French Polynesia

Rangiroa is an hour flight from Tahiti, definitely off the beaten path for tourists.  Looks like this guy caught a big fish, right? That's actually a dolphin, who happened to jump in the air while [...]

Mike in the much calmer waters of our little plunge pool. The wind howled and the surf was definitely up in Rangiroa, about an hour flight from Tahiti. We had planned to SCUBA dive at [...]

Little Tahitian pineapple.  The tall leavessurrounding the plant are really jagged andsharp, a built-in protection mechanism.This man knocks me off my feet!!!ATV ride up in the lush mountains.  There arepineapple plantations and lots of jungle [...]

We don't normally wax poetic abouthotel rooms, but the Hilton Moorea wasincredible.  For 3 nights, we had anoverwater bungalow with a window in the floor so we could watchthe fish swimming underneath! Our back deck dropped right into the [...]

    A breezy wet ride in the dinghy broughtus to a local pearl farm on the island ofTaha'a.  Owner Claudette showed ushow the color of the oyster shell lipdetermines the pearl color.  Tahitianpearls can [...]

Outrigger canoe at sunset.Is there a limit to how much beauty one can take?Jagged Mt. Otemanu is covered with densejungle.A collapsed oceanic volcano.Amazing that this photo even turned out...See the two "pointer" stars that together [...]

The fearless crew, from left:  Amber, Mike, me,David, Kathy, Larry and Deborah. Nothing like starting off a birthdaywith a little green tea and sunriseat Bora Bora! French influence is in full force at the grocerystore, [...]

I couldn't quite figure out what this mysteriouscritter, a master of disguise...Until he shot out in a blast of ink - an octopus!He turned brown, then nestled into a new hidingspot, and immediately turned the [...]

Our crew was highly capable of rookie moves.In this case, waiting until we were in big rollingseas before we realized that the motor was still onthe dinghy (you're supposed to stow it), strung upwith a [...]

Proud mom Deborah, with daughter Amberand son David.Kathy, Sue, Larry and Mike having one greattime!  Larry was our fearless leader, captainextraordinaire and veteran of the seas.  He sailsin races over 100 days a year - he [...]

Our "stateroom" for 8 days.  Tons of little cubbyholes for storage, and a bathroom with a shower.Our "yacht", or at least that's what we called itwhen we made dinner reservations!  We startedour sail on the [...]

Dinner at Le Lotus, fine French fare in Tahiti.  French is the primary language here, and despitethe 22 hour flight, French tourists abound.There was lighting under the edge of this overwater restaurant, and baby sharks swam [...]