Last days in French Polynesia, Moorea and back to Nebraska

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I am going to wrap up my trip here, three days in one post, excluding my last day of straight travel.



The remainder of my trip was meant to be spent relaxing on Moorea. I chose a pension instead of a resort. There were quite a few guest houses as well as a hostel style sleeping area; my hope was that there would be some solo travelers and I wouldn’t have to put up with a bunch of honeymooners. Motu Iti is great. I was greeted by the Madam of the Pension, and she showed me to my bungalow, which was very nice and clean. Nothing too special, no AC, the windows swung wide open and there was mosquito netting over the brightly covered bed. Opting for my swim trunks I had been there for no longer than five minutes before I was in the water. The snorkeling right off the back dock was incredible, hell the dock was even incredible. There is a wood walkway leading out to a hut on the water with a large rail ladder dropping off into the water. Three large tuna appeared out of nowhere while I was snorkeling. These things do not stick around when you scuba dive. Want to feel real vulnerable real fast? Have three large sport fish stare back at you in the open ocean. They had a quick look at me and then took off. I followed the school of fish that had brought the trio in.



Back on the dock I chatted with a fellow traveler, Alex. Alex is from Lyon, France and has been traveling for five months straight. I asked her about some of her favorite places and we swapped some stories, once the sun had dropped in the sky I let her know that I was going to go shower and make it back out before sunset. Shower, sunset, and then dinner. I ate in the dining area there beside the ocean; the fish here is amazing and that is what I had again, cooked. When my beer was finished I made my way back to my bungalow and grabbed my camera and tripod; there were a million stars out again in the moonless sky and I wanted to take a picture for you all to see. Sleep could hold off a little longer.



In the morning I caught sunrise and made a friend in Ince, she works for KLM in Holland and is here with a work colleague on holiday. We were watching fish pass by and chatting when I spotted an octopus creeping out from underneath some coral. Patiently we watched as it made its way out and about; changing colors and blending in with whatever it landed on. Ince had to make a flight home that day so she left to pack, I decided to get dressed for my day and headed out after I had some breakfast.



My last motor scooter ride was around Phuket, Thailand just over two years ago, but it is like riding a bike. The blue Peugeot scooter took me all around the island a couple of times before I was done with it. There is so much to see here, each place more beautiful than the last. (I remember thinking to myself before I came here, French Polynesia, how the water on the cover of the brochures had to be Photoshopped, turns out it is better in real life.) Mountains, ocean, agriculture and more. I took photos, and video, of everything. Pizza is a staple of my diet back home and it has been well over two weeks since I have had it, I read in my Lonely Planet guide that Pizza Daniel’s was the best. Not having any basis of comparison, I still rate his brick oven pizza very highly. It was Sunday and all hopes of me going souvenir shopping were dashed when I found that nothing was open. So instead I went to one of the public beaches where there were people swimming, jet skiing, wind surfing, kite surfing, and sun bathing. The pictures that you see do not do it justice.



Back at the Pension I sat outside and read until sunset, showered and made my way to dinner. Rough life right? That much time in the sun will wear you out though. I was in bed relatively early after getting things set to take off the next day.



The morning played out much the same as the one before. Instead of one octopus I watched two mate until they were worn out and sat there for a good fifteen minutes, I was bored enough, and ready enough, to move on with my day. I decided to secure a bicycle today instead of a scooter. This velo was tres mauvais. One gear, wobbly pedals, a crappy basket, and covered in rust. The fifteen or so meters into town, up and down hills, proved to be somewhat of a challenge, but I made it, sweaty as hell, but I made it. After sifting through some of the stores I made my way back towards Motu Iti with a few things in my backpack and an awesome wood carving for my wall in the basket on the front. My plan was to stop at and internet café and kill some time blogging and watching the water. No such luck, I found two different places with signs claiming “Tiki WiFi” no such luck. So I made my way back to the pension, swam for a bit, ate some lunch, read some of my Vince Flynn novel, all that was left was to shower and figure out how I was going to pack everything.

I am sitting in the airport in Papeete as I type this, my flight leaves at 11:50 PM local time, I have a full day of travel to get back to Omaha and am looking forward to tackling some of the challenges I left at work with a renewed vigor… that and a hot shower. It will be well over 24 hours between my last shower and my next one; the last being under a cold water shower on the edge of the beach a few hours ago. I am not even home and I already miss it.



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Photos

Pizza!
Pizza Daniel, c'est bon.

St. Joseph's Church
I was born in a St. Joseph's and I attended a St. Joseph's growing up.