"We left Bora-Bora 48 hours ago, and had two completely windless days. However, wind suddenly materialised an hour ago & it sounds from the forecast as though it will last to the Cook Islands 270 miles away. At the moment we have 17 knots, the sky is a brilliant blue, and we're tramping along at 8 knots. Heaven!
"The Society Islands were unbelievable, and we visited almost all of them: Tahiti - Moorea - Huahine - Raiatea - Bora-Bora. All of the are mountainous with breathtaking encircling reefs producing fantastic calm lagoons. I'm sorry about the hyperbole, but that's what they're like. The only rainy day was on Huahine on Sunday. We took the opportunity of going to the local Protestant lotu for the morning service, & we all agreed it was a genuinely moving experience. The amazing thing was the singing - all unaccompanied. A single voice would begin the melody, and this was then taken up by all the other voices in turn in the most wonderful close harmony. The congregation was divided into four, and each corner would take it in turn to initiate a hymn. Everything was conducted in Polynesian, and the only word we recognised in the whole one and a half hour service was Hallelujah. The whole thing was simply unforgettable
"We met up with a number of old friends on the radio net this morning - in particular Terry Patrice & Roar on Mango Tango, and look forward to seeing them in Raratonga in a couple of days.
"So all's well on Hygeia."