We took a car/passenger ferry from Mo’orea to Tahiti which sped like a rocket (considering all of the weight aboard). We arrived in less than an hour. We then checked into the Intercontinental Tahiti for 2 nights as the final destination of our 3.5 month journey. With such a short amount of time, we decided to indulge! What luxury! One infinity pool looked over the ocean and over water bungalows (no, we did not stay in one of those this time). The resort also had a swim up bar. Another large pool overlooked a Lagoonarium and private beach area. The Lagoonarium became our favorite part of the resort. They had created their own swimming area, fed from the salt water in the ocean, and stocked it with various types and shades of coral along with a plethora of beautiful fish. I didn’t know how anyone could possibly choose a chlorine swimming pool over the chance to be in salt water with exotic, colorful fish! This truly felt like being in an aquarium. (The fish photos are from this experience). The only bummer is that on the last day Suzan accidentally left her snorkel and mask on the back of the lounge chair. At least we’d completed our final swim in Tahiti by this time.

The resort had another small private beach with access to the ocean. Since the main channel with boats crossing was not too far from here, not many people ventured in. Anyone who stayed in the overwater bungalows had easier access, yet while staying here we never saw anyone brave the waters. Of course, Jim and I decided to try it out. Suzan followed Jim as we swam alongside all of the overwater bungalows and across one part of the ocean to get to another long row of them. The water became quite deep and I could not keep up with Jim (what’s new)….plus there was nowhere to get out of the water except to return to where we began. We could barge into someone’s overwater bungalow yet these were the only options. I looked up once and saw many resortists gazing at us from the infinity pool with puzzled looks. It didn’t seem like many cared to stray too far from the bar or the lounge chairs. At any rate, we finished our swim clocking in about 50 minutes with lots of adrenaline rushing through the veins (at least for Suzan)!

Another highlight during our stay was chatting with the Chief Concierge, a Les Clefs d’Or Member, Tevia. Suzan had been in the hotel business as a Chief Concierge for many years at various hotels and also had achieved the golden keys, Les Clefs d’Or status. Of course, this was many, many years ago – long before Tevia had even thought about the hotel business…. We took photos together, swapped stories, and he took great care of us. He sent us a fruit platter along with a gift and called us now and then to see how he could help us out. Such service!

Since we couldn’t bear leaving this resort, we purchased a late check-out so we could stay until 9:00 p.m. on the 21^st of July (Monday). Our flight left at midnight. What a treat having nearly 3 full nights instead of 2. With more time we left the resort to walk in the neighborhoods a bit, check out local stores and stalls along the road. No matter what the circumstances, we always like to take in some local flair!

Then the time came to have the porter come get our many bags (they accumulated the longer we traveled). Not easy to leave this paradise (Tahitian Islands) yet with it being only an 8 hour flight from LAX, we will likely return some day. We had the time of our lives during our travels yet were so happy to be home. “There is no place like HOME.”

We arrived in Tahiti from Raratonga in the Cook Islands. Apparently the Captain flew our plane as if it was a missile. We landed almost 1 hour earlier than had been planned! We chose to stay in Papeete, Tahiti in the downtown area for 2 nights because we thought we’d be going to their annual dance competition called Heiva. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get tickets. This part of town seemed quite run down. From our room at the Hotel Tahiti Nui we looked out to boarded, empty buildings and one collapsed rusted tin structure. Sadly there were many homeless people leaning against buildings. The front desk staff told us to only walk on the widest and best lit streets at night.

We did enjoy our walkabout during the daytime, especially taking in the large municipal market and some lovely Cathedrals. We found it interesting that in spite of many visitors, a majority of the locals we spoke to did not speak English well, if at all.Neither one of us had even had high school French so we did our best!

A highlight was coming across a local basket weaver intent on making his wears on a downtown sidewalk (fascinating to watch). We spotted another interesting site after dinner one night. When walking through an outdoor bar to return to our hotel,  we saw something similar to a keg, except with several pouring spouts, on many tables with thirsty looking people (all smiling, of course).

Tahiti (Papeete) is famous for Les Roulottes. These are food trucks with every cuisine imaginable in a huge parking lot for evening dining. Both locals and tourists frequent here for affordable, tasty food which is served al fresco albeit on plastic tables. We came here twice because the sticker shock of menu prices in Tahiti is quite real…and it was also a fun experience (aside from the food being quite good).