Well, Hey there!
The last time I wrote on my blog, I was at the bottom of the planet doing science in Antarctica. Well, now I am a wee bit closer to the Equator! I have just arrived on the beautiful island of Moorea in French Polynesia where I will be working for the next two weeks collecting samples for an experiment we have running here investigating the effects of over fishing and nutrient pollution on coral reefs. While my work in Antarctica was new for me, warm water coral reef research is more my bread-and-butter and I would love to share with you some of my experiences while I am here in this tropical paradise. Our workdays can be quite long when doing field work, but I will try my best to keep on top of the blog posts. I really hope you enjoy following along on this adventure!
Well we set of from Corvallis, Oregon at 4am on Saturday morning, and drove up to Portland Airport with all our bags filled with SCUBA gear and science equipment!
Our team, left to right: Athena, Becky, Me!
When we set off from Portland, the weather was a bit grim...
... but San Francisco offered us a bit of sunshine!
Our flight path was Portland to San Francisco, followed by and 8.5 hrs flight to Papeete (PPT), Tahiti. Then from Tahiti, we take a ferry to Moorea.
When you lad in Papeete, you are always welcomed with the beautiful sounds of live Tahitian music!
After clearing immigration, we piled into a taxi and headed for our hotel - the Con Tiki - which was absolutely stunning and in addition to curtains which automatically open/close for you (very fancy, right?), the room also had this amazing mural of a humpback whale!
As a marine biologist, it was hard to dislike this place...
The next morning, we crossed the road and headed for the ferry terminal.
The journey from Tahiti to Moorea takes about 35 minutes and offers some stunning views along the way.
The ferry arrives in the town of Vai'are and it is always a bit of a mad rush to pick up your bags and get out of the parking lot. Today's ferry was extra busy as it is a public holiday here in French Polynesia.
Next we drive North, and then West around the island to Gump Research Station, located in the beautiful Pao Pao Bay.
The dock at Gump is where we set up for our science every day and it has stunning views.
As do the bungalows where we stay on station.
The weather today was lovely. At lunchtime, it was 33°C/91.4°F and 65% humidity - a wee bit different from Antarctica!
Some of the locals came to spy on us as we enjoyed a cold beer.
After a long couple of days of travel, and a full day of unpacking and setting up the lab, we decided to go to the beach and enjoy the sunset. The water was lovely and warm :)
It feels great to be back in Moorea: this place really is a tropical paradise. After three months in Antarctica and three months of Oregon winter - my pasty Scottish skin is very ready for some sunshine. I am very excited to be back - this is my fourth trip to Moorea, and it just never gets old.
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