Papaetee

While in Papetee prior to coming home we had many meetings to gain consensus on the route the BPO would take for the rest of the round the world trip. We also attempted to accommodate those who wanted to spend longer in certain places. It was determined that we would spend longer in Australia to allow those who wanted to spend more time there the opportunity. The BPO will spend 3 months in & around Thailand out of the cyclone zone. This will allow for longer trips inland to Thailand or China or to New Zealand by air. From there the BPO will travel to Sri Lanka and then past Madagascar to South Africa and around the Cape. Then on to St. Helen and on to Brazil where they may do a trip part way up the Amazon. The BPO will then continue to the Caribbean. 

Along with the meetings we enjoyed being docked right in the centre of Papetee. We enjoyed the new park along the waterfront. We also enjoyed the baguettes & the French cheeses and the food and tourist trap open air markets with all their wares.  

The BPO boats had an official welcoming to Papetee  from the Port Authority. This was following a great talk on the Society Islands and dancing by local native dancers. We had a fabulous party afterwards where we were able to mingle with the local dancers and other cruisers who had joined the festivities. 

We also enjoyed the food trucks that were parked about half a kilometre from the marina. I was fortunate enough to visit with a group of 16 to 21 year olds who were part of a government program to help them identify opportunities for employment or entrepreneurial endeavours. Some of them were looking for material for puppet shows they would do for younger kids during their school break. We explained with Luc as interpreter what it was like to make the passages we had already made, how the BPO was helping to make the world aware of climate change and the activities we had done to help facilitate that. They also wanted to know what it's like to live on a boat. We also showed them the route we had take and the places we had seen. I showed them the rest of the planned route. That night I was on a plane back to Calgary.