Moorea and Tahiti Day 7 (5 April 2018)

Orana (yo-rah-nah, hello)!  We started out this morning in Mo’orea in our small bungalow. I looked out the screened window to see a rooster come up to my window, crow (or whatever roosters do), and then run away to the other side of the yard. Jerk. 

Checking out of Mark’s Place was pretty easy. Mark’s wife gave us all shell necklaces and sent us on our way. It would be the last time we needed to manually open and close the gate on the property. At first, I thought the gates were to keep the chickens and roosters out. Now, I think it’s to keep the dogs in. Last night when we were driving home from dinner, there were three dogs laying in the middle of the road, in different places. I think they just liked the heat from the road, but they almost went to doggie heaven a little early, since they were hard to see until Dad had to swerve to get around them!  😳

We did get to go into the Catholic Church, which is on the main road right outside our turn off. 

Here were a few of the last minute glimpses at the beauty of Mo’orea!  

Moorea is such a beautiful place, with every little traffic. (If a dog is willing to lay on the road at night, chances are they aren’t planning on getting hit). The speed limit is only 60 kph on the whole island!  I was surprised to see as many pizza places as there were, but it was a glorious experience!

When we headed back on the ferry, we went to lunch. It was in the air conditioning, which was very pleasant.  Other than being over charged on our bill, it was fantastic food and company!  Plus, throw in air conditioning, and you have a delightful lunch!  The crêpes were ham and cheese and Nutella and cream. 

Okay. When you see a sign with your name on it, does it make you smile a bit?  Just me?  Did I have my Dad turn around so I could take a picture?  Yes, I sure did!  Who cares what the business is for, just that it has my name on it. 😏

We then headed off to see Mom and Dad’s new Air B&B. It was very charming and cultural!  I was the translator for my mom, since the lady didn’t speak much English. I almost started cracking up when she said if the WiFi signal was weak, you just needed to turn on the light to boost the signal. I’m not sure how it does, but it was pretty funny. 

Once again, there was no A/C, and most of the House was open to the outside, but they did have this cool tennis-like racquet that you could turn on and it would zap the mosquitos!  I guess the crucial question to ask would’ve been something like, ‘Are there really that many mosquitos here in the house?’  Yep. Alex left her bug spray with the parents, and I left sunscreen. Hopefully they remember to drink a lot of water, without me nagging them about it too!

We piled into the tiny car, and headed to the Musée de Tahiti. It had some cool things in it!  Did you know there is a ‘Polynesian Triangle?’  It covers a huge area of the Pacific Ocean, and everyone inside the triangle are considered Polynesian.  We found some LDS documents inside it too!

A big surprise was walking outside to a garden and black sand beach with the waves coming all the way to the shore!  Because there is a reef surrounded being Mo’orea and part of Tahiti, we hadn’t heard the surf break yet. It was delightful to hear not only the waves crash against the shore, but the water being filtered down through the volcanic rocks on the shore was a treat!  The view was pretty spectacular too!

Here is some impressive street art that was on the side of the museum building:

After the museum, we went back over to the temple grounds. We ran into a few members of the church who were pretty friendly!  

A 16 year old boy gave us the grand tour and explained the school system. He also told me about the dialect differences from where he is from to Tahiti. I think it’s fascinating that the language is the same in all French Polynesia. They have different dialects, but you can still be understood everywhere. It’s pretty genius, if you ask me.  He also said there were more than 20 LDS Church buildings on Tahiti. He was there visiting from the Austral Islands (if I recall correctly). His ward came for two weeks. When I asked him if it was expensive, he said no, because the LDS Stake helps pay for their temple trip every year. It was fun meeting ‘Tea’ (pronounced like the French letter T). 

We made our way back to town to eat in a restaurant. Little did we know that they’d have karaoke there tonight!  I order a hamburger and a virgin pīna colada. The drink cost 1.5 times more than my meal, but it was cold and pretty decent!

Mom and Dad dropped us off at the airport around 7:15 p.m.  Had we known we would be waiting 4 1/2 hours in the open airport waiting to check in, we may have planned it a little differently.  😏. However, it gave me some time to write information for today!

Our flight leaves at 2:30 a.m. on Friday morning, and arrives at 6:40 a.m. on Saturday morning, thank you International Date Line!

 I’m sad that my time in French Polynesia has come to an end for now.  I think I’ll be back in the not too distant future. Alex’s dream destination is Bora Bora, who DOESN’T want to go there?  Tack on Samoa and Tonga and it seems like it would be another great trip! We shall see!

So, for now, it’s all about appreciating living in the moment. Other than feeling like I’m literally melting from the humidity and heat, I’m grateful for the ability I had to visit. For now, French Polynesia, Maururu (mah-roo-roo, thank you) et Nana (nah-nah, goodbye)! 💕