DAY 31-AT SEA FRENCH POLYNESIA

 Our position this morning at 7:45 am.  It was already 85 degrees outside with 60% humidity.  The ocean so far last night and today has been smoothest ride yet since we have been in the Pacific Ocean.  We will arrive in the French Polynesian island of Rangiroa tomorrow morning at 8:00 am.

Medical Update:
       You probably think a photo of our suite phone is a strange way to start off today.  Before I put yesterday's Nuka Hiva photos on the blog I should give you an update on Rebecca's condition.  She has had a stopped up head with a big problem breathing most of this cruise and it has NOT been getting better, but in fact, worse.  We believe it to be a sinus condition as she has had sinus issues several times this past year.  She has been to see the ship's doctor three times, yesterday being the last.  Unfortunately, the first couple of times the treatment was basically over-the-counter meds. Yesterday, the doctor gave her a steroid shot and a 7 day steroid pill regiment starting with 7 pills the first day and one less each day until gone (7 days).  Well, last night at 11:30 Rebecca could not breathe at all through her nose.  She became very upset and kind of panicked.  If you click on the photo to make it larger you will see the top button is "Emergency".  I told her to get dressed and pushed it.  The night person at the Reception Desk answered right away.  He said he would have to call someone and I would get a call back in 5 minutes.  Good thing she was not having a heart attack. I assume it was a Reception supervisor who finally called back (not doctor or nurse).  By this time Rebecca had been upright and she could breathe again.  I told them we would be ok now.  Well, I laid there awake until about 1:30 making sure she was breathing ok.  After finally falling asleep, at 2:30 am she had another attack and was only able to breathe by using nose spray every half hour to hour the rest of the night.  So neither of us slept much and I also have a stuffy nose which was not allowing me to sleep.  We both do better when up walking around.  The doctor told her she may have to send her to a specialist on one of the ports if this steroid treatment does not work.  Really do not want to do that.  So now you are up to date on us.  

NUKA HIVA PHOTOS:

 Some early morning photos of the village, Taihoae, where we are anchored in a small bay, taken from the ship.

                    Jamie, our cruise director, checking out the island from ship.

                                        Taken from ship with telephoto.

                     The reddish tree in center of photo is an African violet tree.

                                         Small waterfall in center.

                                   Tender arriving at small dock on island.

 Our guide later explained that the drum was the ONLY instrument that was played on the island in early days.

 Yes, there were things being sold to us tourists.  Our guide later told us that only a third of the people on the island are employed.  They all work for the island government and its operation.  So the other 2000 people just live off the land.

                      Three of the four "Destination Services" (excursion people).

 Some of the local people's SUVs that would be used for the tour today.  We were told they would be old and with no air conditioning but they were all mostly late models and had A/C.  That was a pleasant surprise as it was very warm in the afternoon.  My tour started at 2:00 pm.

Of course Rebecca did not go on the tour so I shared a vehicle with our friends, Melody & David Hermann.

 First stop was the Taihoae view point.  Great views of the bay where our ship was.

This was our guide.  There were probably 10 vehicles in our group and he was the only guide for all of us when we stopped at places of interest.  He was VERY good and knew the island and its history. He said he had been living on the island for 20 years.

This is the truck that Melody, David, and I were in.  Christain was our driver and spoke French and knew very little English.  Luckily, David knew some French.

 This is Taipivai view point.  It was a nice secluded bay in the Taipivai Valley.  This is where the Typee indigenous people lived that were in Herman Milville's novel.  They were cannibalistic.

             At bottom right of cove is where "Survivor" episode was filmed.

 I gave these two young girls a small bag of M&M's candy and they both replied with a "merci" (thank you in French).  I was very impressed!

This is a tiki, momument the ancients used to worship.  This place was built in 2011 to show tourists how the Typee people lived.

                                          Locals with fruits for us.

 This river flowed from mountain.  Fresh water supply for the people now.  The guide said there were eels the size of his thigh in the river which the locals would eat.  He said people on the other islands would not eat eels.

                            This is replica of a Typee typical house in early times.

                    Our guide with a bread fruit.  This was a staple food back then.

                         This is Hooumi Beach where Survivor was filmed.

WHAT WE DID LAST EVENING:
       I was trying to get my laptop working and with the help of the ship's internet guru, I finally got it online.  But as I said it was cocktail time.  We had a couple drinks up in the Galileo Lounge before dining in Compass Rose.  Our waiter was one of the twins from India.  Shambu was outstanding and probably most professional we have ever had.  He use to deliver some of our breakfasts from room service and loves my candy.  So I ran to the room and got him a handful of mini candy bars.  Afterwards we went to the show.  This was Mark Newsome's second show and it was very good.  He is an excellent singer and talented comedian.

WHAT'S ON TAP FOR TODAY:
       This is SUPER BOWL SUNDAY on the ship.  It will be shown on the big screen in the theater with the kickoff time here in the Pacific at 1:30 pm.  They will be serving all kinds of Super Bowl type foods and drinks.  We will definitely be routing for the Falcons.
       In case you wonder how much time I spend on the blog posts.  I started downloading photos and writing today's at 7:45 am and it is now 10 am.
       We are now going up to the steam room for about 10 minutes as the doctor recommended it for our heads.  I hope tonight is much better than last night.  I did not proof read this so hope there is not errors.