Honeymooned in Tahiti!

Thor and I traveled to Tahiti for our honeymoon!

A year of full moons for us- 

• We got married 12-31-09 on a magnificent full moon
• I paddled the Molokai channel July 2010 on a full moon
• Tahiti honeymoon on a full moon

Iorana (Welcome to Tahiti - the land of lefts!) -

We spent a couple of days on Tahiti Nui with our friend, Alexy, who we met through my longtime roommate Kika. Alexy is a wonderful guy with two beautiful daughters and a talent for growing tomatoes (he works with the local growers to establish farming techniques for market production of fruits and vegetables). Alexy participates in couchsurfing.com. In exchange for a stay at his home, he likes the interesting conversations that come from meeting people with different cultural perspectives.

 

Alexy took us kayaking, hiking and showed us around . We had the very best poison cru (raw fish in coconut milk) ever at an outdoor bistro in Tahiti Iti, and we also got to try escargot at a very cute,  French restaurant in Tahiti Nui.

 

His daughters were so cute, and they loved making fun of us trying to speak french. We also got to meet some of Alexy's other guests from around the world.  Alexy surfed with us one day as well! We really enjoyed our time with Alexy.

Armed with a new set of Surftech boards (a Mikala T&C 6'2", a G.Pang 6'1", and a T. Carrol quad) I was ready for waves. I also brought a pair of Milkshake bodyboards (40" Lilly and a 39" Loly).

Our first trek in the water was to Teahupoo - we bodyboarded it alone and with a few other folks while it was small 2-3 feet and near dark. We went back in the morning to catch it about 3-4 feet, windier and a few more folks out, mostly bodyboarders! I could not believe how FRIENDLY everyone is in the lineup - shakas, handshakes, smiles, wow!

 

Kanesa dropping in!

Then we headed to Moorea for some actual honeymoon time at Petero's Haapiti Surf Lodge. Again I was stoked to have the boogie. Waves were 6-8ft and really windy. Haapiti gets pretty currenty at that size so the boats weren't really able to anchor. We'd planned to get a lot of photos on our trip, but as we battled with poor conditions, sinking kayaks, and unchargable batteries for the camera, we gave up and decided to just have fun. Conditions in Moorea continued to be less-than-stellar, but we logged a lot of hours on that reef and after a few days we were in love! It's so nice to surf in a place where everyone is happy and stoked. I've never been smiled at or hooted at so much ever! The tahitians are surf stoked for you!

Thor

After six days on Moorea, riding bikes, checking out the scenery and just relaxing, we headed back to Chopes for some heart pumping action.

We again stayed with Alexy and ran into boogie pros Beta and Jason Bitzer. Chopes was still really West and dominated by boogies in the lineup. The waves were now 4-6 and looking like closeout on every wave. I took one on the head that pretty much sent my heart rate through the roof and made me realize why this wave has such a reputation! Thor caught some good ones, but I'm still waiting to have my day at this size!

With the swell direction changing even more, we surfed with the Tahiti masses and famous folk at Papara. Super fun, easy, glassy black sand/pebble beach break!

Then back to Moorea to finish our honeymoon for a few days! We cruised with our new friend mostly-left-Jeff and Brazilians Marta and Gustav. A couple of really nice days talking with some locals and being invited to eat fresh fish and the not-so-fresh traditional fafara (fermented fish!). Thank you Pieriech and family!

Ooooh I almost forgot... I didn't do email the whole time I was gone (except for writing to Ana Bella). Yippeee!

Can't wait for the return trip. We've made a pledge to honeymoon every year :). Gotta love being married! Mauruuru and Merci!