The Second Largest Atoll in the World

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Day One:

Rangiroa is the the second largest atoll in the world. (An atoll is an island of coral that encircles a lagoon. The largest in the world is in the Marshall Islands) Compared to Moorea and Bora Bora, Rangiroa is very flat, but still very pretty. The various blues in the water are gorgeous and the island is closer to the Equator, so it is much more humid.

We started our day in Bora Bora, where we watched the sun rise. Then, we got breakfast--yummy pastries and mango juice! We toured the island a bit more before turning in our rental car. When we checked out of our hotel, we got quite a send off! They had men playing the ukulele and signaling our farewell by blowing notes into conch shells. It was neat to experience.

We arrived at the Hotel Kia Ora in the afternoon. Again, we got the room we requested. 😊 The hotel is one of the only major hotels on the atoll and it is pretty old. So, things are not as nice as they could be. The "backyard" of our beach bungalow is great though. We have our own jacuzzi tub and our own hammock! The view out of our door is the beach and ocean. Very pretty.

We ate dinner at the hotel. It was a barbecue buffet and it was delicious. I even tried some mahi mahi and swordfish. (very adventurous for me!) Neither tasted fishy, but I liked the swordfish better. After dinner, there was a Polynesian dance show. It was similar to the one we saw in Bora Bora, but with more dancers (who had practiced more) and it was much less cheesy.

The stars were very bright, so we sat on our beach and attempted to read the star charts we brought with us. When we could not figure them out, we moved to the hammock and just admired their beauty. 😊

Day Two:

We got to sleep in today...till 7:15 AM! I cannot believe what a difference an hour makes. After getting ready for the day, we ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant--a great buffet, that even included banana juice.

Today we were going on an all day excursion to the Blue Lagoon! There were four couples, plus the captains, on our trip. We took an hour boat ride from our hotel to the Lagoon--the boat was uncovered and the sun was quite hot, even at 9 AM.

When we got to the Lagoon, the captains anchored the boat far away from the beach. That meant we had to walk a ways through sharp rocks, slugs, and yes, many black tip reef sharks! They were everywhere around the boat. Of course, Bryan thought walking/swimming with them was the best part of the day.

We finally reached the shore and set up camp at a small hut near the Blue Lagoon. We had about an hour and a half before lunch. So, Bryan and I walked to Bird Island. It took about a half an hour to walk there because we had to walk through rocks, coral and slugs. We also saw many clams. On Bird Island, we saw exactly one bird. It was black with a white head. We did find all kinds of cool shells and took some pictures of them.

Bryan got in the water and started taking pictures with our digital camera. A wave came out of nowhere and soaked the camera!! It completely stopped working, so all we had was our underwater camera. We really hoped the camera would dry out and we could use it again later in the trip.

Anyway, depressed over the camera, we headed back to the hut. We arrived just in time for lunch. While Bryan was mostly disgusted by all the flies swarming around, I thought the food was great! They grilled chicken and fish. Both were so yummy with a bit of fresh lime juice sprinkled over them. We also had potato chips, fruit and Coca Cola.

After lunch, we went swimming in the Blue Lagoon. When we got bored with that, we walked to the other side of the motu and walked in the water there. About 50 baby black tip reef sharks were swimming around us. They would come within a few feet of us, then veer off to the side. It was very cool and not scary at all. We watched them and took pictures for a while, then went swimming in the Lagoon again.

At 2 PM, we packed up and headed back to the boat. The guides treated us to an impromptu shark feeding. We got in the boat and they threw our leftovers from lunch into the water for the sharks. Of course, Bryan decided the boat was not close enough, so he jumped in the water with his snorkel gear and underwater camera.

When the food was gone, we headed back toward the Kia Ora. About halfway back, we stopped at an island and snorkeled for awhile. There were some fish and some coral, but nothing too interesting.

Back at the hotel, we showered and checked out the damage from the sun. Overall, not too bad! Our feet were a bit sunburned, along with our shoulders (even though we applied lots of sunscreen throughout the day). We watched the sun set and had dinner at the hotel. It was a relaxing evening.

Day Three:

We slept in again today (till 7:30!) and then ate breakfast at the delcious hotel buffet again. At 10 AM, the Gauguin's Pearl Farm bus came to the hotel to pick us up for a free tour of the farm and boutique.

We learned a lot about how black pearls are made. It takes 3 years to make one pearl and the oysters are not found naturally in Rangiroa. They import baby oysters from smaller atolls (like Manihi) and let them sit out in the lagoon to grow. We saw how the technicians graft the oysters by inserting a nucleus and a small piece of the oyster's mantle. Left long enough, these will grow into a black pearl.

After the tour, we bought pearls! It was fun because you got to pick out the ones you wanted from a huge selection. Then, they drill the holes in the back of the store and create jewelry from the pearls chosen. We bought several pendants for family members.

We got back to our hotel just in time to make the boat for our drift snorkel of the Tiputa Pass. There were only 2 other couples on this excursion with us, so that was nice. The captain stopped the boat at the Pass and we all jumped in the water at the same time and grabbed each others' hands. This way our guide could easily control where we went. Also, the current was strong, so it helped us all stay together.

We first drifted into the Tiputa Pass while snorkeling the right side. Then we went out again and snorkeled back, this time on the left side. It was AMAZING! The part we snorkeled was about 20-40 ft. deep and the water was very clear.

We saw tons of fish--parrot fish, trigger fish, perch, Napoleons, huge barracudas, catfish and probably many others. I know our guide pointed out a clown fish (Nemo!) but neither Bryan or I saw it. 😞 We did see 2 turtles, which was neat. There were also some reef sharks swimming around. I was really hoping to see dolphins, but no such luck! After such a cool experience, we headed to the lagoon for some more snorkeling. There were hundreds of fish swimming inches from us. It was great!

Upon returning to the hotel around 3, we relaxed all afternoon. We crossed the road from the hotel and played along the beach of the Pacific Ocean. This is also where we watched the sun set. It was serene and beautiful. We were the only ones on the beach! A side note: our digital camera started working again! Yea! We could take pictures, but we could not see what they looked like because the display screen still did not work. Oh well, at least we captured some great pictures!

For dinner, we ventured off the hotel property as well. We went to Viamario. They had pasta, pizza and burgers. Our kind of place! 😊 The food was good and we had some left over pizza to take back to our room for later.

Day Four:

Our last full day in paradise....

We woke up and got ready for the day. Breakfast was at the hotel's buffet again. After breakfast, Bryan got ready for his first scuba dive of the day at 9:30. While he was diving, I went to the pool. It was fun having no where to be and nothing to do. I read, suntanned and swam. This was my last ditch effort to get a tan before returning home.

When Bryan returned, we stayed at the pool for a bit. Then, we ate lunch in the hotel restaurant....a burger and our last chance for Tahitian vanilla ice cream. Mmmmm....

Bryan went out his second dive after lunch. I went back to the pool. When he came back from the dive, he was super excited because it was "the best one ever!" He saw dolphins! and his favorite, a hammerhead shark! He also saw tons of fish and turtles. What a neat experience! It is times like these that I wish I had learned to dive. Ah, well.

We relaxed in our hotel room that night. Instead of going out to eat, we just finished the pizza from the previous night. We also had lots of packing to do, so that took awhile. We fell asleep sad to have to leave French Polynesia in the morning.

Day Five:

Homeward bound....

We had to check out of the hotel at 11 AM. However, we did not have to leave for the airport until 5 PM, so we had lots of time to kill. We hung out in the hotel game room for most of the morning. We read, played Uno and challenged each other at billiards.

After lunch, we rented a Fun Car for a few hours. The "car" was a 3 wheel vehicle that even had training wheels. It sounded like a lawn mower and the maximum speed was only 10 km/hr (about 6 mph!). It was fun to ride, though. We went to the main town on Rangiroa, Avatoru, and looked at the Avatoru Pass from the road. Then, we turned around (because we could not travel any farther on the road) and headed back to the Pearl Farm. Yep, we bought more pearls! 😊

Then, we got back in the Fun Car and drove the rest of the motu to the Tiputa Pass. We sat and watched for dolphins there, but no such luck finding them. We had to return the car, so after a little while, we went back to the Kia Ora. It was just about 4:30 PM, so we sat in the lobby and read till it was time to go to the airport.

We got to Papeete, Tahiti, around 7 PM and our flight to L.A. was not till midnight, which gave us lots more time to kill. So, what did I do? Go shopping, of course! Although we bought a few things in the airport, I am glad I got most of my shopping done earlier. Everything on Tahiti was more expensive, even though it did not have to be imported.

Our flight home was not nearly as crowded as the flight there. So, that made it much more enjoyable. Plus, we were both so tired, we actually slept most of the way home. We got into L.A. around 11:15 AM and our flight back to Chicago was not till 3:55 PM. So, we spent more time in an airport! (We did have to clear customs and security, which had about a 45 minute wait) That was one thing I did not miss in French Polynesian airports. They were more concerned about how much our luggage weighed than what was inside the luggage.

In the airport, we ate our first real American meal--chicken quesadillas from La Salsa. 😊 It was also nice to freshen up in the airport bathroom. We still felt gross though, after traveling for 24 hours straight.

By the time we boarded our flight to Chicago, I was so sick of planes, sitting and even reading (which says a lot because I was right in the middle of the newest Harry Potter book!). Luckily, we were able to watch a movie for most of the flight.

A stretch limo met us at the airport for our ride home. It was the perfect end to a perfect trip! French Polynesia is one of the most beautiful places in the world and we are so happy we got to experience it.

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