Here’s some photos from around Teahupoo we took yesterday! It was the most colorful sunset we’ve seen yet. That’s the media and announcer stand for the Teahupoo Billabong Pro in the third pic.
Category: Society Islands
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Some Photos from the South Pacific
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How to Fall in Love with French Polynesia
Looking back on the month I spent alone in French Polynesia I have decided I’d rather not spend a month alone in French Polynesia again. It’s beautiful here. I love swimming and snorkeling. The sailing has been fantastic. But what good is any of that is you can’t share it with someone? At least that’s the way I feel about it.
It finally hit me that I’m living every sailor’s dream out here. Eight months cruising around the islands of the South Pacific is the type of trip I’ll remember and talk about for the rest of my life. And there is no other person in the world I’d rather share this time with than Margie. Saturday, sitting in two feet of water on a sandbar dotted with coral heads a half mile off the south side of Tahiti, I asked Marge whether she’d ever thought she’d find herself here. She looked around at the scenery before her, the group of Polynesians surrounding her, and her toes in the clear water below. Without looking up she grabbed a potato chip out of the bag floating by on a life preserver and said “not in a million years.”
Our two year anniversary of meeting each other comes up in two weeks.
If you’re ever invited to dine with Polynesians, remember this rule. You must fix your plate first or you will sit there all night. We finally figured out why it always took so long to start meals here. The food would be ready, the places set, and we would just sit there. No one ever told us we should go ahead and fix our plates so we were being courteous guests and waiting for our hosts to begin. We finally had to ask Friday night at Youenn’s house. “Are you guys waiting on us?” Yep…sure enough.We’re anchored out in a small bay just across from the Teahupoo Marina. We have lush green mountains coming right down to the lagoon on one side of us and the designated “most powerful wave in the world” on the other side of us. The surfing at Teahupoo is legendary and much of life in this village revolves around it. The marina houses the boats and jetskis that shuttle the surfers back and forth, the long line of snacks (small, shanty-looking restaurants) at the mouth of the river feeds the surfers, and the store sells the beer they drink all night. We’re here at the biggest time of year for this community. The yards are clean and landscaped, the signs for paid parking and camping are displayed proudly, and the guesthouses and private homes are overflowing with the tanned, buff bodies of international surfing playboys (yes Margie’s single-lady friends…we are telling them all about you…). This place is the polar opposite of the busy streets of Papeete. The people who live here go there only when they need to and from here out, we’ll do the same. We hope to stay here a couple of weeks before heading back to town to collect the little Honda generator that’s being repaired, provision the boat, and begin the dance westward to cheaper waters.
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Boats, Grottos, and A Tahitian Sandbar party
After the rest of the house woke up yesterday morning, you’d think everyone would hug, say their goodbyes, and head home. No…. that’s not exactly how it went. The food leftover from the night before was reheated and thus, breakfast was served. I’ll eat spaghetti morning, noon, and night so I was a happy, happy camper!
Jet ski and boat gased up, we all took off for a day out on the water. Youenn’s jet ski will make most look like a stick in the mud. It will haul butt!!! We followed along behind him and Youri tried his best to keep up. We floated up into a small river, anchored the boats and walked about a 1/4 of a mile to this grotto back in the woods. Everyone jumped in and splashed around. Pretty much everybody but me.
I wrote in an email the other day that something about a dark cave and not being able to see what’s around me just doesn’t sit well with me. I have a pretty bad fear of water I cant see through…and sharks. I know that each time I let those thoughts creep up in my head that I am missing out on incredible opportunities here. It’s just difficult. Drew tries to be patient with me and says I have a better chance of being in 400 car accidents than I do of getting bitten by a shark but I haven’t been able to get over it yet. I’m hoping that the more and more time I spend in the water that my fears will eventually subside. A fear of sharks and certain waters is not good if I am going to be living on a boat, huh? And here I am dating a man who I swear has fins instead of arms…
After the grotto we spent about three hours anchored out on a sandbar about two/three hundred yards offshore. There were sea cucumbers everywhere so the guys had a blast throwing those at the ladies while they screamed their heads off. Lucky for me I’d seen and held a few of these last year while we were snorkeling so they didn’t freak me out as bad as they did some of the other girls. I’ll just let y’all google those if you wanna know what they look like…
Much of our time on the sandbar was spent explaining to Lydiane what it meant when Youri was being an “asshole.” I have never laughed so much in my life as she tried to figure out what it meant. I taught her how to say it Meet the Fockers style! Youri could have done no right the rest of the afternoon as everything he said or did got a big ol’ asshole in response. You probably had to be there but it handed us a pretty good laugh nonetheless. Lydiane is pretty good with her English and incredibly eager to learn. All the time she’s asking us how do we say this, what does it mean, how do we say that… I assure you that most of the time the things we tell her are proper but we just couldn’t resisit this one!
I also got to watch our friends, and Drew, munch on raw, straight off the reef clams that they dug up. I made an attempt but man, it was gross. I love seafood but THAT is pushing it….
The sun will drain it out of you here so after a throwdown on chow mein for dinner we headed back to the boat and turned in for the night. Sundays here are the epitome of rest and relaxation. Nothing but books, a few episodes of Friends, dinner, maybe a movie, and an eight o’clock bedtime calling our name…
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It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere….
Yesterday Youri and Lydiane drove over from Papeete (about an hour by car) to Youenn’s house in celebration of “holiday.” We never could get the name from anyone as to what exactly they were celebrating or honoring but everyone had the day off and that meant it was time to party. After Drew and I had breakfast I made some homemade lemon bars to take with us, along with the stuff for spaghetti which I had promised to make for dinner. Around three we began our treck to Youenn’s. Oh man it was hot so when a guy pulled over in a jeep to offer us a ride we gladly accepted. Hitchhiking here is about as dangerous as clipping your nails. And believe me, the way some people drive over here, you are better off in the back of someone’s truck than you are walking on the side of the road!
So anyway, friendly guy in the jeep turns out to be from Hawaii and comes here enough times a year to surf that he has purchased a vehicle. So…we’re guessin’ he comes a good bit. He carried us as far as his driveway and about five minutes of walking later Youenn and Youri pull up from a day out on the jetski and we hop a ride with them the rest of the way. Lydian’s younger sister, Julie, was there for the day along with a friend. So we had a house full!
Nothing like a cold beer on a Friday afternoon, music on the ipod, sitting on the back porch, listening to the sound of the pacific ocean crash against the shoreline of your buddies backyard! That night Youri grilled a huge fish (Drew thinks we call it a Moonfish in English) on the grill and I made a big ol’ pot of spaghetti. American pop culture music is very well known here so we jammed out to everything from the likes of Notorious B.I.G., U2, and Bob Marley to Jason Mraz and Lady Gaga.
A few groups of people came and went throughout the night and amidst one of them was a guy named Danny. He was from Hawaii and here for the Billabong contest. He told us he took fifth place last year so chances are we were talking it up with someone a lot of young surfers would have drooled over but we are unfamiliar with the sport. Better internet connection and we’re gonna have to do some research on him!
9 o’clock rolled around and amidst the haze of Hinanos and my bedtime, I was ready to turn in for the evening. Youenn had a room all reserved for Drew and I so we crashed at his place and had ourselves a Polynesian slumber party. Which reminds me…the roosters here…they have no concept of time. Early in the morning, early in the afternoon…they are crowing. You never have to set an alarm clock cause one of them is guaranteed to wake you up. And bet your bottom dollar Drew and I were up at seven, Hinano haze worn off, ready to embrace another venturesome day!