Friday in Moorea

For our last full day on the island we mostly did the same things we'd been doing and added the one real activity we thought we'd missed on the rest of our tour of the Tahitian islands.
To help cut down on costs we cooked almost all of our meals while on Moorea. Fresh fruit from people with stands right on the street and lots of bread and cheese because they mostly eat French cuisine. We had cereal or french toast most mornings and then grilled cheese or grilled ham and cheese for most lunches. It was actually really nice to cook after 10 days on a boat where there were lots of choices but it still wasn't always exactly what you'd like. And truthfully after 10 days of gorging ourselves we weren't really that hungry anyway. The kids were happy too to eat what they like.
Friday was very rainy- on and off as was usually the case so we mostly hung on the porch and played games or read.
Miles decided he was actually cold and needed a "banky". It was still in the 80's even with the rain.
The one thing we realized we had really missed on the islands was doing something cultural. We saw wildlife, did lots of physical activities, enjoyed the scenery, learned about their history, shopped, ate, but never really anything cultural. And luckily Moorea has what we read was the best Tahitian cultural experience of any of the islands. It's apparently like the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii- but Tahitian style. And kind of the same experience too- a village to tour and learn about, a traditional dinner with a show.
Not really sure what this house boat is for but it was at the center.
Same with the canoes.
This is what a traditional village looked like.
And a traditional band- sorry no soundtrack for you.
A guy showing us how to properly open a coconut.
And here's dinner. They cooked it for hours in an underground fire pit.
Miles thought it was yummy.
And then it was on to the show. They had all the guys get up and do the male dance. Sorry I can't figure out how to upload a working video or you'd get a really good show.
Even Taylor got in on the show and Miles and Isaac and Ethan are on the front row.
Then the real dancers entertained us for over an hour. Pretty amazing.


Miles got pulled onstage for one dance and he actually tried to hula. Totally hilarious to watch him shake what little bum he has!
And it was Christmas season so they added a song and acted out the Nativity but Tahitian style of course.
I have to give Taylor's cousin real credit. Staying those extra 5 days was heavenly. It was just what we needed after a 10 day reunion. So nice just to be with our little family relaxing and playing in paradise. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Thursday in Moorea

Even knowing we could never build a good sand castle, the boys wanted to play in the sand so that's what they did.
And of course Miles discovered it was fun to throw the huge shells into the water.
The boy's somewhat of a castle.
Christmas is rainy season in Tahiti so there were several times when the clouds would part and torrential downpours of rain would begin. Actually really entertaining as long as you were already hot and could laugh about it. The house had this bizarre glass room in the middle of the side deck. We could never figure out what it was for so we just let the boys take over. They drove their cars there, kicked balls around when it was raining, and spent hours shooting darts at the glass.
And at mom.

See? Beautiful room but not sure the purpose.
This was the 1 bedroom. It actually worked great. We'd put the kids to bed when it was dark and then just read books or go to sleep ourselves. Miles slept on a mattress in the corner.
The house was seriously decked out. Taylor's mom oohed and ahhed about this shower head.
And we felt more secure with other renters in the house just a little ways from us.
The only real chore was sweeping out the constantly tracked in sand, but luckily Miles wanted to "help" :)
Lots of relaxing family time.

And truly a vacation because the kids could play and do what they wanted while we relaxed and did what we wanted.
And when it got dark there were always the ipods.
Cause these boys are pretty obsessed with them.

Wednesday in Moorea

Wednesday we woke up in our cute little house and got down to business... RELAXING. THIS was a vacation! No reunion! A relaxing vacation!
We ate breakfast outside on the table overlooking the water. The boys colored.
They lined up and raced cars in the bizarre glass room.
And then Taylor's family dropped in. Okay so it wasn't actually bad. Taylor's parents and Barb and Clint's flight wasn't until the day after they got off the cruise ship and they decided to spend the night also on Moorea but in their own hotel. We had planned to maybe meet up for dinner but it turned out Taylor's phone didn't get service on our side of the island so we just bagged dinner and had a relaxing Tuesday night. Wednesday morning we drove around to the other side until we found them (and a cell signal) and then they came back and hung out at our house until they had to leave to catch their ferry to the plane home.
Barbara took the boys out snorkeling again.
And helped them build a trap for the nocturnal crabs.
Black pearls are native to Tahiti so there were these shells literally everywhere. People on American beaches would die to find such intact, large beautiful shells but there were just hundreds of them everywhere.
Unfortunately what there wasn't was good sand castle building sand. The sand on the beaches was actually really coarse. I assume that's because there's not much of a tide with the barrier reef and all so the sand mostly is just small rocks- still sand, but not fine enough to pack and hold a shape. We tried several times and even one morning after it had rained substantially, but to no avail. No sand castles on Moorea. Luckily these are boys and they're just as happy making mud pies and stacking up shells around crab holes.
This was our front porch on the house. To the right is the ocean and inside the window is the kitchen. We LIVED on these lounges- partly because it was in the 90's and humid inside, even with the windows open, and partly because why not? The view was amazing, the breeze was refreshing, and we were RELAXING!!!
There was a small sea kayak that came with the house so the first morning we were there, Taylor got up bright and early around 5am and without telling anyone he was leaving, paddled off into the sunrise. He got about halfway out to the barrier reef when he realized he was taking on water. He turned around and headed back but it was a lost cause. 1/4 of the way back he had to get off and drag the kayak the rest of the way. This would have been funny enough without all the other Tahitians out on their sea kayaks and outriggers doing their morning fishes- because remember, everyone there is up bright and early too. And everyone at home on the beaches got to watch the crazy American drag back in his kayak too. Luckily Taylor is a very strong swimmer and is used to pushes heavy objects/people around in the water from his days playing water polo in college. He made it all the way back with the kayak well before I or the boys woke up. And we enjoyed his story over breakfast.
This picture is of that kayak but it's actually Clint who was determined to kayak himself even though he knew there was a hole. At least he stayed close to shore this time- but still after just a few minutes you can see the back end is sinking.
And here's the whole group, minus grams taking the picture from the beach.

Off the Boat and back to Moorea

Tuesday morning we arrived back in Papeete and spent the morning packing up/eating/ and saying goodbye to everyone. Once we headed off the ship, we got our bags and then this is how my boys entertained themselves while Taylor went to go get money exchanged.
Yep, just like there's birds to chase wherever you are in the world, there are also trees to climb- and my boys are guaranteed to find them.
One of Taylor's cousins went to Tahiti on his honeymoon so when he heard we were going there for Christmas he convinced Taylor that we absolutely COULD NOT leave without staying in an overwater bungalow. Unfortunately I kept having visions of us asleep in the middle of the night and Miles getting up and falling in the water and even if we made him sleep in a life jacket, he'd simply drift out to sea and be gone. Nope, an overwater bungalow with a 2, 4, and 6 year old was never going to fly with me.
But I did consent that it might be nice to have a little "just our family" time after 10 crazy busy days with everyone. We checked out hotels to stay in but found that they wouldn't let more than 4 people stay in 1 room and I wasn't relishing having to split up again, nor the thought of being at a hotel with mostly newlyweds and having to try to keep my kids in line the whole time.
So we kept looking and eventually found a home away website with individual homes to rent in Tahiti. We found what looked to be an amazing 1 bedroom cottage right on the beach on Moorea, just a 30 minute ferry ride from Papeete, and for about 1/3 the price of staying in a hotel.
So after we got off the cruise ship, we walked 1/4 miles to the ferry dock and rode 30 minutes over. We rented a little car and miraculously found our house from just a google map (there are no house numbers on Moorea and just one road that goes around the entire island).
Once we got to our little house this is what our kids did- instantly in the sand! Finally!
Ocean. Beach. Rockwall. House. Can it get any more perfect than this?
The boys stayed out in the sand almost all afternoon- totally happy.
Taylor took them out snorkeling for a little while. Ethan was pretty good at snorkeling on his own and we found a raft online that you lay on and has a plexiglass window at the top for you to look through. Miles and Isaac took turns riding it and watching all the fish. Can you see the coral reefs just feet from the shoreline? Apparently the Tahitian islands are new enough that they're still sinking into the water and the outer edge of the volcanic cone creates a barrier reef around the entire island. There are opening in it where fresh water rivers and cut through the coral and rock, but for the most part the entire island has a mile of enclosed reef with just 8 or 10 open channels to get out to sea. This makes the water much more protected and there's coral and reef fish everywhere.
When we were reading about the house online, the owners advertised that you could practice your ray and shark feeding just outside in the bay. It made me question just a little bit if this was the right house for a 2, 4, and 6 year old but in the end it was perfect! And we actually never even saw a shark or ray!
The best part of our little house was that there was just one other house across the yard from us and everything was enclosed with a rock wall. We were able to relax and let the boys just play and be loud as much as they wanted. Luckily Santa had filled sand buckets with beach balls and shovels and other games and toys to entertain little boys.
Playing go fish while dinner gets cooked.
Now this is a view I could have any night while doing my dishes.