Landed in Tahiti!

Landed in Tahiti!
Friday, August 3
We arrived in Papeete at 8 pm Tahiti time last evening. I have lost track of what that is on the Eastern Daylight clock. It was a smooth and uneventful flight from LA on Air Tahiti Nui. Little turbulence, adequate food and relatively clear skies for most of the way. The sunset from the aircraft was absolutely spectacular!! The sky turned vivid red and orange as the sun sank quickly (that's what happens at the equator) below the distant horizon. The most amazing part of the journey for me was that with clear skies throughout most of our 8 1/2 hour flight, I was able to see the waters of the Pacific far below us. The Pacific is surely an enormous body of water ...... and we did not see a single speck of land over all those miles.
Beni, from our hotel, Hotel Suisse, picked us up at the airport and whisked us quickly along the dark streets of Papeete to our waiting Australian friends. The streets transformed from wide thoroughfares, to narrow residential streets to a tiny dark alleyway that took us steeply up to the hotel courtyard. Susan and David were standing at the rail awaiting our arrival. From the hotel terrace they had actually watched our plane come in and knew that we were close at hand.
A lovely cup of tea, made in the hotel community kitchen, and 2 local beers were the beverages that accompanied a lively conversation of catching up and moving forward. In the words of Sue, "It feels like we just saw you yesterday." We are blessed to have such good friends!
This morning, the sky is clear, the sun is bright and the day is taking shape with a good plan. The vegetation around our hotel is lush and green .... and tropical. Palm trees abound! Jim has run an errand and soon I will go for a walk. Then, off we go on the next phase of our adventure!