Well, it’s almost been a week since we got back from our trip to Moorea. So, while the smell of Tiare and tropical lusciousness is still lingering in my nose, some of the sights and sounds are fresh in my brain, and my sunburn is still peeling…it’s time for me to put some headphones on, queue my island radio jams, and write a little recap.
To sum it up. The trip rocked.
But, I feel like I should expand on that just a little bit, so here we go.
First off. My husband and I’s main goals of this trip were to 1: surf a ton, 2: relax a ton, and 3: be pretty healthy during it all. I can say that we accomplished all our goals for sure. Even if being healthy meant eating chocolate croissants or some type of Nutella filled pastry at breakfast each day. They. Were. So. Good.
We stayed at Moorea Surf Bed & Breakfast the entire time. We stayed there our previous trip for half the time, and loved it. We loved it again. Tama and his wife, Marie, are so sweet and genuine, and I loved staying off the beaten path, renting a moped when we needed to go explore, and having a kitchen, a kayak, some bikes, and the lagoon just a quick paddle away, all at our disposal. And their daughter, Tahiti is my pal.
Ok some highlights. I’ll try to not make this a novel.
Surfing – I know, what a shock. We surfed all but two days we were there. The conditions were unreal (Especially the last day. Such a blessing), and the people in the lineup were great. Yes, amazing, jaw dropping kick ass surfers, but also smiling, nice, great people too. A few days I got my butt kicked, and I had a new board I was getting used to. But it was hard to be mad or frustrated for more than a few seconds, because all you had to do was turn around, look the the water and scenery, and then it was like…oh man, who cares about anything else.
The water – It’s just unreal there. Whenever we’d take the boat out to surf I’d just sit and stare at it and probably get hypnotized by it’s immaculate blueness without knowing it. I wanted to spend as much time as humanly possible in its warm, blue, clear, full of amazing fish, rays, sharks and other gorgeous things saltiness. And pretty much did. Surfing, canoeing, paddle boarding, swimming, diving, and even lying on the beach in an inch of water to keep cool.
Mopeds – If you ever go, rent a moped and go around exploring the island. It’s just so much fun. You find little beaches, stop at little roulettes, and you are on a moped. Mopeds are fun. Mopeds in Tahiti are soooo funnnnn. Just make sure you don’t run out of gas on a Sunday or Holiday.
Being with my husband – His work schedule is insane, so having a week with just him was oh sooooo sweeeet. Even if he had road rage when driving a moped, and we will probably never go in a two person kayak together again. Long story.
Coconut Trees – Everywhere. Literally. Need I say more? Didn’t think so.
Fish – Fresh fish. Is what we pigged out on. The poissonnerie we’d bike to literally had a huge Ahi hanging outside it’s door that the owner just caught. We had some killer sashimi for dinner that night. And Poisson Cru the next. and Tuna Tartare the next…
The air – My skin was dewey, greasy, über hydrated, sun slapped, salty…and hasn’t felt better in a long time. I didn’t put makeup on for 10 days, and loved it. Ok, I lied. I put on some waterproof mascara. Twice.
The flowers – .Beautiful hibiscus, tiare, plumeria, and other blooms I didn’t know. I had a flower in some form in my hair at all times…when I wasn’t in the water. Ok, even in the water at sometimes too.
Warm Triopical Rain…is the best kind of rain there is. We had one really rainy day, and I loved it.
Hinano – Was all we drank. Ok, and water. Ok and some good lilikoi orange juice. ‘Twas a fantastically hydrated trip.
Now a few lowlights. That I can laugh at now.
The sunburn – Please take note. If you haven’t been in the sun for a while, get off a red eye flight and immediately go surf for 3 hours in Moorea from 10am – 1pm…wear at least a shirt or some surf leggings or something. You could wear spf 125 and you’d still be toast. Oh wait, I was. I burnt my buns and back, got heat rash, and now my skin looks like an alligator as I am still de-peeling as I write this. So not cool. I still had fun. But ouch.
Losing Two Cameras – My waterproof cam broke on day 1. Note: always read how deep you can take the camera. It said 3 ft…I went down to 30. Oops. The second was my old iphone in a watershot housing, I went out paddle boarding and must’ve not closed it properly, took two padddles, and…ker-plunk. Sayonara baby. But I kinda felt like God was telling me to chill out, enjoy the moment, and soak up all the mental pictures instead.
Which I did.
So maybe the negatives were also highlights. Learning how to take better care of my skin, and also learning it’s ok to not take a picture of every single thing at all times, and to just soak all the moments up instead.
Fun times. Lots of laughs. Sunkissed memories. Pinch me scenery. Salty smiles. Sore shoulders. Lessons learned.
Moorea Je t’aime.
*Want more pics? I posted a bunch over on Instagram: @goldfish_kiss, and have a few more up my sleeve to post here too 🙂