A Week in Tahiti

To be honest, while this post is a fantastic one to write, it's almost daunting trying to describe our week in Tahiti! I was tempted to just tell you all "you really had to be there," and give you a load of pictures, but that didn't seem fair. I will do my best to describe to you how amazingly beautiful and exotic and wonderful French Polynesia is, but if you really want to know, you should see it for yourself (preferably with me tagging along as a guide).

As my hubby so eloquently put it, "we wanted to take a nice trip, and your birthday was just the perfect excuse." Hey, if you need me to be your excuse to escape to a tropical paradise, I gladly volunteer. After considering tons of options, Tahiti was our choice destination for the length of time we wanted to visit and for the type of activities we were interested in doing. Since this vacation was celebrating a "milestone" for me, we decided not to island hop like lots of people do, and instead to just enjoy rest and relaxation and plenty of time in the sun.

And so we packed our swimsuits and flip flops, sunscreen and mosquito repellent, and headed our happy selves all the way across the ocean to the South Pacific, to the main island of Tahiti. The flight time to L.A. is about five hours, plus another eight hours to Tahiti, so getting there takes a little bit of work--but then again, all the best things do.

The flight attendants on Air Tahiti all wore flowers in their hair.
After takeoff, they changed into Polynesian dresses for the remainder of the flight.

Air Tahiti swag! As a lover of free things, I was so excited about my floral travel pillow, sleep mask, ear plugs, and cozy aqua socks. 

We arrived at the open air lobby of the Intercontinental Resort Tahiti on Thursday night after a full day of travel, a little bleary eyed but thrilled to see the bell staff in sarongs and straw leg cuffs, shirtless (they were all men), and looking every bit the Polynesian part. After a welcome drink, we were taken by the most adorable cart to our home for the next week: a thatched roof bungalow right out over the ocean. These are probably what comes to mind when you think of Tahiti.

Home sweet home, bungalow 510.

The beautiful flowers Clint had waiting for me when we arrived. He's a keeper.

And also a bottle of (very good) Tahitian wine. I like his style.

We also got a "pillow menu" with seven (!) different pillow options. 

Bungalow bubble bath, anyone? Swoon.

On our first day, we decided to venture into downtown Papeete to shop and have a look around. The Marché de Papeete is a large market that sells all kind of crafts, fresh fruit, and fish, and it was definitely a sight to see. Because of the sheer supply of fresh flowers growing all over the islands, there are leis and flower crowns in abundance: practically every Tahitian woman we encountered wore flowers in her hair. The entire market was perfumed by all the beautiful flowers that were for sale.

Flower crowns for sale outside the Marché de Papeete.

Using a needle and thread to "stitch" the flowers together.

Inside the market, we saw breadfruit, sugar cane, plantains, coconuts,
and the biggest avocados we have ever seen--almost the size of a football!

Later that night, like many of the hotels in Tahiti, our resort hosted a traditional Polynesian dance show, with a dinner buffet of Polynesian specialties. We were a bit surprised at the food that we discovered on the buffet: Tahitian cuisine is influenced by French and Chinese foods, but primarily consists of lots of fresh (raw) fish and fruit. The national dish is poisson cru, which is raw tuna with onions, cucumber, and tomato in coconut milk with salt and pepper. There were tons of starchy sides: french fries, which are served with practically everything, rice, sauteed potatoes, and lots of baguettes and bread. And of course, French macarons for dessert.

Our dinner entertainment.

Fire twirler at the Polynesian dinner show. We could totally do that.

I even got a picture with the dancers and my Clemson Tiger Rag.

After dinner picture at the Tiki Bar,
which became one of our go-to spots (which I'm sure surprises no one).

We woke up Saturday to an absolutely beautiful day. Tahiti is postcard perfect, with palm trees, clear blue skies, and sparkling water in every direction. The hotel had two gorgeous pools, but this one was our favorite:

The saltwater infinity pool had a sand bottom and a view of neighboring island Moorea.

This *might* have been worth getting a year older.

And of course, a swim up bar. Cheers to boat drinks!

Each afternoon, right before the sun went down, we would venture back to our bungalow to enjoy the sunset from our balcony, and also to swim off our deck in the lagoon. When you go, be sure to take inexpensive pool floats with you so you can fully enjoy the water and a little playtime. When we checked out, we left our floats for a nice couple from New Zealand next door to enjoy.

Our bungalow deck.

Each unit has its own deck and small dock that leads right to the lagoon. 

The flamingo float: your Tahitian travel essential.

A smile and a wave from the warm waters of the lagoon.

Soaking it all in.

That evening for dinner, we made our way back into the downtown area near the marina to experience "les roulottes"--literally French for caravans, these are food trucks that set up each night and serve all kinds of food: mainly Chinese, but also crepes, fish, and hamburgers at really inexpensive prices. The plaza where they park has tons of plastic chairs and tables, and locals and tourists all pack the place. It was lively, with music playing and all the noise from the very busy roulottes surrounding us. I got a cheeseburger, which was a non-adventurous choice (next time I'm trying the chow mein), and Clint had grilled tuna and rice that he said was excellent. At about a third of the cost of a restaurant meal, it was a fun way to have a casual dinner and people watch.

On our way to the food trucks, or roulottes, for dinner.

Signs for tartare, sashimi, carpaccio--Tahitians love raw seafood.

The roulottes are popular with practically everyone in Tahiti.

Sunday, we woke up early and took the ferry to the nearby island of Moorea for a day tour. Moorea has been described as being a lot like the island of Maui--with volcanic mountains and white, sandy beaches, it feels pristine and almost untouched, much different from the highly populated island of Tahiti. We saw mountain goats, cows, and some of the most beautiful flora and fauna I have ever witnessed, then boarded our boat to swim and snorkel with stingrays and some amazingly tame sharks.

Don't mind us, we're just swimming with sharks.

I wish we had gotten better pictures, but we were too busy focusing on THE SHARKS! 
At one point, we counted over twenty sharks in the water with us.

Up close and personal with a black-tip reef shark. It was surreal.

The stingrays were huge, and pretty aggressive. That's my adventure face (total adrenaline junkie).

That was by far the best part of our Moorea tour. Afterward, we were taken to a "motu" or private island for a picnic, which turned into a very long afternoon. As it turns out, we were in a group that was composed mainly of locals rather than tourists, and they were content to spend several hours on the motu singing local songs and drinking rum punch while wild roosters, chickens, and dogs ran around the picnic tables. We were told that Tahitian families have lots of chickens because they are good for eggs, meat, and waking everyone up early--and believe me, there are roosters and chickens everywhere!

Our Moorea picnic lunch: barbecue chicken, grilled tuna, mango rice, poisson cru, plus a banana, pineapple with fresh coconut, and a little rum punch on the side.

Channeling his inner "Rocky," and pretending to catch chickens. 

Scene from our private "motu."
For you Walking Dead fans, we thought it looked a lot like the Oceanside community lived here.

We also saw a demonstration on how to make poisson cru and learned from some locals how to best crack a fresh coconut. Finally, after a full afternoon of being marooned, we took the high-speed ferry back to Tahiti to the comforts of our hotel.

After all that adventure, we were happy to spend more time soaking up the sun and relaxing. Tahitians make their pina coladas with coconut ice cream, which may add a few more calories, but makes them even more delicious. Plus, loaded with calcium, am I right?

Pineapples growing on the resort property.
They also had a vanilla bean plantation; vanilla is one of Tahiti's most popular exports.

Strange, but true: Doritos and guacamole were on lots of menus.
After seeing so many people eating them, we finally caved in and got our own order.

After our tedious day touring Moorea, we were a bit hesitant to do any more organized activities, but we also wanted to make sure we didn't miss a chance to fully see the island where we stayed, so we embarked on a half-day tour of Tahiti that covered the major landmarks: One Tree Hill (where Captain James Cook once anchored), Point Venus lighthouse, the Arahoho blowhole, Tahiti's tallest waterfall, and Maraa fern grotto. We took a few pictures and were taken with just how unique and exotic the landscape of Tahiti really is:

Enjoying the view of Tahiti from One Tree Hill.  

Point Venus, one of the few traditional lighthouses in French Polynesia.

Faarumai Waterfall, the tallest waterfall on the island.

At the appropriately named Maraa Fern Grotto.

The largest underwater cave in Tahiti. As we walked to the grotto, we passed ginger, hibiscus, and were also told that Gaugin used this as a bath tub.

As you can tell, French Polynesia really is a place like no other. We were surprised that there were so many more European visitors than Americans--probably about 80% of the people we encountered were from France--but even still, the Tahitian people were very friendly and eager to please. While not all the adults speak English, almost all the teenagers do, so anytime there was a problem communicating, it was easy to find someone who spoke our language. The locals speak both French and their native Tahitian, which is an interesting vocabulary. Tahitians use lots of different words and sayings to convey the same thing, so it was difficult to even use Google to figure out what they were saying. We kept being greeted with something we couldn't understand, which at times sounded like "mahalo" or "manana," The people were so enthusiastic that we felt guilty not responding, so we began greeting them in reply (in our very Southern accents) with whatever words we thought sounded similar: "Banana! Shenanigans! Sha na na!" We really are citizens of the world, y'all.

One of the best experiences we had was our incredible dinner at the restaurant Le Lotus at the Intercontinental. Right on the water, we had a candlelight meal with the sparkling lagoon right below us, and enjoyed some of the best food I have ever eaten.

Le Lotus restaurant. It was divine.

Enjoying a champagne cocktail, right on the lagoon.

To accompany the fresh baked bread, we enjoyed Tahitian vanilla infused olive oil,
ginger infused oil, balsamic vinegar, and sherry. The oils were amazing.

Our appetizer, from the menu: "Prawn and citrus tartare, basmati rice wafer, rocket salad espuma, and yuzu dressing." I can't even begin to tell you how delicious. 

My entree, scallops and shellfish with pesto risotto and saffron sauce. Clint ordered the green snapper and said it is hands down the best fish he's ever had.

Chocolate whiskey cake and macarons for dessert, with another birthday candle.
I couldn't think of anything else to wish for...except a return trip to Tahiti some day.

As you can see, it was the best birthday trip I could have possibly asked for; full of sun, sand, good food, and great memories. If this is what 40 has in store for me, I think I'm going to be just fine.

Sunset from our bungalow deck.
Goodbye for now, Tahiti. I hope to see you again!