Tahiti Week 1
We end week 1 savoring each Tahitian day!
The first few days were fun as we learned about our new surroundings. We are renting an apartment for the month in Arue, Tahiti. The apartment is on the grounds of a local resort, so the girls had a great time exploring the beach and pool. This was tempered by the post travel day and time zone change combination which led to some sizable and frequent meltdowns.
After seven days we are feeling like a great daily rhythm is forming. It is looking like this:
4:30am I wake and read/write on the balcony (which has been converted into a kitchen and eating area).
5-6am The sun rises and the kids join me as they wake up... wish they would sleep longer but no country seems to change this behavior!
7-8am breakfast and getting ready for the day... we then head downstairs to the pool and beach to hang out for a while.
By 9am we are back in our apartment getting a snack and (with varying degrees of success) getting out of the house to embark on an adventure…
9-1pm an adventure/outing etc...
1-3pm lunch, school work, quiet time...
3-5pm play at the pool/beach and when we can we join the local kids’ swimming lesson.
5-7:30pm bath time, dinner and story time... the goal is to have 3 sleeping children at the end of this time frame, but that is rarely achieved😞.
This week’s activities have included:
Harrison Smith Botanical Gardens
Marche de Papeete (Central Market)
Plage (beach) Vaiava where there is fantastic snorkeling just a few steps into the water. It was incredible and we will be going back several more times!
Marquesan Dance Show
Drive around the entire northern ‘island’ of Tahiti (Tahiti Nui). There was a paved road literally beachfront most of the way with spectacular parks and steep mountainsides at every turn. The total drive time is just under 2 hours but, of course, we stopped a number of times to explore and eat!
The magic of Tahiti is real. We spent 2 nights here three years ago coming home from Australia. That trip was a blur of jet lag and monsoon rains. We are absolutely loving being here again. The joy of almost daily trips to the fantastic Carrefour supermarket in Arue just down the road. We buy 2-3 fresh baguettes 🥖 for 53 Tahitian Francs (US$0.50 each!) a huge block of cheese and package of freshly made crepes for a couple of dollars each as the go to snack at any hour for all team members (except Baby Hazel, she prefers the croissants)!
The people of Tahiti are awesome. They patiently help us at every turn and almost always transition to speaking English as fast as they can to stop my painful attempts (for all involved) at speaking French! 😂.
