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French Polynesia
  • Will Hess

French Polynesia

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  • Inicio da viagem
    21 de julho de 2022
    Will HessFrench PolynesiaViajante

    Sleeping and Hiking

    22 de julho de 2022, Polinésia Francesa ⋅ 🌙 77 °F

    After 26 hours of driving, flying, and general travel nonsense, we made it to Tahiti. Quite a long journey, but even I managed to sleep a little bit at LAX and on the flight across the ocean. It was a somewhat stressful 20m drive to the Hotel near Māhina, and after check-in we crashed pretty hard. We had a few blissful hours of sleep, before... Roosters? Many, many roosters -- all very excited to announce that the sun was rising (though they got a little ahead of themselves).

    We had an omelette, some pastries, and coffee to shake off the sleep and began to plan the day. Since the morning looked clear of rain, we planned a hike to stretch the legs after being confined with minimal leg room for a significant part of the prior day. We got the necessary permit from a local government office and drove out to Fautaua Valley to begin the trek. After 2 easy miles, we reached the fork and had to choose the challenging, or very challenging trail. Up for the challenge, we elected for the latter.

    The hike was challenging, but not dangerous. We didn't trust the estimated times (we were moving much faster), and we made good progress switch backing up the hill. The view waterfall popped out unexpectedly, and evoked matching "wow"s from us. We continued on to reach the end of the trail, and then started the descent. As we did, the skies opened up, and after a few minutes we ceased all attempts to keep any parts dry and accepted that we were soaked. Still, it was a warm walk through the lush tropic landscape, and just meant we needed to be a little more sure of our steps as we navigated the rocky/root-y trail. It was just over 3 hours of hiking, and our glutes/knees were ready to be done.

    Once we made it back to the car, we drove back into town to secure some lunch at the market. Simple sandwiches, a smoothie (Laura), and a beer (moi). We were ready for a nap.

    Nap time commenced, and we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in the ocean and lounging on the black sand beach.

    A quick drink at the hotel restaurant (they were having an electronic rave, a little dissonance there given the venue), and off to dinner at a little place called 'Kozy'.

    My navigation skills fell short as we missed our exit and had to backtrack. While searching for parking, we ended up on a particularly strange road where Laura was convinced that we were on the wrong side, and initiated a correction to vault over the median (nevermind the oncoming truck in the lane that she merged us over into). I did my best to be a calm, if terrified, passenger. Eventually we managed to park, and went into the super cute restaurant. Laura had the fish, I had the boeuf.    Leia mais

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  • Will HessFrench PolynesiaViajante

    Low key Huahine Arrival

    23 de julho de 2022, Polinésia Francesa ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    In Laura's research, she identified that some of the other islands would resonate with us more than Tahiti, so we decided we'd only really have it be a stopover -- we used yesterday to adjust our sleep schedule, enjoy a hike and a good dinner, and then prepared to head off to the next island.

    We woke up today, had another light breakfast, and made use of the hotel gym (only upper body, our legs are still feeling it from the hike) before it was time for another harrowing drive to the airport. Laura's stick-driving ability paid off, as the island seemed determined to throw scooters, fast-merging busses, and pedestrians directly into our path while we tried to navigate the complicated sharp turns and hills to return the rental car. There were no incidents, but some few expletives. I focused on exuding a nonplussed demeanor while trying to divine the actual route from the combination of what Google maps suggested versus the reality of actual road layout (all the while recalling our wrong-way debacle from last night).

    After a small struggle returning the rental car, we headed through security and poked at our phones while we waited for our plane to arrive and board.

    It was a short, 40-minute flight on the propeller plane with some pretty cool views, just enough time to sip the complementary ananas juice, and we landed in Huahine. The resort had a van waiting, and whisked us off to our garden bungalow. We went across the street to 'Izzy's' for a hamburger and some beers with some locals for a quick bite of lunch.

    I was hot as hell, so we cranked the A/C and unpacked. While I took a short nap, Laura went on a scouting mission to get the lay of the resort and find the beach. When I woke up, we put our suits and hit the water. My facial hair thwarted my attempts at snorkeling, but Laura went at it with gusto and reported back all the funny fishies she saw swimming in the super clear and warm water. We spent a fair amount of time lounging on the beach and swimming around until the sun started to set.

    Back to the bungalow to read on the patio, shower, and then head to the resort restaurant for some dinner. We both had glasses of rosé and the lagoon fish (hers with coconut, mine sans -- anaphylactic shock on a remote island is probably a poor life decision). The highlight of the dinner was the digestif -- a snifter of 'Mirabelle' -- a strong French plum brandy that was delightful and made us think fondly of our best golden doggy.    Leia mais

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  • Will HessFrench PolynesiaViajante

    A triathalon of sorts

    24 de julho de 2022, Polinésia Francesa ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    While this resort does have a few roosters, they did not seem determined to assert their dominance throughout the night, and we both slept well. We enjoyed a buffet style breakfast, but honestly I would have paid the full fare simply for the two cups of strong coffee. It rained for just a minute, which was enough to produce a rainbow that we took as a good omen for the day to come. The weather forecast called for rain all day, but we decided not to believe it and booked a bicycle rental to see what this island had to offer. I raked a razor over my face for about 20m in hopes that it would allow a more secure snorkel mask fit and it was time to head out.

    The first stop was the grocery store to stock up on some water, pack a lunch, and secure a bottle of wine for later. We dropped off the wine in the room minibar and headed out around the island.

    Our first stop was Maeva ("Welcome") Marea Complex, housing the Fare Poree ("Oval House"), a reconstruction of a traditional Tahitian meeting house, now a small museum on the lake. We read the history of the island and its people, and checked out the artifacts before backtracking a little bit to reach the Matairea Hill hike trailhead.

    It was an easy hike, though it branched off regularly enough to have us doubting our choices as to whether or not we were going the correct way. along the way we encountered our first Marea (temples) that had been overtaken by a massive tree. Either by our magnificent wayfinding or sheer dumb luck, we made all the correct choices and popped out at another Marea with a great view of the island. Satisfied, we wound our way back to the main road and continued biking to the Jardin de Corail.

    We stashed our bikes and donned our snorkeling gear. By this point we were both sweaty and ready for a swim, and it didn't disappoint. My baby's-bottom-smooth face did in fact prevent water from flooding my mask, so we both got to enjoy the coral and many aquatic creatures. There was a strong tide at points, but we exercised appropriate care and had a blast snorkeling for a while.

    Feeling refreshed, we threw our towel down and snarfed some prosciutto and toast along with some fruit (and plenty more water). Refueled, we biked along the outer part of the island back to the hotel and beyond to see some sailboats in another bay before calling it and enjoying some downtime and a glass or two of wine. It was a smart call, as the skies opened up just a little while later.

    We prepared for dinner, and more importantly, the 10m walk to dinner. Laura donned the rain jacket, and we made use of the bungalow's umbrella, but still arrived somewhat damp due to the ongoing monsoon. We both had tuna tartar and some great swordfish (Laura's again with coconut, mine with green pepper sauce), before making the journey back -- somehow it was raining even harder. We had to dodge a few crabs on the walk back (no joke), but all in all counted it another great day.    Leia mais

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  • Will HessFrench PolynesiaViajante

    🛵 Scooter Day 🛵

    25 de julho de 2022, Polinésia Francesa ⋅ 🌧 77 °F

    We took our time getting out of bed this morning (guess who was feeling a bit lazy). After having some instant coffee and a light breakfast of misc stuff we had picked up from the grocery store yesterday, we decided to once again ignore the very rainy weather forecast and see if we could rent a scooter to tour some other parts of the island. Unfortunately, the line at the Eurocar around the corner was 6 families deep, and didn't bode well for availability. We didn't want to wait around, so we abandoned the line and instead went down to the beach for a bit.

    The surf was good, and we body surfed for a little while until it started to die down. Emboldened, we grabbed the paddles for a 2-seat kayak and struck out into the ocean. We paddled around for about 10m before the waves picked up again, and we started to get sucked out to sea. We both started questioning our life choices as we battled our way back to shore with moderate effort. Riding a respectable wave to shore, we slid back on to the beach while oozing a sort of "that was all according to plan" aura. While returning the paddles, the hotel staff was less than thrilled that we helped ourselves to the kayak, as they were not renting them out due to the rough conditions (maybe don't leave all the gear laying around!)

    It was time to seek our next thrill, so we went back to the Eurocar and found they did indeed have one small scooter remaining! We snagged it, Laura hopped on the back, and we zipped off. I'd describe our initial acceleration much like our kayak landing. Uncertain, a little wobbly, but surprisingly without catastrophe.

    Since we had only had a light breakfast (and not at all because we couldn't find the damn trailhead) we decided to skip hiking and instead go see some scenic lookouts and points of attraction dotted across the island. The first stop was the sacred blue eyes eels, found in a culvert alongside the road. They. Were. MASSIVE, and not at all like the moray eel I saw yesterday sticking his head out of some coral. Super cool, if somewhat unsettling.

    Next stop was the Huahine pearl farm, a quick motor boat ride east onto a floating hut. They sold black pearls and pottery, but the highlight was the overview of how they encourage the oysters to make the pearls (we were the only ones who spoke English instead of French, so we got a private explanation).

    Finally, we wound our way up the mountain road to overlook the island, and then put the scooter's brakes to the test as we descended the long 30-40° grade road back towards town to secure some simple lunch again from the grocery store.

    We waited until 2pm for the nearby micro distillery to open, where we sampled some phenomenal rums and liqueurs. Laura's favorite was the coconut-vanilla, mine the vanilla or the chestnut. We purchased two bottles as our first souvenirs of the trip.

    Satisfied we had experienced some of the high points Huahine had to offer us, we returned the scooter and spend the afternoon with a nap and some more time reading/swimming at the beach before dinner.

    We ate again at the resort restaurant. Laura tried the coconut-marinated fish, and I had chicken stuffed with chorizo and prawns... Plus some more mirabelle.    Leia mais

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  • Will HessFrench PolynesiaViajante

    Mount Tapo

    26 de julho de 2022, Polinésia Francesa ⋅ 🌧 77 °F

    We had most of the day to spend before it was time to say goodbye to Huahine, but started our morning packing back up and preparing for our flight out in the late afternoon.

    After a quick rain dance, we set out to find the trailhead for the Mount Tapo hike we had missed two days back. We had read a French website that indicated the trail is a sacred journey, and marked with a barricade, which we recalled as we biked past it and dismissed it as the hiking trail previously. It did rain lightly on the 5km walk to the trail, but not enough to dissuade us.

    Taking the "entry forbidden" sign as more of a suggestion, we made our way up the switchback until we reached a cell tower. Squeezing through the small square opening, we found the second leg of the trail that marked a significant spike in difficulty. The next 0.4 miles had us scrambling up rocks, and focused on keeping our balance lest we answer the question of "can I achieve terminal velocity starting at this height?"

    We did manage to reach the summit, and took a few moments to catch our breath and chug more water. Due to the light rain and thick foliage, our shoes and socks were mostly soaked, which made the descent even more challenging than the ascent. We were very thankful for the many trees along the path offering handholds as we made our way down, and the slip events were minimal (though we both had muddy butts from our efforts). All in all, the climb down was less scary than we expected, but we'd definitely categorize that hike as "advanced".

    Unfortunately, we still had to hike the 5km back, and there was nothing to do but get to it. By the time we arrived back in town, we were ready for some hamburgers and beers at Izzy's, followed by a dip in the ocean to wash off the mud and sweat. The sun had come back out, so we relaxed on the beach until it was time to catch our flight to Bora-Bora. A quick 20m flight, and we're there. If the island of Huahine felt a little spartan, Bora-Bora (or 'BOB' as the airport is affectionately named) is anything but.

    A speedboat whisked us off to the resort where we were greeted with sweet tea and oiled towels at check in. The hotel staff gave us a tour of the resort by golf cart, ending at our bungalow. They opened the door for the grand reveal... and the power was out. Our concierge was mortified, but we got a chuckle out of it. While they resolved the issue, we enjoyed the bottle of champagne they had waiting for us on our bungalow dock and watched the sun go down until it was time for dinner at 'The Reef' here at the resort.

    Laura had some well-cooked squid, and I had a bowl of magnificent shrimp risotto. Before turning in, housekeeping dropped in, but we found our door entirely stuck shut. Laura and the housekeeper both had a laughing fit at the absurdity of the situation, and all my prior jokes about needing to swim to shore or another guest's bungalow got a second life. Maintenance resolved the issue, and we went to bed entertained and excited for tomorrow.    Leia mais

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  • Will HessFrench PolynesiaViajante

    Paradise would be the right word

    27 de julho de 2022, Polinésia Francesa ⋅ ⛅ 79 °F

    Bungalow debacles resolved, we slept great, partly due to the strenuous day, mostly due to the excellent bed's crisp sheets and down comforter. The buffet breakfast had tons of options, and after a quick stop at the hotel gym, we knew it was time to cannonball off the deck and swim around a bit in the lagoon.

    We slathered on sunscreen and hit the beach for some watersports. We made use of the paddle boards, kayak, and our snorkel masks. There were tons of fishies in the coral garden.

    Appetites stoked by the physical exertion, we tried 'The Sands' for lunch. We had matching orders, beer and poke bowls... Maybe all the honeymoon couples are rubbing off on us.

    After a quick nap, it was time for the main excursion of the day -- the Jetski island tour! We opted for the group Jetski tour to save a few hundred dollars, but fortune was with us as we were the only ones who had signed up. The other guests must be amateurs and actually believe the rainy forecasts.

    Our guide gave us a crash course on operating instructions, and assured us that we'd have opportunities to stop and give my throttle finger a rest. Apparently a lot of guests cramp up or just get fatigued, but three decades of PlayStation found me well conditioned to the task. Our guide knew the meaning of speed, so we largely just tried to keep up with him while trying to blink the salt water out of our eyes. After our first stop, the remaining legs were less intense and we had a blast. The final stop included a 'Coconut Show' -- a demonstration of how to peel and open a coconut, along with the opportunity to eat it fresh. Luckily they had grapefruit and papaya for me, all of which was quite tasty. We hit some waves on the ride back, and I almost lost Laura after a speed change, but though there was much sliding and tight gripping, neither of us were flung off. We had great fun.

    We went back to swim around our bungalow to kill time before some cocktails at happy hour. After putting back a few, we rediscovered that neither of us are particularly talented billiards players. I blame the alcohol. It was a great way to pass some time until our dinner reservation.    Leia mais

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  • Will HessFrench PolynesiaViajante
    Amuse-Bouche
    OctopusMango 3 Ways

    Dinner @ Le corail

    27 de julho de 2022, Polinésia Francesa ⋅ ⛅ 77 °F

    Special dinner post! We ate at the resort gastronomic restaurant.

    Laura ordered ala carte, and I went big and had the tasting menu with the paired wine option. Everything was magnificent, especially the wines.Leia mais

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  • Will HessFrench PolynesiaViajante

    Bora Bora Dive Day

    28 de julho de 2022, Polinésia Francesa ⋅ ⛅ 79 °F

    Though we had a fair number of drinks yesterday, we made sure not to overdo it so as to not feel crummy for the main event of the day: Laura's scuba dive. After the wine pairing last night I was a little worried, but two cups of coffee had me feeling right as rain.

    Laura was feeling a bit nervous, so I had a big breakfast while she nibbled on hers, and we set off to the dock to catch the boat out to the first dive location. Laura donned her gear, and along with the dive master and 4 other divers, took the giant stride to plunge into the South Pacific. They were under water for about 45 minutes, and upon surfacing Laura excitedly reported seeing giant Manta Rays and a Sea Turtle 🐢!

    Once all the divers were back in the boat, we motored to the second dive spot to see black tip sharks 🦈. About half way we saw the telltale sign of whales -- several sprays of mist rising 🐳. Sure enough, moments later a few whales surfaced, tails and all. It was fantastic luck; the dive crew reported they were the first of the season.

    Laura and the gang made their second descent, and immediately saw dozens of sharks. One got right up in her face 😨 before swimming off. She also saw two octopi 🐙, and of course, many many fishies 🐠. Her favorite was the trigger fish, an aggressive little guy who chased off anything that came too close to his turf. While Laura was diving, I whale-watched, snorkeled, and generally worked on my sunburn.

    Once we made it back to the resort, we ate more fish for lunch and had a good nap. We read and spent a little time at the gym before catching our taxi (a boat) to take us to the main island for dinner. We had a cocktail and watched the sun go down at the sister-resort, and then got picked up by the restaurant taxi (van) to whisk us off to our second fancy dinner of the trip.    Leia mais

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  • Will HessFrench PolynesiaViajante
    Courtyard. Chef behind the window.
    Seafood Salad with CaviarSeared TunaFoie Gras PateBanana Mahi Mahi1Lobster RisottoBoeuf & GnocciChocolate Lava Cake & Vanilla Ice Cream

    Dinner @ La Villa Mahana

    28 de julho de 2022, Polinésia Francesa ⋅ 🌙 77 °F

    Special dinner post #2!

    Our taxi took us a few kilometers down the road and turned off onto an unmarked driveway, passing by several houses, and stopped in front of La Villa Mahana. The receptionist ushered us into the courtyard, and subsequently to one of the five tables in the house. The place had so much charm.

    The dinner crew consisted of several waitresses and the single chef working in the kitchen.

    Laura ordered Seared Tuna and Mahi-Mahi on top of banana+mashed potatoes, and the portions were extremely generous.

    I, once again, went big and did the french tasting prix fixe and wine pairing. Everything was delicious (and massive) -- we needed to be rolled back into the taxi/boat/golf carts back to our room at the end of the night.    Leia mais

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  • Will HessFrench PolynesiaViajante
    Love birds
    1Hinano Draft LagerFrom a legit pizza ovenMile 1Mile 15Mile 18Much needed dip

    Bora Bora Bike Loop

    29 de julho de 2022, Polinésia Francesa ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    After what has felt like a pretty packed set of days, we treated ourselves to a lazy morning. We slept in past 7am and used the time zone delta with Caty to our advantage to hear how her summer in Italy has been going. Laura announced that she would be eating pancakes for breakfast, so we ate our fill at the breakfast buffet (crepes with house-made hazelnut spread for Laura, a mound o' bacon for me). After the concierge informed us there were no more bicycles available for rent on the main island, we spent the rest of the morning at the bungalow, the main excitement being my mild electrocution via a frayed hair dryer cord.

    Fully charged up, we decided to boat-taxi to the main island anyway for lunch and to see if anyone had returned bikes. We had lunch at a bar called "The Lucky House" -- Pizza, a Fish burger, and a shared Hinano Lager. We found the shop up the road did indeed have 6 bikes to choose from, so hopes were high, and we secured a rental.

    We subsequently discovered the bikes were all single speed. We settled on picking the bikes that weighed about 75-coconuts, but whose brakes were not permanently engaged. Upon mounting our trusty iron horses and kicking off, we soon we're enlightened to the fact that they had a maximum speed of 10.5mph, and my bike's chain would make an escape attempt at any bump of consequence. Thus began our leisure cruise around the island. Still, other than one steep climb and a few gusts of strong wind, we had a good ride, though we were both feeling saddle sore and about done with biking by the end of the ~20m loop.

    We dropped the bikes, suited up, and spent an hour by the ocean to kill time until our boat arrived to take us back to the resort. We made it back in time to sneak in a happy hour drink order, and then took much needed showers before dinner. Dinner at the resort was an Indian buffet, paired with a superb bottle of we-definitely-earned-this wine. Dinner also featured a tahitian dance show, topped off with a digestif.    Leia mais

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  • Will HessFrench PolynesiaViajante
    Proud of her for not falling in
    "Lunch"Doing my best to embarrass LauraApproaching Moorea on the ferryBungalow Pool!Happy hour

    Travel Day: Bora Bora -> Moorea

    30 de julho de 2022, Polinésia Francesa ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    This morning was our last in Bora Bora, so we took our time having breakfast and coffee, working out, packing up, and getting some expenses comped by the resort.

    We hit the iconic swing, and made sure to hit the other side of the resort to see the ocean proper before it was time to take the boat back to the airport. It was an idyllic way to get one last look at the beautiful lagoon and majestic island mountains, though we made sure to keep one eye on our bag that they were insistent on placing precariously on the back of the boat (conjuring visions of hitting a wave and watching it sink to the bottom of the lagoon).

    Our route necessitated a stop at the Tahiti airport, and after landing we took a taxi over to the port to catch a ferry. So, travel by land, sea, and air today. The ferry was slightly delayed, but otherwise travel was without incident.

    We arrived and checked into our Garden Bungalow (complete with a small pool!) and strolled rthe resort grounds while we waited for happy hour to arrive. We were both famished since our lunch consisted of measly croissant and light beer, so we were really just waiting for the bar to open so we could have some chicken wings. They were subpar, and possibly the best thing I've ever eaten.

    Having had some solid food, we retired to our bungalow pool to drink some complementary champagne and await our opportunity to eat something more substantial.

    We decided to eat at the resort, since they had a fire show and it meant not having to do any more traveling.    Leia mais

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  • Will HessFrench PolynesiaViajante
    Laura can't fathom how I didn't see the door
    Laura, hoping an ATV would spare her the rest of the ascentHard to beat the views in French PolynesiaTuna TacosLobster RisottoLaura's seared tunaBoozy

    Pushing our bodies to their limits

    31 de julho de 2022, Polinésia Francesa ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    Laura almost always wakes up before I do. Today was no exception, and she kindly shut the glass doors separating the living room from the bedroom to minimize noise so I could sleep in while she made an espresso. I awoke, bleary-eyed and still partially in a fugue-state, saw my beautiful wife sitting on the couch, started to walk towards her, and promptly left a body/face print on the glass door I had failed to spot. The moment sponsored several spontaneous laughing fits for Laura throughout the day.

    After taking a moment to collect myself (Laura was doing the same in an entirely different fashion) I mustered up the remainder of my dignity and we made our way to breakfast. Over coffee and yogurt, we decided to give bicycle rental another shot and to hit a hike or two. Recalling our shoddy bikes from Bora Bora, we asked the activities desk staff to inquire if the bikes were capable ("and I cannot stress this enough") of shifting gears. Assured that they came with the particular feature, we went back to our room to pack backpacks with sunscreen, suits, towels, and lots of water.

    We were thrilled to see the bikes were legit mountain bikes, capable of 29 gear combinations. We clambered on and took off ready for the day's adventures. We quickly learned that the bikes were not in fact perfect. My bike indeed did have many gear settings, but my derailer was intent on going above and beyond by having me experience their half states and sudden, unrequested changes. Laura's bike's rear-reflector was a-dangle, causing it to rub against her thighs as she peddled. We did our best not to let these quirks impede our journey, and after ~20m we reached the base of our hike -- "La Route Du Manoï". We stashed our bikes in the parking lot, and began walking our way up the winding incline.

    It was at about this point that Laura remarked at how active we had been throughout our vacation... "You can really feel the compounding exertion starting to take its toll..."

    The situation deteriorated from there.

    The next 2 miles were peppered with huffs, pouts, and an angry glare or comment directed at the many scooters, ebikes, and ATVs that roared by us. We ultimately reached the summit, and paused to rest and down some water before making the descent. When we reached the bikes again, we took a rocky road towards a grove of pineapple trees, but abandoned that plan quickly as Laura's bike seat continued to attack her.

    We decided to switch bikes, which immediately rectified that issue for Laura, bonus points in that it was much kinder to me. This gave Laura a second wind, and we continued the relatively flat journey further around the island. After a while, we began to value the prospect of lunch more than the prospect of developing more saddle sore, and turned around to return to the resort. That was smart move, as we both were running out of gas at the 17 mile mark that signaled the end of the trip. We dipped in our bungalow pools and then put back some chicken sandwiches at the resort grill.

    Laura took a nice big nap to recover, and then we went out into the lagoon to do some snorkeling and make use of the remaining daylight. The snorkeling was quite good, we were surprised by the amount of coral and number/variety of fish just below the surface. Laura was also treated to a show, when I inadvertently triggered a Trigger Fish 🐠, and it rammed itself into me three times to drive me off. I finally turned around after the second to see what was touching me, and was startled to see the little guy hurtling himself at my foot. Mask flooding with water, I scrambled away, expending the sole shred of dignity I had leftover from my glass-door incident.

    I consoled myself with a happy hour margarita while we watched the sunset and waited until it was time for our taxi ride to dinner at Moorea Beach Cafe.

    Dinner was lovely; a beach side restaurant called Moorea Beach Cafe. Our table was 5 feet from the water, and we could hear the fish splashing and see the spotlights of boats on the water. We split a trio of tuna tacos that were most excellent. Laura had seared tuna with a soy glaze, while I had a half lobster over risotto. For dessert, Laura indulged in some ice cream, while I had a Cognac.    Leia mais

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  • Will HessFrench PolynesiaViajante
    20x easier than our earlier canoe misadventure
    Tuna Carpaccio"Tahiti Drink" (Premade Maitai)Fruits de merStuffed ParrotfishSmoked salmon pasta

    🛵 Moorea Scooter Day 🛵

    1 de agosto de 2022, Polinésia Francesa ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    We both slept in until around 7, and then had french toast, yogurt, fruit, and coffee to kick the day off.

    We decided to keep the lower body exertion to a minimum today, so we landed on another scooter day as the activity du jour. The rental wasn't available until noon, so we went to the gym for a bit to do some upper body exercises, and then spent another hour canoeing around the lagoon (no turtles 🐢 spotted).

    We loaded up the backpack with water, snorkels, and towels, and went to pick up our scooter. This scooter was slightly larger than the last, and was equipped with two storage compartments that made life much easier for both of us. The rental dude asked if I'd ever operated a scooter before, and I assured him I was an absolute pro. Laura clambered on with me, and feeling his gaze, it was time for takeoff. We took off with only a slight wobble, so I'll call that a win.

    Our first stop was to secure lunch. At the recommendation of the concierge, we decided to hit a food truck that apparently was quite well regarded in the area, which was evident by the line when we arrived. Bonus points for being super affordable, we both had BBQ and veggies, and also some fresh tuna carpaccio that was simply divine. It took a good while to get our food and settle the tab, so we were eager to get back on the bike and drive the ~30m to the Plage des Tipainers. It's worth noting the bike had a top speed of around 45km/hr with both of us and our full tummies to haul around.

    The view of the mountains and bays along the way made it an enjoyable ride, but we were ready to jump in and see some aquatic life when we arrived. I kept a wary eye on all the trigger fish 🐠 I spotted during our swim. There were no further incidents, but one was definitely ready to go on the offensive after I accidentally snuck up on his lair.

    After drying off, we hopped back on the scooter to continue the journey, and after driving another 10 minutes realized that we probably need to turn around if we wanted to hit our final attraction before it would be time to return our bike. We zoomed on back at our leisurely pace, and pulled into the parking lot of Manutea Tahiti - Rotui Juice Factory & Distillery.

    The factory offered fresh squeezed juice tastings, along with some pours of their various spirits. They had pre-made maitais, coconut and ginger based liquors, and rhums for us to sample (the rhum was stroooong but heavenly), and gave us some juice chasers -- pineapple and mixed tropical. I decided to buy a bottle of the rhum as our second souvenir of the trip. The pours were very modest so we were able to resume our journey to refill the gas and return the bike at the resort immediately.

    We had some downtime to swim in our pool, read, and shower before it was time to be picked up for dinner at Rudy's Restaurant. We continued out theme of eating as much seafood as possible. We started with fruits de mer, Laura had a smoked salmon pasta with cream sauce, and I had parrotfish stuffed with shrimp. Dessert was a pineapple and papaya fruit tart (and a Cognac, of course). On the ride back, we chatted with our fellow dinner/resort patrons about our travels and traded recommendations.    Leia mais

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  • Will HessFrench PolynesiaViajante
    Hard to beat the sunsetShrimp roll appCoconut breaded tunaCrispy seared tunaCognac 🥃

    🐢 Moorea Dive 🦈

    2 de agosto de 2022, Polinésia Francesa ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    Today's post brought to you in part by Laura. My dive in Bora Bora was so fantastic that I asked Will if he wouldn't mind hanging out in our bungalow and packing up while I went out for another 2 tank morning dive. I had read that dive sites here would be full of turtles which was all I needed to hear. The two dives and dive sites were spectacular. The first site was turtle-focused and it did not disappoint. We must have seen at least 20. Some were swimming across the vast ocean, some snoozing on the coral, some eating. We got within inches of many of them and they didn't seem to mind. The second site was chosen in the hopes of seeing lemon sharks. I had seen black tipped sharks on my Bora Bora dive, but no lemon sharks. As soon as we descended to about 60 ft, we saw two sharks hanging out on the bottom. We hovered for a while to watch them swim around, then continued on. The fish and the coral were absolutely equisite. I told Will afterwards I almost cried into my mask it was all so beautiful. (This is no surprise as I manage to find something almost daily to cry about.) The cherry on top of this dive trip was that during the approximate 1 hour surface interval between the two dives, we saw dolphins. There were about 8, and they came right up to our boat. They actually bumped our boat a few times, jumped out of the water multiple times, and generally put on a spectacular show for at least 20 minutes as they decided to swim along with us. I've never seen anything like it.

    ---

    Laura provided a lot of coaching but had total confidence in my packing ability. I spent the morning drinking espresso, lounging around, and cramming our stuff into our massive duffle.

    Once reunited, we ate a quick lunch and taxied our way back to the ferry. Recalling the fumes from our first ride, we chose to sit inside. This proved to be a terrible idea, as we were immediately rocked up and down on the huge waves and both turned green 🤢 within moments of takeoff. We quickly wobbled our way topside so we didn't yak -- it was a near thing.

    Ultimately, we made it back to the same Tahiti resort without taking ill, and had a chuckle as they placed us in nearly the same room on the 4th floor. We went down to enjoy happy hour and a sunset, and both immediately started feeling better. We ate dinner, and went back to the room quite tired.

    While we're feeling a bit melancholy given it's our last night, we're also thrilled at having had such an incredible trip. That said, we're also ready to see our doggies and Caty shortly after, and Will is excited to make an actual martini.    Leia mais

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  • Will HessFrench PolynesiaViajante

    Chasing waterfalls

    3 de agosto de 2022, Polinésia Francesa ⋅ 🌧 77 °F

    One last day in Tahiti, and we're determined to make use of the time. Recognizing that we've seen very little of this island, we decided to rent a small car and make the loop to do some sightseeing.

    We packed up our bag strategically so that we could have easy access to different sets of clothes for dinner and the flight back, checked out, and hit the road.

    We stopped first at the Arohoho Blowhole to watch the waves crash and hear the air come rushing out the lava tube opening. The sign warned caution, the rush of air could be startling, and Laura did indeed jump when a particularly loud expulsion happened suddenly.

    From there, we pulled off to see a handful of serene waterfalls as we made our way south to Tahiti Iti. We ate lunch at a small family restaurant, and backtracked to Tahiti Nui where we continued our clockwise loop around the island. Our final stop was at the Vaipahi water gardens, where we toured the grounds and did a mini hike.

    We went back to the hotel to lay at the pool for just a little while longer, and then showered at the spa before going to dinner at Le Lotus to enjoy some signature dishes from a two-star Michelin chef. We ate over the water, and delighted in watching a school of fish at play just below us.

    We have a long night (and day) of flying in front of us. It's been a wonderful two weeks in French Polynesia. Sad to leave it behind, but ready to return to our day-to-day lives... and start planning sabbatical #3!    Leia mais

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    Final da viagem
    4 de agosto de 2022