DAY 13. MOOREA.
The following day, the ship berthed at Moorea. It was so beautiful, Genevieve thought, it was almost a cliché. Framed by dazzling white sand and rocks, the water of Cook’s Bay was cobalt clear blue. She read that the barrier reef encircling the island had been referred to by Charles Darwin as ‘a picture in a frame.’ Locals from surrounding communes sold shells, sarongs, hats, and food, and rented out snorkelling equipment and canoes. Tender boats ferried passengers backward and forward from the ship. Passengers from the Australis Star descended on the island and walked along its sandy, coconut-tree-fringed paths. They swam and sunbathed, children squabbled over sandcastles, locals took boatloads of tourists to snorkelling spots, and some attempted the hiking trails in the
