished the trilogy I was reading, and have done very little else; it's allowed me to unwind after all of the nervous excitement about setting off, and then two days of travel covering over 9000 miles. I reached 16.00 before the first stifled yawn; I hope I sleep in a bit later tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow should be a bit more adventurous with a 4WD excursion booked to explore the island, so hopefully it'll be a bit more exciting to report on than a day spent reading.