Goodbye Mahana VI...Hello Tahiti

Day 11 (August 3, 2011): We were up bright and early & ready to hit one more archeological site before we returned the Mahana at noon. Our anchor was up at at 7AM & we were rounding the southern tip of Raiatea. We had a long way to go & one mini-excursion thrown in, so we had to get underway at sunrise. This was by far the earliest we were up & moving. We made great time to Marae Tainuu & even got to see Diana Ross' private island & getaway home. We dropped anchor & motored in to the dock. We followed our guidebook maps straight to Marae Tainuu. We explored for about half an hour & then headed back to our catamaran. Time to head back to & return our boat, which had begun to feel like home. Curt didn't feel really comfortable docking the boat in the tight slip at the marina, so we grabbed a mooring ball & call for shuttle pick up. It was so sad watching the crew start to clean our boat. We definitely can't wait to charter a catamaran again & live on the high seas. After we checked out, we got dropped into town near the airport & walked around for a bit. Stopped into a local marketplace & had some crepes - yum! Off to our last stop - Tahiti for a couple of nights. We got to the Radisson Plaza Resort in Tahiti late afternoon & checked out our new surroundings. Very nice hotel with a private beach - no waterfront huts though. Our room was very large, but not up to the same standard as the St. Regis. All & all we were happy with our last stop. We spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool & had dinner at an asian fusion restaurant, Le 5 Sens. The food was tasty & we had some delicious wine & cocktails with our meal. We spent the remainder of the evening enjoying the sound of the ocean crashing onto the shore from our balcony. Day 12 (August 4, 2011): This morning we decided to have breakfast in Tahiti proper (since our hotel was about a 15 min bus ride away) & explore the city for a couple of hours. We had a "typical" Tahitian breakfast that included huge slabs of bacon, toast, chilled seafood & eggs. It was interesting, but probably not my first choice for a start your day meal. The location was great & allowed us to do lots of people watching. From breakfast, we wandered the streets of the crowded city. What a difference from the beauty & seclusion of Bora Bora, Raiatea & Tahaa! We eventually wandered into the Marche Papeete, which housed fruits, vegetables, seafood, crafts & other treasures. We spent a long time exploring the different shops & picked up some souvenirs for everyone back home. We also picked up a Tahitian mask for our home. The man explained that this particular mask protects the house & family and was also great for fertility. Once back at the hotel, we spent the afternoon by the pool & exploring our local beach. I wanted to try & fit a million and one things into our last day, but Curt convinced me that we could always come back later in life. It was truly nice to just veg out at the pool & enjoy the relaxation. The weather was perfect & the company couldn't get any better. Hard to believe that we'll be headed home in a short time. For dinner, we decided to walk into town & check out the local "food truck" scene. I convinced Curt to walk because the guide book said it would cost $40 for a taxi from the area of our hotel. I couldn't see spending $80 on a taxi that evening for a cheap food truck dinner. We checked out the route on our map & estimated that it would be a couple of miles but should be an easy walk. We started our walk before sunset & got to watch the sunset over the water - beautiful. Once the sun was down & we started to get thirty & hungry, our walk went downhill. We were hot, walking along a "highway" and wishing we had planned better. I made a deal with Curt that we could stop for a cocktail at the halfway point. The location we picked out didn't serve alcohol to patrons that weren't sitting down for dinner. Oops! We marched on & I tried to convince Curt to stop for a drink at a local bodega, but he swore he was fine. Alas, we made it to center city & stopped at a local bar to use the restroom & have a cocktail. We finally made it onto the "food truck" scene and were amazed. There must have been about 50+ stands in a giant promenade. Each truck advertised their different fare & we wandered around salivating & trying to decide where to eat. We decided that we'd hit up a few different spots & try one thing from each truck. Turned out to be a great plan. Delicious food, wonderful ambiance & the perfect way to spend our last evening. While waiting at one of the food trucks we read through the guidebook to find recommendations for food. We discovered that I had actually been wrong with the $40 each way for a cab & discovered that it could cost $40 roundtrip. Oops! At least we have a funny story to tell from the experience. We'd definitely take the cab back to the hotel at the end of the night. While we listened to local music & checked out the docks, we discovered a massive yacht named Suri. It was four stories high & had an entire room on the main deck for toys (jet skis, surfboards, kiteboards, bikes, etc...). We tried to see if we could see the owners, but they were up on the 3rd deck where we could hear them but not see them. It was such an impressive boat - I can only imagine what it costs to maintain it. Once back at the hotel, we settled in for an early night sleep, since we had to be at the airport before sunrise. We woke up around 3:30 to pack & head to the airport shuttle. We were so glad that we had first class lounge vouchers & were able to relax in the lounge before our flight back to LA. The lounge had a very delicious breakfast, which was perfect for an early morning departure. We settled into our business class seats, full of love, new memories & books in hand for the long flight home. I absolutely love the full reclining seats - although the business class cabin wasn't as luxurious as the first class cabin I was able to enjoy on the way out. We were amazed at how many families were in business class with their small children. It was pretty noisy with the hustle & bustle of small kids running around, but who can complain when you've just had the most amazing honeymoon ever. We had a very easy flight to LA & then on to San Francisco. Next stop...Newport, Rhode Island to say I do :)