The clouds have broke and the sun is finding its way out to shine on us. After breakfast today we are going on tour of Huahine, which means vagina in Polynesian. The island vaguely has the shape, but it is probably named this due to the importance of the queens. Huahine is actually two islands, Huahine Nui and Huahine Iti, they are connected by a single bridge. Legend says that Hiro, a Polynesian god, rammed his canoe into the island to create this divide. Later the driver points out marks in the land from Hiro’s oar, and even his rocky phallus. The driver has the first mullet that I have seen since I got here, talk about absolute power. The seven of us climb in the back of a four wheel drive truck with benches fixed ... read more

The trip, my time on the Mata Fenua, is past the halfway point and I am already sad thinking about the end. Today the weather was not the greatest. It is hard to say the weather was bad, but it was cloudy, actually a welcome relief for my skin. (Side note: So we have many idioms where the translation does not make sense. The first one that comes to mind is “raining cats and dogs.” The French also have these, my new favorite is “Un coup de soleil.” Which means sunburn. Literal translation is hit, or punched, by the sun.) Yesterday evening ended quickly after we had finished dinner, it was a long day and we were all tired from the sun and the many activities. I was able to wake up early for sunrise, but ... read more

Bonjour day three, we woke up in Bora Bora. Not too bad right? Wen and Hinano told us to be up by 6:30 to go see the manta rays. There is nothing better than a sunrise for me, and I was up well before the rest of the group. The catamaran pulled anchor and set off before 6:00 am. Wen piloted the dingy to the spot where the manta ray feed on plankton. The group exited the boat, I always do my best impression of a Navy SEAL, holding my mask against my face, I drop off the boat with my camera in my other hand, feet straight up in the air. The water was cloudy and visibility was not but a few meters, but with a little effort to swim towards the bottom it didn’t ... read more

When I left you I was ready to leave the bungalow and do something productive. I decided that I would walk to the grocery store, have I mentioned how effing expensive everything is here? Crazy expensive. Anyway, I decided to pick up some dinner and a few other provisions, so I made the fifteen minute walk into the town. After returning to the bungalow I made myself a sandwich and drank a couple of the local beers, Hinano Tahiti, while I watched the sun set. I had a long day and was feeling like I could just go to bed, but when I looked at my watch I found that it was only seven o’clock. There was a happy hour going that changed from having a Polynesian band to having a full traditional Polynesian show. I ... read more

“The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage.” -Thucydides Four months ago I was sitting at my desk stressing about work, so I pulled up my bucket list Word doc and decided I needed to cross something off soon. I picked "Photographing the Wave." There is a very stringent set of rules about hiking the Wave though, put forth by the Bureau of Land Management, BLM. I got on their site and found this out. They have a lottery four months in advance, you put in the top three days you want and wait to see if you are picked. There are only 10 people picked for each day, currently they also give out 10 additional passes between 8:30-9am every morning. Dozens of people, evidently, line up for these passes. So I ... read more