Taha'a - Day 10

Our last morning in French Polynesia: we were so sad to leave! We took just a few more pictures of the sunrise, spent a few more hours by the pool, and then headed off to the airport on the main island of Tahiti. Nana Tahiti!

Taha'a - Day 9

Our third day on Taha'a: another relaxing day spent on the beach and by the pool. We took out a sea kayak for a while in the morning and realized that Caitlin is not much of a kayaker. She had much more fun when Nate did all the work! We had a fantastic dinner (our last!) at the resort that evening. Caitlin had an enormous New Zealand veal chop on a bed of vanilla mashed potatoes. Yum! Nate had pineapple and vanilla gazpacho as well as BARACUDA!! He really enjoyed the fish. Besides, when else do you see local baracuda on the menu? He had to try it!

Taha'a - Day 8

Our second day on Taha'a: We enjoyed massages IN the lagoon in the morning, and smelled just faintly of the famous Taha'a vanilla for the rest of the day. It was so relaxing watching and hearing the waves lap below us during the massage. We then spent the rest of the day relaxing on the beach and by the pool. We enjoyed another traditional Polynesian feast served by the resort that evening for dinner. So much good food! Caitlin was especially impressed by the enormous dessert buffet.

Taha'a - Day 7, continued

First day on Taha'a: we really got to spend most of the day on Taha'a, which was a treat. Our room was enormous! So after exploring the island a little bit, we spent most of our first evening on Taha'a on our deck.

Bora Bora - Day 7

Our last morning on Bora Bora: since we had an early flight to the next island, we got up early to take one last round of Bora Bora sunrise pictures. We were sung off the island by our ukulele playing ferry captain.

Bora Bora - Day 6

Third day on Bora Bora: we finally slept in a little! Then we spent most of the day reading and getting some sun on our private deck. We also took advantage of the resorts mini-golf course - 14 holes of fun! Nate won, but Cait gave him a run for his money. That evening, we had dinner at the resort's fancy Italian restaurant. The concierge apologized for only having a 6:00 dinner slot left - we were thrilled with the early opening! The food was delicious and we made friends with the restaurant cat.

Bora Bora - Day 5

Second day on Bora Bora: at noon we met our guide for a shark and ray feeding in the reefs of Bora Bora. He took us and two other couples to a coral garden where we got to snorkel with some beautiful exotic fish. We looked for Nemo, but couldn't find him! Then our guide took us to a very shallow lagoon where we were surrounded by enormous manta rays - at least 30 of them! They were very happy, friendly and curious. We loved how the swam up our chests and backs looking for food. Their tummies feel like wet mushrooms! After we played with the rays for a while, our guide took us to Shark Bay where we could snorkel near some really cool sharks. There were several kinds (no, not bull sharks), but we were most impressed by the lemon sharks. We were disapointed not to see any sharks eat any prey, but we were happy not to be the prey! After our fantastic excursion, Nate and I still had big plans in store for that evening. We left out private island resort for the main island of Bora Bora, where we had dinner at the famous Bloody Mary's. We loved being able to pick our own meat right as we walked in, and walk barefoot in the sand-bottomed restaurant. The picture of us below was taken by an island-crazy guy named Rick who at least claimed to be the owner! We had a very fun dinner.

Bora Bora - Day 4, continued

First afternoon on Bora Bora: After a beautiful 1-hour flight, we landed in Bora Bora and took the ferry to our resort. Bora Bora is much more tropical and lush than Moorea - and is very pretty! Our hut at the Pearl Resort was over the water, so we spent the afternoon on our deck watching the fish swim by. We could even watch the fish at night through the lagoon-a-scope coffee-table in our living room!

Moorea - Day 4

Our last day on Moorea: We woke up very early to watch the sunrise at a beautiful lookout we'd found with the car. We met a friendly local who chatted with us til the sun rose! Then we were off to Bora Bora...

Moorea - Day 3

Our second day on Moorea: We rented a car for the day and drove all around the island. It was great to see all of what Moorea had to offer. We loved meeting all of the locals. We drove to the Belvedere Lookout where we could see both the Cook and Opunohu Bays at the same time. It was a beautiful sight! Next we drove to the other side of the island where we went on a hike to a waterfall. Only Nate could travel to the other side of the world and still find a waterfall to hike to! It was worth the hike! We also enjoyed pearl shopping that day for the famous Tahitian Pearls.

Moorea - Day 2 (still!)

Our first full day on Moorea: Nate woke up for the beautiful sunrise. We explored downtown Moorea, and sat by the pool. That night we went to the Tiki Village Theatre for a traditional Polynesian Feast where we also saw a show of Tahitian Fire Dancers. We got to dance too! We've decided not to take up a career in Tahitian dancing...