DiamondsRock, our Rock Traveler™ from Ohio heads to paradise.
Our story of the island Moorea in French Polynesia.
Hi! It’s DiamondsRock and traveling band of the wild 5 children misfits, ages ranging from ages 16 to 1 year old. What a beautiful adventure on the island of Moorea. This is what we dreamed of.
We landed in Papeete, Tahiti, after a long sleep deprived night cramped on the plan. The air was there was heavy and full of exotic scents. This place is influenced by the French culture from the “policiers” at the airport, to the multitudes of little shop we spotted on our way to the ferry, which was going to bring us to the island of Moorea.
We stayed in Moorea at the “Club Bali Hai”, which was a little worn by the island winds, but who cares, we had a bungalow on the water, overlooking “Cook’s Bay” What was great was he tropical wind that would pick up at incredible strength, and carried our suitcases around the bungalow in a magical dance.
We spent our days fishing little sardines form our deck, and traveling the island, trying (and successfully) finding the most remote beaches….The snorkeling was great, one of the beach I do remember the most was this one: we rented a jeep and toured around the island when my husband decided to pull over near a remote sand dune. We walked a small trail (leaving one of our rock traveler rocks for the next adventurer to find) when a man walked to us and greeted us with a “Bienvenue au paradis” (Welcome to paradise). He led us to a beautiful white sand cove, with emerald water. On the beach later that night, munching on baguettes and drinking warm tea we experienced the southern hemisphere constellations, and laughed at the odd feeling we all had upon arriving to “paradise”. My son Tim is an amateur astronomer and the family enjoyed the “lessons about the heavens” as Tim called them. I was so proud of my other kids, who sat and listened intently to their brother, giving him the respect he deserves for learning and sharing.
The next day on the island, we visited the beautiful jungle, packing a small picnic, fresh fish bought in the local grocery store, bread, and some yummy fresh biscuits, full of the flavor of the island…papaya, mango puree, in a wonderful flaky crust. There is only one main road that runs through the island of Moorea, and we figured that we will start from there, and then along the way turn left toward the forest…This luscious volcanic island was waiting for us, we Rock Travelers, so full of adventure. We spotted along the way some farmers, selling the local bananas(so small and wonderful),the Tahitian pineapple,quite different in taste than its cousin,the Hawaiian one,and also the incredible huge green grapefruit…..We stopped to buy some of these exotic fruits…Everything was just perfect, sharing this journey with all of my kids. Our journey in the deep jungle was perfect, everything was so beautifl, tropical flower abounding, zillions of shade of green in the trees.
We went back to our corner of paradise after a nice sea side lunch. Some locals were swimming right next to our bungalow, and we were amazed how long they could stay in the water…We spotted a family, mother, father and children just delighting themselves in the beautiful water of cook’s bay, without a care in the world. Everywhere, families shared these wonderful moments of play, caring and love. I smiled and admired their way to look at life, their relation with nature and water, which seemed so far from us sometimes in the big cities. We all went swimming, and my kids jumped in the fresh water of the lagoon. The clouds were beautiful, stretching over the volcanic island….
We had to leave the next day. I hated to leave this paradise. On our return to the airport of Papeete, we traveled with a family we met earlier in the week from the Netherlands. One of their kids, I think about 12 gave my daughter a shell necklace (the Tahitian goodbye). To stay in touch, I gave them one of our Rock This World beautiful agates and asked them to log on and continue our friendship, sharing photos and stories on www.rocktraveler.com. They had never heard of Rock Traveler™, but after I explained the site, they were excited and indicated they would join ‘the family’ as soon as they returned home. I can’t wait to hear about their adventures. It is amazing how families all over the world, from different cultures and influence share common goals and desires. We all want our children happy, healthy and at peace. Well we boarded the plane and promised ourselves to come back soon. Traveling with a smile, DiamondsRock in the Midwest.
DiamondsRock, our Rock Traveler™ from Ohio heads to paradise.
Our story of the island Moorea in French Polynesia.
We went back to our corner of paradise after a nice sea side lunch. Some locals were swimming right next to our bungalow, and we were amazed how long they could stay in the water…We spotted a family, mother, father and children just delighting themselves in the beautiful water of cook’s bay, without a care in the world. Everywhere, families shared these wonderful moments of play, caring and love. I smiled and admired their way to look at life, their relation with nature and water, which seemed so far from us sometimes in the big cities. We all went swimming, and my kids jumped in the fresh water of the lagoon. The clouds were beautiful, stretching over the volcanic island….
