Tahiti - Papeete

 We departed Bora Bora on Monday.  Much fuller flight - 11 passengers.  

We are on Tahiti till 11:58 pm Wednesday evening due to a flight change so we have just hung out at the Hilton property and visited a local mall and grocery.  We do have a lovely view.  We have learned that canoeing is the most popular sport out here.  They use an outrigger canoe.  It appears this is a very competitive sport and we have watched dozens of folks out practicing.  Runs the gammet of single, double, up to even 6 person canoes.

We met a lovely couple from Florida in the elevator and they joined us for breakfast.  Nora and Larry.  They are embarking on a 70 day cruise tomorrow.  We talked about traveling, jobs, best cruise lines, Japan etc.  turns out ole Larry is an expert in most all things Japanese and started a museum in Florida.  They were a fun couple.  We did exchange contact information and were directed to text Larry with any questions about Japan!

We have really enjoyed This “do nothing” vacation.

Māuruuru     

   Maaa roo roo.    (thank you in Tahitian) for following the blog!

UPDATE.     UPDATE.    UPDATE

The Hilton had a Polynesian show this evening.  It was great fun.  They had audience participation at the end.   First the women were taught a dance.  Then the men were taught more and harder moves. It was hysterical watching all the uncoordinated white men doing these moves. 

Took a ton of video will try to upload but it may be too long

They were wonderful and the drummers were having a blast!

Perfect Beach Day

 First day where it wasn’t completely overcast all day.

We were very successful in our kayaking pursuit. Didn’t flip over or out of the boat.  Have to admit we did have some steering challenges as Missys “turn right” was opposite of Shan’s “turn right”. But we ended up doing pretty well.  There aren’t any pictures of us as we didn’t want to risk getting our phones wet.  So enjoy just a pic of a kayak in general.

Celebratory pic!

We then got a cabana type thing and played in the water, lounged about and in general just had a great time.

And then it was noon.

I did get up around 5:30am due to the local rooster gang conducting a crowing contest.

It looked like rain may be coming so back to our hut we went.

Shan napped and I just sat outside getting in and out of our pool.

Since it was a sunny day we did “get some sun “. Shan did really well not to get burnt to a crisp.

But the other thing fewer clouds allow is wonderful stargazing!

 You may need to click and enlarge to really see the stars.  So very beautiful.

We leave this paradise tomorrow and will spend a couple days in Papeete.

A bicycle kind of day

 Bicycle built for 2?  Not quite - but we did ride the bicycles the resort has on hand a lot today

Rode to breakfast, explored after breakfast, rode to the boat shuttle, to dinner etc

But be aware we were not the most graceful riders.  No video exists of us riding - thank god!

We did take the boat shuttle over to Vaitape to explore the village.  Honestly not at all touristy.  Did a fair amount of walking.  Found some t-shirts and a grocery.  Ever on the search for Coke Zero and coffee creamer.

We did have a few laughs as we were waiting on the return shuttle - Shan kept saying “the white people are burning”. Which is a quote we thought came from the movie Fools rush in.  The actual quote is “the white peoples are melting”. Which is from the scene where they were on a boat in Vegas with both families - Spanish. And then white New England parents.  We laughed on and off for a bit!

We had a yummy dinner at the beach restaurant and came back to the room

We are desperate to look at the stars but it’s been hard due to the cloudiness.  Here’s Shan giving it the ol’ college try

Slow Day

 We continued our quest of doing nothing today.

We had a wonderful breakfast - actually tried something new - a Samosa - chicken in particular.  This is a fried south Asian snack. Pretty tasty

We then browsed the gift shop and returned to our hut. Where we found our concierge sent a card and cake for my birthday.  We haven’t eaten any yet as I fear it is pineapple - you know, the devil fruit.

Missy then spent the rest of the day outside and in the pool.

Shan read her book.

We ordered room service for dinner and were planning on going to the Polynesian night but it started raining on and off so we just stayed put.

Most exciting activity we did was stare at a gecko in the bathroom (no pic) and watch 3 roosters stroll about and crowing, in addition to chasing a momma chicken around. 

Oh, the other activity was taking a nap outside!

Travel day - headed to Bora Bora

 Today was our last day in an Overwater Bungalow ☹️

Enjoyed every last minute of our time at the Hilton Moorea.  We continued to watch the fish and even saw a Stingray!

We received a really nice shell necklace when we checked out.

We made our way to the ferry dock.  As an FYI - we had to buy new ferry tickets on another line as our original ferry “was out for service”. Not a big deal but we did discover that we came over on the ‘local yokel’ ferry 😂😂  Our new ride seemed to cater to the tourist segment.  Here we are waiting 

Yes we were glistening and it was lightly raining.  The ride was very smooth and we whisked onward to the airport for our inter-island flight.   Made it through security - had to take our shoes off (we are spoiled with pre-check) and get a thorough pat down since neither of us can go through the metal detector thingy.

Then it was time to board - boy was that a crazy ordeal!  There were just 4 passengers and they put us in rows 15-17 in the back of the plane.  The captain didn’t bother with the welcome message over the intercom, he just walked back and had a casual chat with us.  The other 2 passengers were locals. 

So here starts a ton of pictures - hang on

Empty plane

Views we had

Bora Bora landing, airport, and private boat from the Conrad to take us to the resort

This is the luggage pick up - can’t call it a carousel 

On the boat - we again received leis made out of the Tiara flower - which is kin to the gardenia

Just had to take this snapshot from Life360 showing we were boating near the South Pacific!

Now for the next photo dump of the Conrad.  Initial thoughts - much higher class, soothing and very beautiful.

Perks - they will come pick you up and take you anywhere on the resort.  Having dinner and too full to walk?  a golf cart is Johnny-on-the-spot to take you back to your room/hut.

A little info about our room.  It has a living room, separate bedroom, luxurious bathroom.  Now outside we have a covered area with a sofa table and 2 chairs, then 2 lounge chairs, and our own private plunge pool that looks out toward the water.  Super nice - even nicer than the place I stayed at in St. Barth’s years ago.

We are the last hut on the right - which is what Tiffany thought my address would be when I lived in the British Virgin Islands,

This band is our waterproof room key.  It does feel like you have a hair band or scrunchie on your wrist.

We have had dinner and are relaxing - neither of us can hardly wait to get in the pool tomorrow!