Bora Bora like a Bachelorette

Ever since I saw these awesome rooms over the water on the bachelor/bachelorette I've wanted to go to Bora Bora. Thankfully I didn't have to beat out 20 crazy drunk girls and endure the "fantasy suit" to get here! The cruise stayed in Bora Bora over night so I jumped at the chance to give up my first born child and stay in one of these rooms.

The cruise stayed in Bora Bora over night so I jumped at the chance to give up my first born child and stay in one of these rooms.

The hotel sent a taxi to the dock to pick us up and drive us over to the hotel dock. Bora Bora is surrounded by motus where dozens of hotels have built their versions of over water bungalows.

Side note: if you've ever watched the movie/musical South Pacific, you'll be interested to know it was filmed on this island. If you hate musicals then never mind.

The water taxi picked us up and drove us over to our little paradise.

When we walked in the room I realized it was everything I dreamed of. 

The bed was super comfortable...not as lumpy as it looks.

Gorgeous bathroom with open shower.

The main feature of the room was the huge glass floor.

We had tons of fish swimming by and it was even lit at night so we could watch the ocean go by.

This is Eric's artistic shot. He's under the room, underwater, taking a picture of the glass floor. Don't pretend you're not impressed;)

My own artistic shot from inside the room, through the floor, of my swimming husband below.

We spent pretty much all day out here soaking up the sun 

and the view! 

We did take a break for lunch at the hotel and some kayaking.

It was really hard to pull ourselves away from the room though.

We had our own private ocean access and an outdoor shower to rinse off when we came out. 

We took a water taxi back to the main island at night for dinner. We heard so much about Bloody Marys that we needed to give it a shot. The entire restaurant floor is sand and you pick your dinner from and ice box displaying the fresh fish caught that day. The only unfortunate incident was a gecko dropping on my lap during dinner. Yes I jumped up and yes I screamed. I hate those little buggers!!

We woke up the next morning to crazy wind and overcast skies. We didn't mind as we lounged around our room and ate room service breakfast.

We headed back to the ship around one. Although I was sad to leave this place we were glad we got some sun before a big storm blew in. I highly recommend cashing in your 401Ks and coming here. It was incredible.

Raiatea

Next stop, Raiatea. My Dad and Lindsay arranged to rent a car here so we could drive around the island and check things out. It was a cool 85 degrees with 100% humidity! Oh the sacrifices we make for paradise. 

I love seeing the green dense mountains next to the incredible blue green ocean. 

You can even see the reef through the clear water from way up here...if you can see past my big booty.

Self shot.

I have a thing about pictures with no people in them. I find them boring...but this view is too amazing not to post.

The island has an archaeological site we decided to visit. 

This is called Marae Taputapuatea. Marae are ancient religious sites. This one was used for religious ceremonies and sacrifices.

See, it wasn't just all sun and sea...I learned something.

The tall rock on this Marae was used to decide the tribal leader. You had to be as tall or taller than the rock to be the head of the tribe. No one in our midget family qualified.

This was the customs Marae where visitors to the island had to check in and give the gift they brought for the Chief.

After sweating out all our liquids at the archaeological site we needed refreshment! The car rental place told us to eat at this hotel...one of the only ones on the island. 

I LOVED how it was decorated so I made sure to get lots of pictures for inspiration.

The food was also amazing (and pricey). They were big on presentation, hence my shrimp skewer served hanging from a giant piece of driftwood. 

We headed back to the ship after circling the whole island. A great day!

First Stop: Huahine

This is our lovely cruise ship, docked in the bay at Huahine. I couldn't believe how green and beautiful the island was. And then I went outside and felt the 100% humidity and began to understand the cause of the lush growth!

Incredible! We had a Motu picnic planed for today. This entailed a boat ride around the island, a trip to a pearl farm, drift snorkeling, and lunch on a motu (sandy island). We slapped on the sunscreen and jumped on the tender into the dock.

 This is what was waiting for us. A native wearing a pareo blowing a conch. Naturally, we were game.

 I was armed with Bonine, a miracle motion sickness pill, and ready for the tour.

A nice shot of Eric with the island and ship tender in the background.

 Tahiti is known for their black pearls. We went to this pearl farm (note the hut made of oyster shells) and got the run down on how they help the oysters make the pearls. Pretty interesting...and pretty expensive! 

 Onto the snorkeling. 

 We got an underwater video camera a couple years ago and thought we'd try it out. If it didn't work the first day then we weren't going to loose 2 weeks worth of pictures. Lucky for us the camera worked awesome the whole trip! 

I spared you the numerous underwater pictures of us just swimming around...you're welcome.

 There was lots of beautiful coral and fish.

 Giant, and I mean GIANT sea slug!

 When I got back in the boat the guide asked how it was. I said "It looks like finding Nemo down there!" I got a blank stare. Evidently Disney animated movies haven't made it over to the Island of Huahine yet.

 Last we stopped on the motu for our picnic. The water is really that amazing, no filter on this one!

 The picnic tables were set up in the water and the alcohol was free flowing. Luckily so were the Diet Cokes, so Eric and I were pretty much the only ones not trashed at the end of the day. 

The food was incredible: grilled chicken and fish and this amazing tuna/lime/coconut dish that I fell in love with. 

 Enjoying the scenery with lots of sun and DC.

We had a demonstration from our guide on how the locals use nature for different things. Since coconuts are plentiful there are a million uses for them. 

 Eric gave coconut husking a try. I felt like I was at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

 Success!

We went back to our ship full and not too sun burnt. This was a great way to start our trip!

The Trip of a Lifetime: Tahiti

Before you get crazy jealous, let me explain how we landed this amazing trip of a lifetime to Tahiti. My dad LOVES to travel. Who can blame him? New places, new people, new food, and someone else making your bed and cleaning up after you! Anyway, after my Mom passed away he wondered how he could still see the world but not travel by himself. I don't remember how, but we came up with the brilliant idea of having him take each of his kids and spouse with him on a trip. Travel + family bonding = Perfection! So my 3 older brothers went on their trips and then my dad remarried his perfect travel partner, Lindsay. Oh well, I guess my sister and I are out of a trip. Thankfully my dad approached me last year wondering where I wanted to go on my trip!!!! I've always wanted to go to Tahiti and stay in the huts over the water. My dad found an amazing 13 day cruise around Tahiti and French Polynesia. We jumped at the chance!

Eric's parents are gluttons for punishment and gladly offered to watch our 2 monsters while we went half way around the world to find the sun and sand. 

So I kissed my psychos good bye,

leaving them in VERY capable hands. 

We boarded an 8 hour flight to Tahiti anxious to get our tans on!

The flight got in at 4:30 a.m. and the cruise didn't leave until 11 p.m.

Thankfully they let us board the ship around 6:30 and hang out in the public lounges and begin our 2 week long smorgasbord feasting. 

My dad did his research and found a local church building. We had lots of time to kill so we headed off. (side note: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is thriving in French Polynesia and we were constantly seeing church buildings all over the islands). As we walked up we received these beautiful leis and were ushered into the front pew. We quickly realized we were attending a Stake conference and were locked in for 2 hours instead of the 1 hour we were planning....all in french! 

Despite being EXTREMELY tired we made it through the meeting and only nodded off a handful of times. It is incredible to see the church functioning in other parts of the world and to feel the special spirit that is there. 

We walked back to the ship after the meeting and finally were ushered into our AMAZING rooms. You would think I would have taken pictures of our 450 sq. ft cabin with full bathroom, walk in closet, sitting room, and balcony. But no, I didn't. Still kicking myself for that one. 

But I did take some great pictures of the islands!!