Viktor on the Ukulele

Viktor is totally awesome. When we got back to the US, I picked up a ukulele too.

Bora Bora

The lagoon is an amazing blue
Our Overwater Bungalows
Bed
Bath
A New Friend (right off our bungalow)

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We took a small plane from Huahine to Bora Bora. The lagoon is simply breathtaking. The water is sooo blue and clear. We stayed in an overwater bungalow at the intercontinental le moana resort. Right after we arrived, a huge stingray swam by while we were hanging out on the deck. He would swim by every day too.

A few photos from our island bike ride

Smile
Standing in front of some Marae

Making flower head dresses with Vahine

We met some kids near the archaeological sites. I tried to speak Tahitian with them. What was funny is that they replied in English to me. We continued on biking around the island, stopping in Fare, and back around. We did get picked up the final few kilometers by Eric (Thank God) and his truck. Otherwise it would have been pitch black trying to get back to Pension Mauarii. Our final group activity was making flower head dresses. Now to Bora Bora!

After a brief intermission...(like months)...some more photos

Sacred eels of Faie - They have blue eyes just like Shayna!
Biking around
Souvenirs
Getting to the Pearl Farm
Pottery at the Pearl Farm as well

Some more photos taken on Huahine. We actually biked the entire island! It is about 70 kilometers. We left about 9 am and didn't get back until 6:30 pm. Right before we reached Faie, there is a 1 km incline from hell. I had to carry my bike, Shayna's bike, and a heavy backpack while trekking up. We made Faie just in time as we ran out of water. We had a nice break at the Pearl Farm. There was some amazing pottery as well.

Fun with coconuts

Plucked right off the tree.

Filled right to the top with coconut water.

Enjoying our tropical beverage.

Sooo Good.

My quarterback princess. Go long!

It's always been a dream of mine (Mike) to grab a fresh coconut from a tree, open it up with a machete, and drink that sweet sweet water. That came true here. I tried asking if there were any coconut stands around, and the cook at Pension Mauarii grabbed a coconut from a tree 5 feet away from us! Later we learned to open a coconut the traditional way and make poisson cru. Shayna found her football on the beach and struck a pose. More photos to follow.

Pension Mauarii

Huahine! Taken in front of Pension Mauarii

Our beach bungalow - Fare Moana (House of the Ocean)

The bed with mosquito net. The bungalow was huge.

View from our porch. The water was so clear! There were all these little fish right on the edge of the water. My vanilla fish sandwich with Hinano beer for lunch. Yum!

We stayed at Pension Mauarii in Huahine. We had the beach bungalow with an amazing view. We had a great time. The people and guests at Pension Mauarii were so friendly and helpful. They didn't speak much English and we didn't speak much French, but we managed. We also learned some Tahitian too! The first day was just relaxation and food. This was also our first time snorkeling. The first time I was breathing soooo heavy. But after the second and third time we got the hang of it. More to follow. SB and MC.

The beginning of our journey!

Arrival at Tahiti!

Waiting in the airport.

View from our plane

So blue!
Raiatea airport (oops we weren't suppose to get off here!)

We flew from LAX to Papeete via Air Tahiti Nui. It was a great flight. Two meals and a nap and we were there. The first thing we noticed was the humidity. After living in Santa Barbara so long we almost forgot what that was like. We were greeted with music and flower leis before going thru customs. While we were waiting to transfer to Huahine, we got some mango drinks and walked around the open airport for a while. We got on a small plane for Huahine. We were so excited when we landed we didn't realize we were actually on Raiatea (another island). Luckily someone from the airport found us and got us back on the plane! More to follow.

SB and MC