Our first night in Raiatea. We had just flown in, got a car rental, checked in to our homestay, got groceries at the market, then stopped at this nearby park and ate our grocery store dinner on the rocks watching the sailboats and canoes go by, in front of little motus and a darkening sky.
The day we packed all our bags and provisionings for move in day to the sailboat. I kept laughing over how we packed the compact car completely full of stuff, including ourselves!
[ Photo Journal – 01 July 2019 ]Â
This idyllic motu (island) just off Taha’a. We sailed there and anchored in the shallow sandbar for the night. We avoided having to pay the day fee by taking our dinghy out and anchoring it in the sand, then snorkeling and kayaking around. The mara’amu was blowing mighty strong and the current made staying in one place difficult so we drifted back to the lee of this tiny motu. Polly saw a stingray! And then we dinghied back while Rick kayaked back to our floating home. Everyone on the island paddled back to land before dark, and a local man wandered over and mumbled some stuff we didn’t understand. We asked him if we could anchor there, and he nodded his head, mumbled some more I think, and then paddled back to Taha’a too. I remember thinking that I wanted us to move anchorage, but Captain Rick made the executive decision to stay the night. I recall getting super seasick on this night, but I also recall the food we made for dinner being epic, and how it felt eerie and serene, not having anyone anchor there.Â
We flew in to Tahiti from Raiatea, and immediately checked in to our hotel, freshened up and basically speed-walked to Toata for the opening night of the Heiva i Tahiti. The annual competition is the nation’s largest celebration of the year, and I was in awe to experience the incredible mana that emanated from the songs, dances, drum beats, and even from what they wore. We weren’t allowed to take any photos during the Heiva i Tahiti, but it was definitely a highlight during our time in Tahiti.Â
This photo journal is from the following day in Tahiti, and then we took the ferry to Mo’orea.
We were walking to the market and I saw this truck on the side of the road. I saw it and immediately thought “whoa that’s my dream truck!” haha. I didn’t know I had a dream truck, but if I did, this truck would definitely be it! I feel like it’s the perfect mix of surf, vintage, island cruiser, farm truck. Like I can imagine coasting down the road and just having like, the time of my life in this truck. It was love at first sight hahaha.
Ian and went to the Pape’ete Marche (Tahiti’s popular market plaza) to grab a quick and cheap brunch, and bought souvenir gifts for friend and family back home. I love love love this market, so I’ll write up another post about it later!
Tahitian pearls are some of the most beautiful sought-after natural treasures in French Polynesia. And the cool thing about pearls in Tahiti is that they’re everywhere, and come at all price ranges.
I knew I wanted to get my mom a pair of Tahitian black pearl earrings, and was hoping to buy it at the pearl farm we visited off Raiatea, but I didn’t find any in particular that felt like the perfect pair. So I went back to the Tahiti Pearl Market again (we had come here to see the pearl market before our sailing trip) and decided to have her earrings custom made.
First, I had to choose two pearls that were similar-ish in color tone, nacre, and size. The woman behind the counter helped me narrow down my choices based on my price range, and I selected and laid out my favorite pearls to compare them. Then I got to choose the earring setting, for which they had yellow gold, white gold, and sterling silver options. I selected a simple yellow gold dangle setting that I thought would look good with my mom’s face shape. And lastly, I chose how I wanted the pearls to sit in the setting, and handed it over to their in-house jeweler to set the pearl into the earring.
It was a really cool experience and definitely gave the earrings a special customized touch that I knew my mom would appreciate.Â
As a treat to myself, I decided to get myself a nice pair of keshi pearl stud earrings. Keshi pearls are, I’ve learned, the “imperfect” pearls, where the oysters (the Tahitian oyster is the Pinctada margaritifera)Â reject the nucleus around which the nacre is formed. And because they don’t have the perfectly rounded nucleus, they come out in various baroque shapes and are much smaller. The keshi pearls are therefore 100% pure nacre, which is why I love them. They’re all unique in their own way. You can see my tiny keshi pearl by the jeweler’s hand compared to my mom’s pearls drying in the clasp.
Ian and I were running later than we expected, so we sped-walked to the hotel to meet with Polly and Rick. Ian snapped this photo of me looking stoked from our pearl shopping!
We walked with our bags and luggage from the hotel to the ferry terminal, and boarded the interisland ferry, which felt more like a mini-cruise ship because it was a lot fancier than I expected. Ian and I went to the open air top deck, but I was getting toasted by the mid-day sun so I got grumpy and went back inside to cool down. We ate a quick and easy baguette chicken sandwich and chips for lunch and arrived at Mo’orea about an hour later.
Snorkeling in this chop.
Photos taken on a Go Pro Hero 3 by Ian and Nerelle.
French Polynesia. Summer 2019.
Did you read the title of this post?
You guessed it.
It’s another French Polynesia photo journal!
(soooo many good memories)
Spotted a huge stingray… there were actually a few of them!
Ian checking out possible anchorages for tomorrow
Just a little seasick.
But still so happy
and grateful.
More sailing / underwater / french polynesia photo blogs to come!
Part 2 of sailing in French Polynesia (continued).
We got these maps that showed us all the anchorages on Raiatea and Taha’a
Still a bit stunned at how beautiful this boat is, the view is, the food is, and my life is.
The morning we sailed out of Hurepiti Bay,
we were greeted by a pod of dolphins!
I was so excited I could only take blurry pics haha
The wind was picking up a lottt so this was just one of the few times we had the sails going.
Above: a view of Taha’a.
Below: of course I had to ask Ian to get a photo of me and Bora Bora in the background!
Rick looks like a millionaire on a yacht hahah
And this is quite possibly my favorite photo of Rick and Polly so far!
I’m thinking Italian Job. Like big baller big baller. Like museum heist artists. Like classy bank robbers.
Aren’t they just the coolest?!
And here’s my guy looking like an outdoorsy waterman, living his dream lol
This was my favorite anchorage. We were in between the aquamarine blue and navy blue waters, where shallow meets deep. And next to Le Taha’a Island Resort, Motu Tautau, and with a magnificent view of Bora Bora.
The blue waters were so insane. I’ve never seen such a vibrant and drastic color/depth difference in the ocean. And Bora Bora looked so mysterious in the distance.
This little island is home to Le Taha’a Island Resort, the fanciest resort in all of French Polynesia. And right next to it is Motu Tautau, where we dinghied to for some of the best snorkeling I’ve ever seen. A drift snorkel lagoonarium, they called it. It was so cool (photos to come!)
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Ah the time has come. We’ve been waiting for this vacation all year. Actually since last year, and we were originally planning to go to Tonga. But that fortunately/unfortunately didn’t work out as their bareboat charters were all booked out, so Ian’s parents suggested Tahiti / French Polynesia, and well… here we are!
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The morning we got our sailboat, or should I say yacht?! This thing is so flippin’ fancy!Â
So thankful for Rick and Polly for making this dream a reality!
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We got a bunch of groceries the night before, and loaded all our food and bags onto the boat.
Here’s Ian smiling like a kid at a toystore.
My favorite section to organize when we were loading our food and stuff into the catamaran. Polly found that it was the same wine that was served at the fancy restaurant we ate at in Tahiti (L’O Ã la Bouche). Don’t we look so classy?Â
We had the option of going out ourselves, or waiting until one of the charter crew was available to take us out of the marina. The sailboats in the marina were packed like sardines with literally inches on either side and only small bumpers to keep them from scratching each other. But lucky for us, this cutie knows a thing or two about boat driving (he casually will park a 33′ boat and trailer with about 6 inches on either side), and he took us out of the marina like no big deal.Â
Hahahaha, you’ll see why…
Hmmm… something’s not right.
Ian, Rick, and Polly.
I love this family!
Our first day, we sailed from Raiatea to Taha’a.Â
More photo journals to come!
After a few days of frolicking around Auckland, and a short stay in Tahiti, we needed a little R&R to really make this a baecation. We got on a plane and spent a few more days on Raiatea, where we would later be getting on a catamaran to sail around!
Here’s a photo journal from Raiatea.
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We arrived at Raiatea airport. It’s similar to our airport on Tutuila in that you have to get off on the tarmac and walk to a little airport building. I looked around and was stunned to see so many motus surrounding the island.
Portraits of Ian and I taken by each other on our first night at Pension Les Trois Cascades.
Stopped by Apooiti Marina to scope out the yacht charter situation.
Ian has been dry too long for an island vacation.
Cruising around the island with no real destination in mind.
Lunch stop at Hotel Atiapiti. The restaurant concept was cool. It was shaped like an outrigger va’a, had an inside/outside section, and had a little boutique inside as well. The food was really expensive but delicious. I think we all got fish of varying flavors.
At the pier in front of the restaurant. It was a really windy day.
Visited the Taputapuatea Marae, an archaeologically significant site that dates back over 1,000 years and provides evidence of being the seat of Polynesian civilization during that time. It is now a recognized UNESCO heritage site.
Pape’ete, Tahiti
Maeva and bienvenue to the tropical city of Pape’ete in Tahiti.
We had just arrived from cold Auckland to this warm paradise, greeted with leis by Rick and Polly at the Fa’aa airport. Family trip! Now the vacation really begins (again)!
View from my window. Dusty pinks, oranges, and deep greens.
Ian thinks the mountains are a cloud forest.
Polly and Ian walking around the city after brunch.
The next day, we walked around the harbor, and I could barely believe my eyes. Mo’orea was just staring at us right across the way.Â
This is the ferry we would take in the next couple of weeks from Tahiti to Mo’orea.
Just walking around. Dipping our toes in the water. Looking at va’a.
Impressed to see a coral garden right in the harbor by the quay. The fish looked happy.
I couldn’t tell if it was summer for students because the boardwalk area was packed with kids and teenagers all just hanging out, blasting music on their huge boomboxes, laughing and smiling like they were on vacation too.
We checked out the Robert Wan Pearl Museum and learned that tahitian pearls are all nucleated to achieve its roundness, and can take up to 4 years to develop in the oyster.
This is the largest pearl in the museum. It’s not perfectly round but still stunning.
This is the second largest pearl there, but the largest perfectly round pearl. I can’t even imagine what this would cost.
We were only in Tahiti for a brief time, and my favorite spot is hands down the Pape’ete Marche, but I’m saving that for another blog post ;).
Stay Tuned! My French Polynesisan adventure continues to Raiatea, Taha’a, and Mo’orea.