Tahiti
July 15-22nd, 2023 - Down a Man in a Beautiful Land
Sometimes, life throws lemons at you and you find a way to make lemonade! The startup that I had been working for was acquired by a large company, and after two years of transitioning, maintaining customers and building and supporting the most amazing team, my time was apparently up just before we left on our trip to French Polynesia. We were on the sailboat one day and I turned to my husband and said, “I don’t see any good reason why the kids and I shouldn’t stay longer.” We called the airline to find out what it would cost to change the ticket and they said they would actually give us money; that was the final sign I needed. I searched for a rental in Tahiti and found something in Taiarapu-Ouest.
Upon return from Moorea, we had a half day to explore as a family, so we checked out some waterfalls just outside of Papeete and watched a beautiful sunset over Moorea from Tahiti.
The next morning we dropped Johan at the airport for a fairly tearful goodbye (well, at least one kid cried, and one laughed at the one crying, you guess which was which), we rented a car and headed South! It was way to early to get into our rental, so we decided to pass it up and go in search of a beach. There were way fewer beaches than I imagined and the one we found required a bit of a walk to get there. So, imagine my surprise when one year later we see all of the Olympic 2024 guests posing in front of this very same wave statue!! If you look out past the cute blond kid in the picture on the right, you can also see the Teahupo'o wooden judging tower, which has traditionally been used for judging surfing contests. When the Olympic committee decided to build something more extravagant, the Islanders pushed back and got over 100k signatures to protect their ocean and the marine life, resulting in a scaled back judging tower that was supposedly better for marine life at the Olympics.
We eventually made our way to the rental for a week of “rest and relaxation”. When we arrived we were greeted by chickens on the main road, and a nice family welcoming us to the property. We were on a very shallow body of water that was just deep enough for kayaks. So we made multiple trips to the little island with a rope swing.
I can say without a doubt the best part of about our trip, other than just being together, was our Polynesian neighbors. They were so kind and welcoming. The men in the family were fisherman, and when they returned with huge tuna, they let the boys come over and see them and would tell them about their adventure for the day. They even offerred to take Alex with them one day but the weather wound up being bad so I made him stay back. One day they gave us a couple of the “small” bonito fish. They were not that small though. I am not sure if I have ever in my life actually filleted a fresh fish. I think I did as a kid, but the fact that I don’t remember should tell you that it was a very, very long time ago. I was determined to do it though and the rental had a filleting knife. It was not pretty, I dread that my son has a video of it somewhere. The neighbors told us we could eat it raw and we did eat some that way. With the remainder, we opened a fresh coconut and fresh passionfruit from the yard and cooked it lightly in the skillet. This was a wonderful, colorful, fragrant meal!
Our neighbors continuously brought us stuff and taught us stuff. They gave us sponges from their garden. Maybe I am naive but I did not realize that sponges grew in gardens. We removed all of the seeds and learned that they really are the most effective cleaning tool out there. On the last day they brought us a nice parting gift. So thoughtful and kind. They would not take anything in return. I wish there was a way to send them a thank you.
I must’ve de-husked 1-2 coconuts every day when it was just me and the kids. Alex was in heaven and - although I have never really cared for dried coconut - I found myself loving the access to fresh coconut, especially since we had the right tools to get it out. On our very first sailing trip when we brought the kids to the BVI in 2020, then seven-year-old Alex was already obsessed with opening coconuts. On that trip, the only tool I had was a screwdriver but I was determined so I spent 2 hours and a lot of elbow grease to open the darn thing, only to lose half to the ocean when I tried to crack it open on a boat cleat. We retrieved no coconut water and only a small bit of delicious fresh coconut meat was scraped out with a fork. I knew there had to be a better way but it was during Covid and I didn’t have my own machete! I was very amused about the effort it took and spent too much time thinking about how animals actually ate this fruit in the wild. On Bora Bora, we learned how to use a pointy wooden stick, and on Tahiti, the tool was made out of steel! In addition there was a small kitchen appliance that was designed to dig out the coconut meat. I found something similar called the Coconut Tool on amazon. I was able to open the coconut in 5 minutes or less and extract 80% of the delicious reward. I later mused in my professional life that this was a great example of the importance of having the right tool!
Of course we had to find a place to take surfing lessons - and of course it was on the exact opposite corner of the island. Nonetheless, we got up early one morning and drove to meet a surfing coach and some other kiddos so the big kids could surf while Rory and I took in the beautiful surroundings of the black sand beach.
Other than that, we spent alot of time driving back to the Papeete for our activities. First to take another ferry to Moorea for a forgotten item (you can see some of those picks on the Moorea page). While we were there we did another jet ski trip and this time Rory petted the sting rays too! Then, we drove north to go deep sea fishing - it was a dry day from a fishing perspective, but we did see beautiful views of Tahiti and dolphins, and, well, it felt great to be on a boat again!! Wish I was there now :)
Whenever we were out commuting, we stopped to see a novel site, try a new food, take a swim or explore a side road . We couldn’t always speak the language but the kids still made friends using a well known soccer song wherever they went.
I am forever grateful to the stars that aligned to give me this time with my kiddos in Tahiti, and I think the whole family agrees, we cannot wait to return to French Polynesia!