Beautiful Moorea, just 6.5 minutes by plane from Tahiti or alternatively by ferry just a quick hop away as well. Instead of opting for a sightseeing flight around Tahiti and the Society Islands, we had opted for the short flights and it was well worth it – beautiful lagoons, high, lush mountains and magnificent bays seen from above!

The bus was not there waiting for us but fortunately we were able to wave it down after all and hopped on for the half hour ride to the hotel – we had booked a splurged for the trip, an (almost) overwater bungalow in a fancy hotel. Passing the bays of Cook (where he actually never landed) and of Opunohu (where he did), we reached our hotel and checked into our bungalow, which had a beautiful terrace to jump from straight into the blue waters and was next to the turtle sanctuary, where they keep injured ones to reintroduce them into the wild whenever possible.

Next morning, we had organized a trip by outrigger to the nearby motu (small islet) to visit the Coral Beach café, lazing in the shallow water, watching sting rays passing by and enjoying Moorea views. After some snorkeling in the canal’s currents (near the shore) and a tasty lunch (fish kebab, as someone had snatched the last whole fish just before we ordered it), we outriggered back to the hotel, passing the ever-busy shark point.

In order to really enjoy the hotel facilities with pool, canoes and outriggers, snorkeling in the lagoon and watching dolphins (luckily for our wallets and unfortunately for the kids, the dolphin enclosure was closed for interaction with these beautiful animals but we could still watch them), we decided to for once not tour the island but spend this father’s day in a more relaxed way. (The clouds would have prevented a proper view from the Belvedere viewpoint anyway…) Roland got a nice painting from the boys in the evening and we got to enjoy the Polynesian show after dinner. After a few more jumps into the water the next morning, we were ready to continue to our last island – Huahine.

If Moorea is nice, Huahine is even more beautiful and quiet. Pick up at the airport was done by our host’s mom who drove us first to the island’s supermarket, to get some groceries for the next few days. Onwards we went with a pickup to the jetty on the southern island (Huahine Iti) in order to be picked up by a small boat and be taken to our motu for the next few days. It was fantastic, although the weather was not playing along too nicely. The water turned from turquoise blue on the first two days to muddy brown as the rain stirred up too much soil but we did not mind as we got to relax in the big house, eat grapefruit straight from the trees and tuna fish straight from the ocean – fresh and delicious as can be. We visited the vanilla plantation behind our house and picked some Tiare flowers to help our hosts with their 12,000-piece target per week.

One day, we rented a car to drive around the two islands joined only by a small bridge, but as weather and health was not the best that day, it was a slow progress. Nevertheless, we got to see, feed, and even pet the sacred blue-eyed eels of Huahine, toured another pearl farm (expensive jewelry!) and admired some old-fashioned fishing traps, built centuries ago. As we had written some postcards, the boys got to first put stamps on and then drop them into the letter box at the post office – can’t believe this was a first for them 😉

After returning the car, we were picked up by our host who was leisurely drinking a glass of wine while driving… must be the French influence, for sure!

The next morning meant again farewell – and we got to experience airport transport island style: we boarded the boat, then the car, picking up another 3 passengers on their way to church with our host, dropped some trash and flowers on the way, picked up our laundry on the street corner (washed at the mother’s house, delivered just in time by the dad), and eventually reached the airport – still way too early for the flight which was (a first for us with Air Tahiti) delayed by more than an hour.

The last two days in French Polynesia were spent with exploring the mainland, as Tahiti is called by the people there, sending yet another parcel of souvenirs home (we will be drowning in wooden things back home…) and shopping some gifts and pearls for us as well (beautiful, beautiful black pearls).

Luckily we had decided to extend our stay in Gecko house at the beach for the last night as well, so we got to enjoy a nice home cooked dinner, some wine, and some sleep before we woke up at 1.30am to head for the airport for our LATAM flight at 4am. Tired but excited to discover Easter Island, we were carried further East again…