Sun, Sand & Surf

Why is it that pictures never do the beauty of nature justice???

That is the island of Moorea in the background

That is the view that greeted us from the apartment we are staying in and it was waaaayyy more beautiful than this photo.

Thats an Amelia sandwhich

We arrived tired but happy at 5:00 am and were met at airport by a great couple, Damien & Amelia who own the apartment. We had found the place on a great website we have used in the past where owners rent out their places to vacationers. Check out our Tahitian digs and the site by clicking here. The apartment was fantastic but nothing compared to these two locals who looked after us like we were their very own grandparents. We rented what looked (and felt) like a little toy car and the next day we were off to drive around the whole island, all 110 kilometers of it (those are like miles for French people).

Not even in my younger days

 

One of the highlights for me was being able to see one of the greatest surf breaks on the planet. Growing up surfing in "Surf City" aka Huntington Beach, Calif. made this stop a must.

Teahupoo is known to be the heaviest wave in the world. As you can see in this You Tube video the wave is thick and hollow. What you can't see is that it breaks out on the reef top in only a few feet of water far enough off shore that you need a boat to get to it - and some huge b@*ls. Every year it is a stop on the Billabong Pro Surf Tour with the greatest surfers in the world. OK...you're right I'm gushing but I can't help it, it's my surf dude coming out...fer sure dude!! Anyway, it was a beautiful beach at the end of the road as far from Papeete as you can drive.

These dudes were surfing the inner break inside the lagoon just off the beach. It looks like the bigger dude has been surfing here longer than the little dude has been alive...fer sure dude!

Tahiti has some mountains that peak at over 3,000 feet and are usually covered in clouds generated every day by their own humid jungles. They are VERY steep and have some spectacular cascades (those are like waterfalls for French people) a few of which we hiked up to. Driving around was a little bit of a challenge since everything is written in French, the Tahitians speak french and our french is terrible (which is french for we don't know any french). There are also those crazy traffic circles (which is french for stop lights) at every intersection. The easy part about driving here is that once you get out of Papeete there is pretty much only one road hugging the coast around the whole island. The hard part about driving here is getting out of Papeete.

We spent our last day on Tahiti soaking up sun and 80 degree seawater at "Venus Point" which was named by hero Captain Cook. In 1767 he sailed here on his first voyage to observe, measure and record the Transit of Venus across the sun. The Royal Society of London then used these measurements and a super computer to calculate the distance of the earth from the sun.

Well, I need to get this posted and get to bed. We have to get up at 4:00 am (and you thought this was all fun and relaxation) to catch our 4 hour flight to Nuku Hiva. Tomorrow we meet Al, Jill, Dragonfly and the rest of our crew.

Life as we know it is about to change!!