New Year's Eve in Moorea!

December 31, 2019

Moorea

This is it...last day of 2019, the end of a decade and we are holding onto every minute of it by being in a country that is one of the last to ring in the New Year!

A breakfast on our deck and a beautiful day ahead of us.  There is a spot about 500 yards off our shore where the guide boats come in and they feed the sharks and sting rays. Andy and Hudson swam out to it.  They said it was very cool and there were about 5 sharks and about 5 sting rays.  My boys returned home with all their limbs so we are counting that as a good adventure.

Check out Hudson in the back corner!

Time for our macaroons! On the way Andy turned down a dirt road to see if we can go into the jungle a bit. We see a picture of a shrimp on a sign that reads Crevettes de Moorea   ( 40.56.34.55 phone#)

and a couple of cars pulling onto a dirt parking area.  We do the same and suddenly a bunch of cars pull in behind us.  As we walk up they pointed for us to walk out into the fields of pools. 

There were about six and a couple of men were working at one.  Once we made it we saw the men were working a big net to bring in the shrimp.  It was a process and exciting to see.  Then we all headed back to the shed area.  The shrimp were quickly put into bags and sold to all of us - the locals were of course taken care of first. One women who lives here told me this happens once a week and we got lucky! Such a fun thing to fall upon.  The best travel is the unexpected.

Off to the macaroons! This time we were smart and got a box of 10.  They were tres bien! No baking class for me though.

A quick stop at the grocery store to grab some baguettes.  Our family is now up to three baguettes a day, making us feel more like a local.  All of the women working there  and many who were shopping were wearing fresh flower head pieces.

 A couple more avocados picked up at the fruit/vegetable stand and home for lunch on the patio.

Andy and Hudson made another run out to the shark infested (yes, they scare me so that is what I'm calling it) waters.  There was a local out there who had food that they gave Andy to feed the sting rays.  There were five of them and they were crawling all over them. Another gentlemen, who is a marine biologist from Russia,  took pictures and we are hoping we will get those in the future.

Andy and I took our kayaks out and went for a cruise.  Lots to see just in front of our place.  We spotted a random sting ray who swam around and under us.  So many experiences for such a chill place.

We cooked our shrimp in a butter and garlic sauce.  The local French woman I met at the shrimp farm insisted that we cook them with the heads on else we would loose the flavor.  I'm not sure about that, but they were flavorful! A little wine and baguette and it was the perfect New Year's Eve meal.  The boys dressed wearing their Tahitian tuxedos.  :-)

The wind is picking up and some rain to ring in 2020!

More of Moorea

December 30, 2019

Moorea

It was a hot night (no air conditioning) and these French Polynesian roosters are very rude.  They woke us up early.  : -) Things definitely seem to start early here and not just the roosters.

Boys ran out to the grocery store for breakfast stuff and came back with a big surprise.  The  surprise was, no not a baguette - but they did get that, we got charging cables!!! Yes, we have all been surviving off of one cable!

Breakfast and a quick goodbye to Marie our wonderful host. Saylor and Hudson got their first French, double kiss-one on each cheek.

On our drive to the new place we saw some fun fruit stands along the way and decided to stop.  We got an amazing, local avocado that is bright green.  Super tasty!

Drove 30 minutes west and checked into our perfect hut on the water, with AC! 

We are located on the west side of the island at Sunset beach.  ( Fare Nehenehe 87.72.21.46 which I believe is the phone number  because we must come back). It is right on the waters edge with a spectacular view and a perfect white sand beach.  No big break water out front so swimming and snorkeling is easy.  Today's high was 86 degrees with a low of 79 and humid,  so love being in the water.

We have some long time friends from Florida staying here at the Hilton,  just 10 minutes down the road.  Haven't seen them in 15 years so it was fun to connect with them.  They had a beautiful over the water hut and were generous enough to share it with us for the day.

                                                                                       

After a fun rum drink, we all went  for a snorkel and it was pretty special.  Lots of beautiful coral, so many different types of fish to see.  Loved the parrot fish with their spectacular colors,  a big trigger fish, puffer fish, long yellow stick fish, green lion fish and even saw a sting ray! Company, location and snorkel were the best!

*photo credits to Kris Berkheiser

On the way back to our place we saw the cutest little trailer, La Macaroulotte,  in a garden setting with the ocean as a backdrop.  It was accented with pink this and that.

We ordered our macrons (banana, salted caramel and a berry - $1.25 each) and they were the best we have EVER had! Seriously, the best! She was this cute French women with the perfect French accent and the perfect french macarons. We will for sure be going back tomorrow and I'm going to ask her if she will teach me how to make her most perfect macarons!

Back to our beach hut for some down time and then to dinner at Tiahura. I got my local shrimp that I have been craving and we also got that beautiful parrot fish that we saw earlier today.  Turns out that the insides are as beautiful as the outside.  The bones are green.  Who would have thought? Andy and I had a fruity rum drink.

Out on our deck and enjoying the view and the wind.  Normally, the wind is not something I look forward to on vacation, but it helps to keep us cool and especially good at keeping the bugs away from us! Fingers crossed that it doesn't bring in a storm for tomorrow.

Moovin' to Moorea

December 29, 2019

Tahiti to Moorea 

Up at 6:30 for breakfast and a quick pack.  Stopped by a black sand beach, pretty and unique.

We are just over an hour to the ferry, Amereti.


 Got our tickets for the 10:00 am ferry and wandered over to the public market.  Totally bummed that it closes at 9:00.  Can't even imagine a market closing at home that early.  Back we went to the ferry.

Andy ran the car back to the airport and took a taxi back to us.  Ferry left on time, nice and clean and wicked fast.  We were going 40 mph in some good chop.  The sun is out and the water is every hue of blue.

Andy was at the front of the line so he could be first in line at Avis.  There is an office right there where we docked.  Kids and I were in charge of luggage.  Up pulled Andy and off we went.

After a few U-turns we found our place down a dirt road.  The hostess was a kind, French women. We were welcomed again with a fruit platter from her garden and fresh jam she makes out of flowers. 

She showed us our cool little house in the back of her property.  It is an open design Balinese style house, super charming with a funky rock bathroom. Saylor's favorite spot is the hammock.

A quick change and hit the road to go to the prettiest beach on the island - Tema'e Beach.  Beautiful white sand, crystal clear water and of course the quint essential palm trees along the water's edge.  A quick shout out and thank you to the creator of rash guards.  This PNW family is very  appreciative!

Out of the water and decided to circumnavigate the island.  It is only a two lane road, but the roads are nice and no one is in a hurry, definitely island time here.  Took us about 1:15 to drive it. The island is full of green foliage, vivid flowers and peaks that go straight up.

Everything is closed because it is Sunday.  The churches here are beautiful.  Passed by a service that was being held outside.  Had to stop and listen to the music, fantastic drums.  Lots of beautiful colored clothing and head pieces out of flowers.

A swim back at the house to cool down and a few minutes of downtime.

What for dinner, hmmmm? Our friends that visited us the morning we left, the Kortenkamp family, (quick backstory: they sailed from CA to Australia on their sailboat with two kids) and said the best pizza they had in those couple of years was Allo Pizza so of course we had to check it out.  A tiny little place along the roadside (of course, that seems to be the theme of everywhere we have eaten at this point) with no indoor seating, just a couple of barstools at the counter to sit at and a woodfire pizza oven.  I think the pizza prices here might even beat the price in NYC!

Adventures on Tahiti

December 28, 2019

Taravao, Tahiti

Woke up and Andy was already out and about.  He came in with a fresh baguette, a ton of fruit,  pastries and OMG the best BBQ pork we have ever had! He got it from a roadside stand, which is always better if I'm not with him.  Otherwise, I see dirt and other little bugs that make it far less desirable to eat being the germ fearing person that I can be.

The sun is out and we are ready for our day, but first we had to make a quick stop at the pork guy again.  Really the best, moist, flavorful pork ever.  And yep, I shouldn't have seen that knife or boarding he was cutting on. 

We headed out with no real plan just looking to explore. Our first stop was at a road side stand selling Thai spring rolls. Not sure why we stopped as we were stuffed from breakfast. He was incredibly nice and helped get us on our way for the day. He will be there tomorrow at 5am, so we are planning to stop by.  We went to the park he recommended for a quick walk around a idyllic lagoon. From the edge we could see coral and beautiful fish. We even saw a shark glide past! Some local women with their heads in towels looked like they had just finished their morning swim.

 People so far have been lovely and very willing to help us. The language challenge makes this all kinds of fun. So far we have seen just about only locals, which is not what we expected for Tahiti.

Continuing down the island we saw a water taxi sign and pulled in.  There was a little house, a tree house for rent

and a bungalow with stairs right into the water (airbnb Vairao Bungalow sur pilotis sur le lagon eamils: marika@mail.pf). 

  Super cute! The owner came out and introduced herself en francais and helped plan our day. Andy's high school french is enough to get through basic conversation.  Hand motions and smiling seem to do the rest. The water taxi was gone for the day so we headed from her beach for some snorkeling along a coral wall.  The water was perfect temperature but became colder as we swam into deeper water. Endless fields of coral, Some nice colored fish and calm waters.

We then rented some kayaks from her for a paddle out to a tiny white sand island. 

 It wasn't much bigger than our driveway. We shared this little space with some locals enjoying their weekend. The sun was out, the sky was blue (for the most part) and vacation was going strong.

  Time to head back and of course the wind had really picked up.  With the waves the kids struggled to make it out so we thought things might go better if we piled into the enormous two person kayak.  Andy ignored his thoughts of stability and being overloaded which proved to be unwise.  A few hundred yards off the island the inevitable happened and we capsized. We were in  deep water at this point and far enough away that getting back to the island wasn't an option. With the wind we were being pushed out to see towards the breaking wavings. The kids scrambled into the single kayaks lighting quick while the adults gathered up our floating possessions. I am sure we were quite the show for the locals drinking and relaxing on the nearby island. Getting in the kayaks for the adults proved much more difficult and included a circus like feat of building a human ladder and squirming on our bellies back into position. With the kayaks all right side up and us aboard we made the hard paddle back to the place. Kids did great and we have another story!

The owner welcomed us back with a beautiful platter of fruit setup in the waterfront gazebo This was a very nice way to get back to normal after our adventure. Speaking of fruit, it is everywhere, with many road side stands offering everything imaginable. For $5 we bought 7 mangos and the guy was so nice he through about 7 more in and taught us a little Tahitian. Marurru means thank you. 

Back to the house for more baguette, cheese and salami lunch! This has become part of our daily routine.

Headed out to the beach for a Tahitian sunset that did not disappoint.  The boys gave a new meaning to "Ultimate frisbee".

"Ultimate Frisbee"

Made a stop for some bottled water and as we were waiting for Andy we noticed the locals bring their own bowls to restaurants for to go food. They'd hang out for a few minutes while dinner for the family was made and head off with bowls heaping full of food. This happened at numerous places and is probably really good for the local land fill. So interesting to me.

Another dinner at a roadside food truck/restaurant.  They have big bins of wait for it....baguettes sliced up! Yep, because the two they probably already ate earlier was not enough! The kitchens are these makeshift setups with big propane tanks and coolers for the food. 

The food has been really good and I enjoy it at the time and then just hope in a couple of hours the stomach is still happy.  Tonight I had a steak and we added to this some yummy fried chicken, a grilled fish and plenty of Frites. We also added an order of Poisson Cru', which is like ceviche but in more of a coconut sauce. The kids and Andy love it!

Taking Off to Tahiti!

December 26, 2019  to December 27th, 2019 

Seattle-LAX-Papeete, Tahiti

A wonderful Christmas with the family and a busy morning.  A quick unexpected trip to the pet hospital for Kimo, wonderful friends from California coming by for a visit and getting our house sitter situated made things a bit crazy.  Out the door by 1:00 to make our way to the airport and onto Tahiti!

To be noted, the amount we get to pack seems to be getting less and less. We used to each get our own carry on.  This time around we packed a total of 2 carry on bags with clothes, 1 carry on with all of our snorkel gear and 3 school size backpacks.

It seemed everyone and their brother were at the airport. Of course our flight was delayed which disconnected our connection and had us standing by for flights. Of course, we were notified of the delay just minutes from arriving at the airport.  After being on two standby lists that we didn't make, we  made it out on a flight 3hr later.

Landed at LAX with just enough time to grab a quick dinner and board our overnight Air France Flight to Papeete, Tahiti.  Hudson keeps cracking up because we see AF everywhere.  A glimpse of a 12 year old boys mind.  :-)

Flight from LA to Papeete was just over eight hours and across the equator, yet only 2 hour time difference.  Tack on the time at SeaTac, customs, getting a rental car and driving the hour to our house. It has been a 20 hour day.

We have this fun Gilligan's island type place located on the isthmus of the island.  It is private and right on a quiet bay, total open air style with a plung pool and giant hermit crabs that make their presence know. The place is called Villa Mitirapa Villa D'Hote.

 The palm trees are everywhere and it is so green and lush.  The only bummer is that it has been raining  previous days so there isn't good visibility for snorkeling.   Definitely warm and humid though.




All of us are starving and made a quick trip to the grocery store to get an early lunch and some snacks.  Everyone walks or rides their bikes with what seems to be two baguettes.  We didn't understand until we bought  one - yes obviously the new kids in town only buying one.  They are only $.50 and are amazing.  Perfect texture, color and taste!

Tomorrow we will be buying two! We are in this tiny little town and the grocery store is amazing, very French - which of course makes sense, but seems completely out of place since we are on this dense, jungle island. Our phone charger broke and there is only one to be found for $40.    Chips are $5.50 for a bag yet you can buy lots of amazing cheeses for $2.50 and 5 chocolate croissants for $4.00. Seafood is stunning - came home with tuna sashimi, lots of different salumi and olives.  So many baguettes and a crepe making machine! Who doesn't love that!? Enjoyed a tasty little picnic at our beach.

Kids went kayaking and found a great rope swing that they put to great use.  Andy and I snuck in a nap.  So tired! I'm getting too old for red eyes.

Got our act together and drove down the road for dinner.  Found a cute little place that is built around a food truck.  Lots of tables, Christmas light and foliage outside along the road.  Dinner was great!

One of the biggest things on this trip that has surprised me is the language barrier.  Everywhere we have ever traveled there has been a bit of English here and there, but not here.  Not even menus.

Came back to the house and enjoyed our fresh made crepes with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream!

Going to sleep hard tonight!