In the morning I was a bit grumpy, not feeling too well, but once we got to the boat for the lagoon tour, I felt better.

There were loads of people, French, Japanese and American mainly, piled on. The weather was beautiful, we were lucky again...

We set off and Siki, our guide, introduced himself and the rest of the crew. He was, as Keiron remarked later, a Polynesian version of Dutch soccer player Ruud Gullit, with a head full of dreadlocks and a moustache fit for a 'gendarme'. He spoke in juicy English, exotic French, and, apparently, hilarious Japanese because every time he said something all the Japanese girls started giggling (although they did that for most of the trip anyway). He actually made the necessity of translating quite entertaining, rather than the dull repetition it usually is.

Our first stop was to swim with sharks. I didn't go in as I felt a bit trepidatious about being in the same spot as a bunch of hungry meat eating fish, but you could see them pretty well from the boat. The people with their snorkels, holding onto a rope and in various states of excitement and panic were a sight to see in themselves.

The next stop was swimming with the stingrays and Siki fed them (not environmentally sound, I know. French Polynesia is still catching up on the eco trend) and they came flapping above the water. I got in and they are pretty amazing, up close and personal. I tried to stay away from their tails, although they only sting when you step on them or they get annoyed, but how did I know there wasn't a grumpy stingray among them? Their top is grey and silky, like wet smooth velvet, the bottom white with slits for mouth and gills.

The boat took off (to get the baguettes, we later learned) and Siki amused himself by hugging a Japanese girl and then feeding the stingray so that it would come flapping against her. She was screaming and giggling at the same time.

We stopped at a motu (little islet) and the crew started preparing our picnic. We looked at the fishes in the lagoon (no need to swim - there are loads just off the coast) and Siki showed us how to make 'poisson cru', raw fish with coconut, lemon and veggies. We had a brilliant meal and sat on the sand, enjoying the sun, the turquoise lagoon, the beautiful view of the islets...

We then dropped everybody at their hotel. Some people were staying in the Paul Gauguin cruise ship, which cruises around French Polynesia's different islands. Paul Gauguin is of course the famous painter who worked, lived and died in French Polynesia.

Siki also explained that Moorea means Yellow Lizzard, ie the little guys visiting us in the evening. We got another 'poulet roti' from our tattoed chicken master, which provided us with another lovely dinner.