Mauruuru Tahiti

Our final day in French Polynesia gave us the chance for one final adventure, and we took it. Rather than stay in paradise for one more day of sun, sand, clear blue water, and the hotel food, we decided instead to hop on the first flight *back* to Papeete. Now this was definitely a “non-recommended” move, even from back when we booked the trip when the travel agent told me I’d want to stay in Bora Bora as long as possible. He was right – sort of… it’s not like we wanted to leave, but we hadn’t experienced any of the island of Tahiti, and we had heard so many good things about it. And once a year, the pro surfing tour stops there for one of their dozen major events… the Billabong Pro Teahupoo, which just happen to start on May 8th. So we hopped on the early plane, touched down in Papeete around 10am, and rented a car in search of the big waves of Teahupoo. Unfortunately for us (and for Andy Irons, Kelly Slater, etc…) the waves were the smallest they’ve been in awhile, so the start of the tournament was pushed back. All’s we got for our 90 minute excursion to the peninsula of Tahiti Iti was a pretty cool idea of what big wave surfing in Tahiti might be like had Mother Nature cooperated.

However, the trip wasn’t a waste just because the pro surfers were catching zzz’s and buzzes instead of 10 footers. True to our semi-adventurous honeymoon mindset, we took a trip around the rest of the island. Tahiti itself, outside of the urban-ness of Papeete, is a beautiful South Pacific island with lots to offer independent of its more noteworthy sister islands. After a long trip around the island where the beautiful turns in the road overlooking the ocean seemed to outnumber the guard rails on these winding roads, we found a small place overlooking the water and Moorea just outside of Papeete. We chowed down on lunch, and then got back in the car and headed away from Papeete, looking for an overlook that existed on the tourist map but was impossible to locate on three different trips past the region it should have been.

Since we still had plenty of time, we decided that we’d check out the waterfalls that we had heard about. After driving for a couple of miles on a small dirt road, we reached the parking lot and the path towards the three different falls. All of the sudden, the beach paradise we’ve known for the last week and a half turned into a tropical rainforest of sorts. The trail to the three different falls was covered with a natural canopy of tropical foliage, overhanging trees, and shadows of the nearby mountains. The world here was 10-15 degrees cooler than just down the dusty road, and the hot sandy air replaced by a cool mountain breeze. We hiked down mossy rocks and across semi-overgrown trails to the first waterfall, a tiny sliver out of the side of the mountain, then doubled back to go to the twin waterfalls down the other fork in the path. The cool mountain water was crisp and refreshing, especially considering that it was, well, FREE and ABUNDANT, something that in the resorts would cost us $4 for a medium bottle, yet here we could down all the cold, clear refreshing mountain water we wanted. To be honest, it tasted better than anything we could buy, either in Tahiti or at home. The twin waterfalls were beautiful, and although the temptation was there, T.J. (mostly) minded the “No Swimming” signs and only went in knee-deep.

After heading back to the car, we cruised around the northeast side of the island, watching the sun go down and the surf. Since we’d been walking and sitting in a hot car all day, a final dip in the Pacific Ocean seemed like a fitting way to cap our trip. We stopped at one of the black sand beaches, which at first just seemed like a dirty beach unlike those chalky white beaches in Bora Bora. However, once we got on the beach, the sand was a tannish-black (think the color of Guinness as it goes from the head into the rest of the glass) and very fine and comfortable. We went for our last swim, and T.J. finally got a chance to catch some body surfing waves, as this was the first break that wasn’t hundreds of yards out. A game of cards on the beach brought us to the brink of our last sunset, and we packed up the rental car and headed towards our lunch destination, which had a small outdoor shower we could use to rinse off (and when you’re flying at 10pm on Friday from Tahiti and arriving at midnight on Saturday night in Fort Lauderdale, you DEFINETELY want to rinse off). We stopped at an overlook and watched the sun sink into the clouds (despite the amazing colors in the sky, the sun rarely sets on a clear horizon in French Polynesia, according to the locals), then headed for our ghetto shower.

Rinsed off and changed, we reluctantly drove back into town, found the Faaa Airport, and returned our car, knowing that turning in those keys really marked the end of an amazing journey we could never forget, not that we’d want to. Sitting in the airport lounge (thank GOD for business class) playing cards and trying to get an internet connection to send an email home and check the Flyers score, the dawn of heading-back-to-reality slowly started to sink in, although not before we took liberal advantage of the lounge’s free alcohol. As we watched our plane taxi in – right at eye level, barely 50 feet in front of us – we both couldn’t help but think this was the end of a truly incredible 16 days that started when the first out of town relatives trickled into Fort Lauderdale. As sad as it was to go – and it was REALLY sad, bringing Jen to “But I don’t *want* to go!” tears multiple times – we both knew that it was simply the final step through the door that separated our lives as “Jen” and “T.J.” from our life together as “Jen and T.J.” And as hard as it is to leave paradise, it’s equally as comforting to know that when the plane touches down in FLL International some 24 hours (by the clock) later, we’d be starting another journey, together, that would be just as incredible, beautiful, and amazing as the best place we’d ever been. And the best place we’ll be back to, one day. “Muruuru” (thank you in Tahitian) for the memories, French Polynesia, we’ll see you again someday.