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.

A Scuba and Spa Day As Our Finale

Today we got up and ate another great breakfast to fill us up for the 2 dives we had this morning. There was an AMAZING rainbow early in the morning. At 8am, the dive boat arrived for us and we were off. Our first dive began with Jen doing a few more exercises, then Jen, TJ, the instructor and one other guy were off to explore the water. We saw a few black tip sharks and some much larger sharks, maybe 7 feet long, with yellow bellies. We also saw a morea eel, clams and a ton of other fish I can’t remember the names. On our second dive, we saw a school of eagle rays (bigger than this guy), TJ saw another shark, a flounder, scorpion fish, sea anomeas and much more. It was awesome – and best of all after the second dive, Jen was Open Water certified! We then were dropped back off at the hotel and had a quick lunch and headed to the spa for some R & R. Our spa appointments were at 4:20, but we showed up at 2pm to take advantage of the other spa activities and amenities.

We started our spa journey in our private spa suite that was a mini Jacuzzi with 2 lounge chairs and an umbrella, high on the hill of our Motu with spectacular views of mainland Bora Bora and it was private behind brick walls. Next we went into the steam room where we got nice and steamed up, then TJ took a dip in the “cold plunge” – the water was probably like 50 degrees. Jen thought he was crazy. Next we headed over to the tired leg massage trail which was a long skinny pool that you walked through and there were tons of jets spraying our legs in an incredible massage. Then we went into the spa pool where you could set a current to go and you could swim as if you were in a much larger pool – basically swimming in place. We quickly realized that we were way too relaxed to swim against the strong current, so we turned it off and made it a regular Jacuzzi and chilled for a few minutes. Somehow TJ talked Jen into going back into the steam room and then to jump into the “cold plunge.” It was very invigorating! Next we hit the rain showers and that was really cool. Finally, we were totally relaxed and headed to the tea lounge to have a cup of tea and wait for the massuses to come get us for our couples massage. A man and woman arrived, the man grabbed Jen (much to TJ’s delight), the woman grabbed TJ and we were off. Our massage room was amazing – the floors had holes in the ground where we could stare at reefs and fish swimming all around under us. Our massages were 90 minutes long and were just incredible.

We got home and were able to quickly shower up and we headed to the mainland Bora Bora to have dinner at Villa Mahana. Villa Mahana was a small, eclectic restaurant that had only 9 tables, 7 tables in the main parlor and 2 private tables in other areas of the villa. The food was absolutely incredible, the best food we ate on the island for sure. We both ordered different menus that were set and offered 3 or 4 different dishes so we were able to try some of everything. Food ranged from sashimi tuna salad, shrimp & caviar salad, banana encrusted mahi, gnocchi & tenderloin, lobster risotto, sorbet, and for dessert, chocolate sauce cake and bananas and ice cream. It was SO good! Then we headed home for our final night on Bora Bora. It was a fabulous day and a great way to end our stay in bora bora.

Dive Tests at Sunset

Today we got up and ate another great breakfast, then headed to the front desk to ask our buddy, Pierre, if it was worth the time given up on Bora Bora to head over to Papeetee earlier so we can try to catch some of the Billabong International Surf Competition. Pierre told us that the atmosphere was awesome and that we should definitely go check it out. He said that we would have to rent a car then drive about 45 minutes to the other side of the island. From there, we would take a water taxi over to the reef and that is where everyone hangs out all day and waits for the surfers to surf. Sounded great to us, so we changed our plane tickets from leaving Bora Bora at 5pm to leaving at 8:15am – early, but we think it will be a great time to experience, though we are taking a chance because if the waves are small, there will be no surfing. Next, we headed to our room to relax on the deck of the bungalow as Jen prepared for her dive at 2pm.

At 2pm, the dive boat arrived to pick us up and we were off. This was supposed to be for Jen’s final instructional dive to receive her Open Water certification. Once we were out in the water, the dive instructor began talking to Jen and told her that she was not going to receive the Open Water certification since she still had to take several tests and a final exam that would take several hours. Jen was not having that after spending so much time on our honeymoon studying for this certification. After much going back and forth and the instructors speaking French fast and furious, Jen got a different dive instructor who said that if Jen agreed to take the tests for chapters 4 and 5 (10 questions each) and a 50 question final exam, she would be certified after two more open water dives tomorrow (which TJ could also participate in). (As an aside, the instructor said this seldom happened because no one wants to study and take tests while they are on vacation – imagine that). Anyway, the instructional dive was quick and painless and Jen passed as flying colors as TJ sat on the boat taking pictures – especially of Jen’s first attempt at a backward fall entry into the water off the side of the boat. Jen saw a few cool fish but they only stayed in the water long enough for the exercises, so nothing too exciting.

Tonight was our only night that we scheduled time to see a sunset on Bora Bora. Since the sun set on the other side of Bora Bora opposite of the motu our hotel was on, it was more difficult to catch an actual sunseting into the water than it was in Moorea. As Jen was taking her various exams, TJ was assisting by drinking many cocktails at happy hour. As it became obvious that Jen would not finish reviewing her test with the instructor before sunset, her instructor suggested that she come with us to the beach (not far from the hotel we were at) for the sunset.

So TJ, Jen and the dive instructor head to the beach for a romantic sunset and some instructional dive theory. (by the way, Jen passed with an 82 on the test!) it was actually helpful to have the instructor there so she could take some pictures of us at the sunset. After the sunset and Jen finished reviewing her test, the instructor left and Jen and TJ enjoyed the rest of the bottle of wine at the beach. We then walked a few blocks down the beach to have dinner at Café Matira Beach for dinner, which was delicious! Jen had John Dorry filet (no TJ, it is not a steak) and TJ had lobster risotto. We also split the lemon souflee topped with raspberry which was delicious! We then headed back to the hotel for a good night sleep since our dives started at 8am tomorrow morning!

A Lazy Day In Tahiti Beats A Good Day At Work

Today was probably our first real “nothing to do” day since we got here – every other day has either involved travel or some sort of organized activity. It was nice to just relax and enjoy where we are. We woke up, got breakfast, and then hung out on our deck for a few hours, reading and playing cards – Jen seems to be getting very lucky at 500 Rummy in French Polynesia. We also decided that today would be a good day to enjoy having a few day drinks – “Tuesday FunDay” in Jen’s terms. We’ve been so busy that we really actually haven’t drank a lot out here, so to mix up a few vodka and island fruit juice (the REALLY good local fruit juice) helped put both of us in good spirits by lunch. Jen had “hours” of studying to do to finish up her scuba stuff – we found out that she’d have to finish her dives here to be able to go anywhere that had a good dive, so she’s doing her final technical dive tomorrow afternoon and then we both do two dives on Thursday morning. So she had to spend 90 minutes after winning at cards reading the last chapter and a half and figuring out dive charts, while sipping a vodka and fruit juice on the balcony of the overwater bungalow in the Bora Bora lagoon. Tough day… ::Jen butting in:: it was actually about 3 hours of studying – but I can’t complain that much! :)

After swimming in the lagoon and taking pictures of ourselves in the water and from the see-through coffee table in our bungalow (and T.J. using the 2nd level railing as a high dive), we wandered over to the pool to get a bite to eat and lounge over there. It was nice to just relax all day. Went to the happy hour and got a couple of drinks, then headed back here to get ready for dinner at the St. Regis.

The boat from the St. Regis picked us up at 8pm, and it was a great ride – we were in a very nicely done pontoon boat, that let us watch the stars as we headed to the St. Regis. The place was beautiful – even though we only saw a little bit of it, everything was five star. We had a drink at a table that was on a porch next to the concrete dock/footer and then moved to our table for dinner, which was the only table between our first table and the water. It was a great sight – the water was lit right there, and the fish were swimming all over the place. The food was REALLY good – we had lamb and grouper, and both were prepared and seasoned outstanding. Jean George or whoever the guy is really knows what he’s doing.

Peddlin' Around Bora Bora

Our first full day on the island of Bora Bora!!! We woke up and just enjoyed the view from the bedroom window out to the water, the bungalows, the boats, and the mountains in the background as the sun was coming up. It is quite an amazing site. We got to go to the breakfast buffet (luckily, it’s included in our package here) and it was pretty good – similar to the IC Moorea but a step up to be sure. We came back and went for a swim around the bungalow, then got dressed and went on another exploration trip. We hopped on the IC’s ferry to the mainland early, and by 10:30 we had two OLD beach cruiser bikes with baskets on the handles – the neat-looking dune buggy was our first option but it was expensive and we think sold out, so we just opted for good ol’ pedal power – which actually turned out to be a lot easier and nicer than even we thought.

We stopped at a couple of black pearl places – they are nice, but certainly not cheap! We made the trip into the main town to check out the shops and then doubled back – it wasn’t a very far trip, about 10 miles round trip, and we stopped to check out the scenery quite a few times, which helped to break it up. The island is as amazing as Moorea – it seems a little nicer, more cleaned up, and not as populated. There were shacks up here and there, but even they looked pretty decent and reminded T.J. of cheap shore house rentals. The beach and the water were, like usual, amazing. At the end of the one harbor just before we reached the main village of Vaitape, the water got muddier and it wasn’t nearly as nice, but for the most part it was crystal clear water and white sand. The town itself was more or less a tourist trap that had a few local stores. We got a few little things, and a couple of bottles of wine and a couple of loaves of bread (which will go great with the cheese we stole from the breakfast buffet) for the week, and headed back the way we came. We stopped at several dive places to see if we could get Jen a deeper dive than the original place was offering, but we just had really bad timing and everything was closed or had just left for a dive when we got there.

We stopped at “Bloody Mary’s”, an American-ish bar that was pretty cool. We had heard mixed reviews about the place, and probably should have spent more time there, cause it seemed like a place that would be right up our alley. Overpriced for sure and touristy, but then again, what’s not here. The atmosphere was really cool – they had a “shoe check” because the ground was all sand. There was a cool tiki-type bar and lots of tables in the restaurant with an overall island tiki theme. Jen went to the bathroom and told TJ how cool it was, so he went in to check the mens room which was equally as fun. The sinks were actually mini waterfalls and the bathrooms were eclectically decorated. We debated eating at Bloody Mary’s, but both of us agreed we wanted something more “authentic” than burgers and wings. After a few drinks, we got back on the bikes and found the one pearl farm on Bora Bora island, and took the 15 minute tour to see how the pearls were cultivated. Then TJ bought Jen her wedding present from the pearl shop. :)

Back on the bikes, the place we wanted to stop for lunch was, of course, closed when we got there, so we ended up finding some little shack on a public beach and had a decent meal there. It started raining while we were eating, so that helped to cool the air a bit but kept us off the bikes for an extra 20 minutes. Once we got on the bikes and got moving, we were pretty surprised to discover the IC Moana was right around the corner from where we were. So we returned the bikes, and had about 40 minutes to wait for the next water taxi. We got some towels and then headed for the pool at the IC Moana, a neat little two-level thing that had a small waterfall and a sand lower level. It was nice to lounge a bit after going going going all day long.

We got back to the Thalasso at happy hour time, but opted to skip it to hang out at the bungalow. We opened a bottle of wine and saw a semi-sunset over the mountain. After another fun swim in the water, we got dressed in hopes of getting to the St. Regis for dinner, but we ended up being too late to make reservations for tonight (of course!). We settled for the casual restaurant here over the Polynesian dinner luau, and had a decent meal (even if the best thing was the sashimi/tuna tartar app). It was a good first day exploring, and now we have a great idea of what the rest of the week will look like: scuba, St. Regis, a sunset, and slouching for a day. :)

...And Hello Bora Bora

Time to travel!! We got up early and finished packing; T.J. also snuck down to the beach and out to one of the remote bungalows to toss in a couple of “message in a bottle” wine bottles, with a stamped envelope asking whomever found it to mail it to us with who they were, when they found it, etc… Here’s hoping the bottles get caught up in a current that takes them someplace far, and doesn’t just push them back to shore. We were up early yet again, and pretty much packed and ready to go by 7am or so. We tried using our last little bit of internet time to send out the summary email but it wasn’t going through, and we decided to just wait until we got to Bora Bora (note: somehow though the nhl.com web page got refreshed with the Flyers scores, although T.J. didn’t see this until late Sunday afternoon… bring on the Penguins/Rangers!!) We headed to the airport and got there with plenty of time to spare (for once) so settled into a little game of 500 Rummy. The airport isn’t exactly what you would call “modern”, we have the pictures to prove it.

Once we got on and got airborne we had a quick stop to make in Huanine before heading to Bora Bora. We’re actually glad we got to stop there, even if we didn’t make it off the plane, as it was one of the places we wanted to go as a third island. It looked beautiful from the air, and was bigger than we had anticipated. Our next trip I guess… We finally get back up in the air and were only airborne for maybe 15 minutes before we started to descend to Bora Bora. We got a pretty good view of the island and the surround motus (our hotel is on a motu) on the way in, and yea, it was as amazing as people had described. The airport itself is pretty cool – it’s on a mutu also, so once “inside” you get your bags and then you hop on a boat to wherever your hotel or destination is. Baggage claim is about 10 feet away from crystal blue water… pretty cool.

We got on the Intercontinental’s boat and headed through the lagoon for a 15 minute trip to the IC Thelasso, passing the Four Seasons, the St. Regis, and the Meredian on the way, all with amazing overwater bungalows. Checking in was pretty much a breeze; we had paid for the “Ambassador’s club” which got you a free upgrade, so we went from the basic OW bungalow to their middle-level ones that had a view of the lagoon and island of Bora Bora instead of a beach/lagoon view. Considering we got upgraded at both IC hotels, it was a great $150 to spend. The room wasn’t quite ready yet, so we hit the casual restaurant for some lunch and a drink. After lounging at the pool (another amazing view) for about 5 minutes, they came and picked us up and brought us to our room. The staff here has been exceptional; everyone has been beyond friendly and helpful and they/the entire place has that extra special touch of the little things done right. When we walked into the room (well, “room” is a misnomer, since the bungalow is 1,000 sq. ft.) we were both amazed at… the entire package. The rooms were fantastic, huge, with spa-type showers, walk in closets, modern amenities, and a huge king bed that had a plate glass window at its foot overlooking the entire lagoon and island of Bora Bora. There was a big deck (which got plenty of shade!!) and then a SECOND lower deck that let you into the lagoon. T.J. has already scoped out the best places to high dive from… :) The entire setup is first class all the way, and the little things really do make a difference. The A/C isn’t fuel-generated – it comes from 40 degree seawater they pump in from 900 ft. (or meters) deep. The A/C turns off if you open up the windows. There’s a clear glass coffee table that lets you see right into the water below the bungalow. It’s just amazing.

We finally got to go for a swim, which was needed since we’d been traveling in the tropical warmth all day. Jen got her first-ever “get thrown in” by T.J., and it was a little easier to take than getting tossed in the Somers Point Bay (which will happen at some point too…) :) The water here is a little more cloudy than it was in Moorea, possibly b/c the bottom is all sand and doesn’t have the amount of coral that Moorea had, and maybe because there is a decent amount of boat traffic on the lagoon that moves the water and the sand below it. It’s still an unreal shade of aqua blue, and although the snorkeling isn’t as good as Moorea, it’s great to hop in and swim around. We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon, getting stuff unpacked, reading, and taking lots of pictures of the scenery. It was tough to leave the room, but we heard there was a happy hour special at the South Beach-ish bar here at the hotel called Bubbles, so *of course* we had to check that out. Turns out their specialty drinks are 2 for 1 for an hour, so something tells me that wasn’t our last trip to Bubbles.

To get from the IC to the main island, there’s a water taxi that runs, for the most part, every hour back and forth from the two IC hotels. After a slight schedule misread, we were able to get it over to the other IC property (the Moana) and then walked about 10 minutes to Le Bounty, which was recommended by several people. It was a neat little place (not on the water though) that served up some good mahi for T.J. and veal for Jen. The food was very good and reasonably priced. We had time to kill so we decided to stop at a little beachfront place for dessert and some wine. (the name is escaping us right now) Jen had coconut crème brulee that was REALLY good, and we shared another bottle of wine before calling it a night and heading back to the Moana for the boat ride home. When we got back the staff had turned down our bed, left a little muffin for us, and put a picture of us from when we first arrived on our pillow. Another great little touch. We opened the windows and sliding doors and let the breeze come through and then hit the pillows hard. A great first day in paradise, part II.