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An unforgettable Journey
  • Semmy und Pascal
  • Semmy und Pascal

An unforgettable Journey

We are taking a sabbatical from October '22 until Mai '23 and will be travelling Southeast Asia. First destination of our Travels will be Bangkok, Thailand. We are looking forward to a transformative adventure. 😃
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  • Semmy und PascalAn unforgettable JourneyTraveler

    Sailing Cruise Day 1 - Shark encounters

    March 11, 2023 in French Polynesia ⋅ 🌬 28 °C

    Today we started our Catamaran Cruise from Ra’iatea Uturoa Marina with 12 other guests. Our group is a mix between French (4), Czech (6) and German (us 2). We are in a sense all neighbours in Europe as we figured out. The boat is a very nice and spacious Lagoon 620 Catamaran called “Dream of Raiatea”. It has 4 superior cabins (one of which is ours…yesss!), 2 standard cabins which are a little bit smaller and 2 sleeping chambers for the crew at the very front of the boat that are only accessible through a hatch from the foredeck. Our skipper “Homai” (30) and our hostess “Ranihai” (29) are both locals from Tahiti.

    They are both relatively young but very experienced already. Homai has been doing this job for 11 years straight and he knows the islands very well. We could tell that he’s made out of something different when we went for a snorkeling trip to the coral gardens of Motu Tautau. While everyone was struggling to walk over the sharp stones, shells and dead corals that had been washed ashore with their water shoes on- Homai was just going barefoot. I couldn’t even look at it. 😂

    The snorkeling experience was absolutely breathtaking. Crystal clear waters with hundreds of different fish in all different colours around us that were curiously checking out what the clumsy human beings were trying to achieve in their backyards. And there were beautiful corals with anemone and their respective fish living together in symbiosis. We couldn’t oversee the fact that quite a lot of coral were struggling though. Many were dead or had lost their colors in the already too warm waters. The effects of global warming can literally be seen everywhere. 🥵

    As soon as we get back on board Jan pulls out a bottle of Tahitian Rum and we all sit together to have a drink and watch the sun set. 🥃Dinner is served shortly after. Ranihai has prepared some breadfruit gratin with pork-pineapple-stew filled bell peppers. The food tastes delicious and goes well with the excellent local beer (Hinano blue). We have a good time together and are surrounded by friendly people. Life is good.    Read more

  • Semmy und PascalAn unforgettable JourneyTraveler

    Sailing Cruise Day 2 - Choppy Seas

    March 13, 2023, South Pacific Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Today we set sail from Taha’a to Bora Bora. In order to get there we had to cross a bit of open ocean for approximately 3h. As soon as we left the calm waters of Tahaa’s northern reef through the ship passage we see some big swells coming towards us. It’s incredible to see how the reefs shield the islands from the enormous power of the ocean. They act as barriers where the waves are continuously crashing but almost every time failing to get past into the shallow waters. This natural occurrence causes most beaches along the islands to be fairly calm as all the surf action is happening much further away. Even if it’s kilometers away, you can still hear the roaring of the crashing waves if the wind is blowing into the right direction.

    As we sail past the shielding reef the sea shows us that we are (again) in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Waves hit our catamaran from different angles and the ride is choppy for most of the time. After 30 minutes of up and down movements we start to miss the calm, shallow waters already. But Bora Bora is in sight the whole time and it helps to see your destination getting bigger and bigger on the horizon. We once again learn that sitting down or laying flat on your back can help against nausea. It prevents you however also from getting whatever you need out of your cabin (if you don’t want to risk throwing up on the way). 😂

    Luckily the waves had mercy on us and we reached paradise island Bora Bora at 11:15 am through the western passage south of Motu Ahuna. The sky immediately clears its clouds and we anchor in perfect sunshine weather a bit further south in shallow waters near Motu Tapu.

    Ranihai serves us incredibly delicious marinated fresh fish with rice and garlic.
    We spend the afternoon enjoying the beautiful reef snorkeling, kayaking and taking pictures. Time flies and everyone is having a good time together. After a couple of drinks language barriers fade away.

    At 15:30 we head clockwise around the island to our anchor spot for the night which we reach at 17:00. The Czechs open a bottle of Rum and we enjoy the sunset together. At 19:00 our Chef Ranihai serves us another restaurant like dish. Chicken-Champignons-Tagliatelle are on the menu. God are we blessed and sunburned!!

    The Czechs invite us to a round of a card game before we go to bed. What a wonderful day!!    Read more

  • Semmy und PascalAn unforgettable JourneyTraveler

    Sailing Cruise Day 3 - Bora Bora

    March 13, 2023 in French Polynesia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    We spend a wonderful sunny day in the Bora Bora Atoll and snorkeled in 4 different spots in shallow waters with hundreds of Fish, Mantas, Sting Ray, Eagle Rays, Reef Sharks and Moray eel. The variety of marine life was absolutely stunning and we really loved to be on the reef for several hours. It was literally one of the most memorable days of our lifes. 😌

    After many hours in the sun and in/on the water a sunburn was inevitable even though we had sunscreen on and wore a diving shirt. We were next level sunstroked. 😂

    Before dinner Homai drove us to a nice cocktail bar called “Bloody Mary” where we enjoyed the Happy Hour with Mojitos and Mai Tais. 🍹

    The End.    Read more

  • Semmy und PascalAn unforgettable JourneyTraveler

    Sailing Cruise Day 4 - Pearl Farm

    March 14, 2023 in French Polynesia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Today we got up around 7am as usual.
    After breakfast we sailed (motored) our way from Bora Bora to Ta’a for a swim and after that lunch. In the afternoon another highlight was supposed to take place. We were visiting a local pearl farm.
    Fun fact, most of us did not know that the pearls were harvested from oysters 🦪 and that so called ‚nucleus’ (a round shaped pearl made from a shell 🐚) is placed within the oysters so that the oyster is building up onto the nucleus with the manifold colours that Tahitian pearls usually have. You can see them with dark, blue, green, purple, golden colours. Some of them can be also white.
    After our short excursion we then headed towards the island of Raiatea for our overnight stay close to shore. Another fantastic day in paradise.    Read more

  • Semmy und PascalAn unforgettable JourneyTraveler

    Sailing Cruise Day5 - Paradise Island(s)

    March 15, 2023 in French Polynesia ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    In the morning we went to visit a Vanilla Plantage and the Marae de Taputapuatea on Raiatea. The timing was perfect because it was pouring down and lightning struck while we were inside so we didn’t really get wet and as soon as we went outside the sky started to clear. After our Lunch back on the boat we sailed from Uturoa northeast through the shared barrier reef to its sister island Taha’a again and anchored near Motu Mahaea where we went snorkeling 🤿 and relaxing on this beautifully preserved piece of (privately owned but accessible) land. 🏝️Read more

  • Semmy und PascalAn unforgettable JourneyTraveler

    Sailing Cruise Day 6 - Huahine

    March 16, 2023 in French Polynesia ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    4h sail from Taha’a to beautiful Huahine. The island owes its name to the silhouette of a pregnant woman lying on her back, drawn from the peaks of Mount Tavaiura. Huahine really is a breathtaking beauty. We could see her forehead, her face and the shapes of her belly clearly from the Marina of Fare which is the island’s capital.
    Huahine literally means "gender of a woman" but the locals translated it to “woman from the heart” to us which they said is the original ancient meaning.

    As soon as we arrived at Huahine we had Lunch on deck. Afterwards we took the dinghy to the Coral Garden just off Motu Vaiorea which was really nice. Homai explained to us that the coral reef looked much different when he was young and we couldn’t help but feel a little bit sad that this natural habitat for so many aquatic species was clearly in decline.

    After our snorkeling excursion we went to the nearby hotel “Le Mahana” for a round of cocktails by the beach. The location was lovely and the drinks were excellent.    Read more

  • Semmy und PascalAn unforgettable JourneyTraveler

    The Last Day at Sea

    March 17, 2023 in French Polynesia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We head a great morning tour around the island of Huahine and sailed back to Taha’a in the afternoon through heavy gusts and some rain but it wasn’t too bad. In the evening we had a wonderful Tahitian Dinner with our Crew and enjoyed a delicious buffet with music and dance. We even joined the dancers which was quite hilarious. So glad I can only upload one video here. 😂Read more

  • Semmy und PascalAn unforgettable JourneyTraveler

    Back to Paradise 🏝️

    March 18, 2023 in French Polynesia ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Today was a little turbulent. We sailed from Taha’a back to Raiatea whilst having a quick breakfast. After that it was time to pack our bags and off-board our beloved “Dream of Raiatea” catamaran at 8am sharp. We then said goodbye to everyone and took a taxi to the airport. Our flight took off at 11 am and we landed 15 minutes later on Bora Bora where we wanted to stay for 8 nights. Yes that’s right: 3 Islands, 1 flight, 2 boat rides (catamaran and airport shuttle to Vaitape) and a bus ride all in 5h! We felt a little shaky and we’re happy to spend the rest of the day at our new home the Royal Bora Bora where we relaxed in our hotel pool and private beach. Back to paradise!! ❤️ 🏝️Read more

  • Semmy und PascalAn unforgettable JourneyTraveler

    Meeting friends (again)

    March 20, 2023 in French Polynesia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    We took a kayak from our hotel beach to paddle to the “Aquarium” snorkeling spot where we had a really great time (even though the rental mask/snorkel where a bit dodgy).

    In the afternoon Semmy took a ukulele class in our hotel and is now officially hooked to get one (and learn to play it!) 💃🏽 🌺

    In the evening we met Petra again at Bloody Mary’s and had some cocktails together with her and her sailing crew. 🍹

    We finished the evening at the Lucky House with some delicious Mahi Mahi and Pizza. 😋    Read more

  • Semmy und PascalAn unforgettable JourneyTraveler

    Cycling around the Island

    March 20, 2023 in French Polynesia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    It’s Sunday and we’re ready to explore the island by bike. The round trip was 33km and we planned to have a stop somewhere in the middle to get some food and drinks for lunch. It turns out that Bora Bora is kind of locked down on a Sunday - literally all shops, restaurants, bars etc are closed. Even the petrol station was shut. This made our decision where to stop mich easier and we basically went all the way in one go. Fun fact: 1 km before our hotel there was a snack bar where we decided to have a beer and a lemonade. We only realized then that Semmy’s bicycle key 🔑 had been fallen off somewhere on the way. After going back for a couple of hundred meters we gave up the search and drove back to our hotel. Luckily the staff didn’t charge us. 😂Read more

  • Semmy und PascalAn unforgettable JourneyTraveler

    Fisherman’s Wharf & Pier 39

    March 28, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    The air is definitely colder here but besides that we appreciate the fact that it’s less muggy outside for a change. Wrapped in the only warm clothes we have we ride the cable car up and down San Francisco’s steep streets and walk around Fisherman’s Wharf down to the Piers until the clouds make way for some sunshine. 🌧️ ☀️

    We notice a very distinctive smell on the streets wherever we walk. It’s a delicate mix of filter coffee, ground cinnamon, pizza, burgers and various types of sweet and savory frying fats enriched with the usual weed fumes every now and then.

    We love to be back in America’s technology capital and are surprised by the first self driving cars that we can make out by their excessive camera fittings.

    After a scooter ride to Union square we head to the hotel bar for drinks. 🍻    Read more

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