French Polynesia: our weeks on four gorgeous islands complete with plenty of snorkelling, rays and sharks, tropical downpours, friendly locals and delicious poisson cru!

It seemed like a day-long journey to get here… we rented a car to drive from Palm Desert to LAX on Wednesday which took a few hours but we wanted to leave quite early to be safe in case of highway stalls. Arrived at LAX with hours and hours to spare. Itched to reorganize bags and throw out half our belongings due to walking from terminal 2 to 6 thanks to a mis-understanding with the rental car shuttle driver. Checked in, worried the chicken salad croissant-wich the kids ate was going to give him salmonella (great news, it didn’t), people-watched. Boarded a GIANT FrenchBee plane with very leggy bulkhead seats and very chic flight attendant outfits. Spent an uncomfortable night trying to snatch snippets of sleep where I could; luckily at least Kieran had two full seats on which to stretch out and doze off.

It was pouring warm rain when we arrived in Tahiti but the air was packed with moisture and I soaked it up (literally and figuratively). Coming from the desert to this, I could feel my tissues drinking it in! It was still dark when we arrived and we were so tired we couldn’t think straight, so first notes of Tahiti are blurry. Luck of all luck, we were able to check into our hotel room early – 6 AM early, thank you, Resort Kon Tiki!! – and have a snooze before heading out to explore Papeete for the day and book our ferry tickets. Left a giant bag of items in the room thanks to luggage reorg #3. Rounded the day off with a delicious mai tai on the rooftop and some charcuterie. The baguettes, cheeses, butter, yogurt, and croissants here are TOP NOTCH!

Salut,

Caley

BC Ferries should take note – this one had excellent coffee, beautiful pastries and made-right-there baguette sandwiches. Both kids were a bit seasick from the deep swells of the crossing; nothing Gravol couldn’t quell. Will give it to them prior to the voyage next time.

Huahine is all the shades of turquoise waters lapping up to white sand that you see in travel ads. The flowers are gorgeous – hibiscus, plumeria, ginger, bougainvillea and a hundred others I can’t name – and the hills are very, very jungly.

Post-script: Kieran thought we were saying “money money” when we ordered the fish for lunch. In most places, that would not be wrong, but seafood prices here are so low! A massive, perfectly grilled mahi mahi steak with rice was around $10 CDN.

It was super wet today but my mood is certainly a lot better than it was for the past two days! We had planned last night that this morning we would head into town around 8:30 or 9 AM for a nice coffee at the café. Having a set plan for the morning is, I think, going to make all the difference. I awoke wanting to put on my workout gear (!!) and then we all headed to Uturoa. We enjoyed some very French bakery treats at le Patisserie Bon Apetahi and poked into some shops – I scored a lovely light swishy little dress, as that is ALL I want to wear in this humidity. 

Came home to enjoy the rest of a relaxing rainy day doing some school lessons, making a plan for our days in Bora Bora, playing badminton and boules in the little yard, and cooking a delicious dinner of roast chicken and stir-fried vegetables with ginger and soy sauce.

Schooling update: last week in Huahine I planned out a week’s worth of lessons for the kids, based on weekly emails sent by both kids’ teachers back home. Those emails go over what the kids are learning in different subjects and some ways that they are learning new concepts, so they are SUPER helpful for this first-time homeschool parent. Tomorrow I’ll make a new one for next week. We’re fairly loose with when we do lessons (e.g., no set time each day) but typically it has been mid-morning.

Any and all homeschooling tips very welcome! Mauruuru (thank you),

C

Writing about the remainder of French Polynesia from New Zealand! Have fallen behind a bit on writing, but here goes. Bora Bora was dreamy (mostly!), especially our splurge trip to one of the fancier resorts on a nearby motu (little island off the main island) for the last two days.

On the main island, we spent our time doing morning workouts at the sports complex, enjoying happy hours at the Beach Club, tons of swims at Matira, hanging out with our AirBnB pets, and exploring the lagoon in a little rented aluminum boat. We ended up renting the little 13’ Quintrex from La Plage Bora Bora twice – it was so much fun. Sean zipped us around to various areas to swim, snorkel, explore white sand beaches, check out scenery, and picnic. We swam with eagle rays, sting rays, and black-tip reef sharks, as well as tons of gorgeous colourful fishes. 

Speaking of sharks and rays, we also got a front row seat to see some swimming by from the deck at The St. James restaurant. What a gorgeous spot – literally right over the water, perfect sunset views, delicious food, and A PAGE OF CHAMPAGNES on the wine list!

Misadventure: Sean sat on an ant’s nest on the grass at the edge of Matira and got bitten on his side, which swelled up pretty alarmingly for the next three days. Ants have been the main pest here; not bad at all as long as you don’t sit on their nest or leave sugary food out! Actually speaking of pests, there are also big brown land crabs everywhere here. Not a bother to us at all, but you have to watch your step as they dig holes all over and you can trip in them. Also, kitchen garbage maggots were a VERY unwelcome surprise one morning while Sean was making coffee. Thank goodness the kitchen was in a separate space than our main living space! Ugh.

But onto the fancy part: we decided on a total splurge stay for our last two days in French Polynesia and found a “somewhat” deal (compared to other fancy resorts in the area!) at Le Bora Bora by Pearl Resorts. Although it was tempting, we decided not to stay in an overwater bungalow, but in a villa with little private plunge pool instead. It was so lovely to be in a space where we could all roam freely around after having been on the not-very-walkable other islands. The grounds were huge and very, very pretty – tropical bushes and palm trees and ponds full of water lilies and little bridges everywhere. We spent 95% of our time in the water: paddleboarding and snorkeling in the shallow lagoon water, diving for coins and practicing cannonballs in our little villa pool, and paddling around the main pool (and its swim-up bar at happy hour). We decided to forego schooling for those few days so it felt like a vacation from our trip!

We’ve now been in Auckland, NZ for a few days but bedtime awaits; stay tuned for our Auckland adventures soon!

Love C