The End of One Incredible Journey

Cheers to our Incredible Journey

On September 1, 2011, Joanie and I left for Europe.  And on December 4, 2011 we finally returned home.  We did spend three weeks at home during this time, but during these three months, we went on a 10 day cruise in the Western Mediterranean, spent a couple of days in Venice, Italy, and spent another 10 days on a Greek Island cruise.

We then went directly to Florida and spent a week there, going from the south-western tip to the north-eastern coast.  And then, after those three weeks in Boise – we spent the next month traveling the tropics and down under; Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand and finally Tahiti.  And before returning to Boise, we spent 12 days in California, seeing family and friends from San Diego to San Francisco.

We knew we were borrowing from our future to take this trip, but the opportunity presented itself, and it just made sense to take it.  And now that this journey is behind us, we are so incredibly glad we took it!  We have seen a large part of the world and we have made incredible and lasting memories together.  And we feel so fortunate that we were able to take this opportunity and run with it.   Wow!

Airlie Beach - Australia

Sky Tower in Auckland, New Zealand

Bay of Islands - New Zealand

Brisbane, Australia

Somewhere Down Under

Rotorua, New Zealand

Our Tahitian Bungalow

Exploring our Lagoon in Moorea

Enjoying Tahiti

Bay of Islands Boat Ride - New Zealand

Whitsunday Island - Australia

Sydney, Australia

Whitehaven Beach, Australia

Our Last Day in Paradise

Touring the Lagoon

Today is the day we have to check out, but we were able to get a late check-out – a very late check-out in fact; 4pm.  So basically, we just got a free day in Moorea.  And we were determined to enjoy every minute of this day – and we did.  Basically – we just took it easy.  When you have an over the water bungalow, there really is no need to go anywhere else… and we didn’t.  Joanie did stray away for a morning walk, but other than that, we were bound to our bungalow and our lagoon.  We did rent an outboard motorboat for one hour, just to explore our lagoon a bit more – to see up close where the water turns from turquoise to royal blue.  It was awesome – just cruising on this gorgeous water – looking back at the island – makes one speechless.

The Color of the Water - Amazing

When we returned to our bungalow, we didn’t have much time, but did manage one more snorkel outing, which again was beautiful.  The variety of fish and coral right at our doorstep – literally – was about as good as I’ve ever seen.

We then showered up, packed up and took a taxi to the ferry, caught the ferry to Papeete, and then took a taxi to the Sofitel Hotel near the airport – to help pass the almost 6 hours between the last ferry to Papeete and the time we needed to check in for our flight.  The hotel was very accommodating – they held our bags, had a great pool and beach and happy hour and restaurant for us to use.  They even had a “transit room” for us to use – for free.  And we took advantage of that as well – taking showers to freshen up for our 8 hour, red-eye flight to L.A.

Joanie "presenting" our Bungalow

Joanie and I were both really sad leaving Moorea.  Every other place we visited on this trip has been fantastic, but Moorea is the one place that we both didn’t want to leave – even after spending 4 ½ days there.  It has truly been a magical experience – one neither of us will ever forget.  And an experience we hope to have again, perhaps on our 20^th anniversary… hopefully!  Thank you Moorea!

Farewell for now Paradise

And Another Day in Paradise

Sunrise view of the Bungalows

Today we had breakfast in our room (fruit, croissant, coffee, quiche) to start the day.  Shortly afterwards, Joanie went for a walk and I did some reading on our deck.  The rest of the day was spent like a typical day in paradise – not doing much at all.  The sheer beauty and tranquility of this location seems intoxicating – as though you can sit here looking at the view – being a part of this world – and never get bored.  It’s as though (seriously) there is no time.  It’s so perfect in many ways, that just being here feels all your needs and desires.  I don’t think I’d want to spend the rest of my life here; but it truly is a very magic place.

Our Outrigger for the Afternoon

Later in the afternoon we snapped out of our time warp and borrowed the resort’s outrigger canoe and paddled around the entire lagoon.  We went out to a yellow post that was very near where the ocean’s waves were hitting the outer reef, then turned to our left and headed to a beach.  We then went to another beach for lunch (which we had packed), and then finally returned back to the resort.  It was a lot of fun being out on the lagoon, but the outrigger wasn’t very stable, so we didn’t feel like we could go snorkeling out in the middle of the lagoon.  But the water is so clear, being above the water is a very close send to being in the water.

Looking down from our Deck

Then we spend some more time back at our bungalow, back on our deck, snorkeling in the lagoon – just living this live.  Around sunset we went and had dinner at the resort’s restaurant – Joanie once again had the chicken Caesar salad, and tonight I had their sirloin steak with pepper sauce – all very good.  We finished off dinner this evening with crème brulee – which was very good.

All in all, just another day in paradise.  It’s a very, very relaxed life here and we’re enjoying that lifestyle while we can.

(A lot of our photos today were taken with our underwater camera which has film that needs to be developed.  So we just posted some random photos today.)

Joanie enjoying the tranquility near the end of the Day

Captain Cook, Mt. Belvedere and our Lagoon – Another Day in Paradise

Captain Cook's Bay

This morning we left for the north shore around 7am, to have as much time as possible with our car to find some blue skies.   This time we were luckier, but as very typical for these islands, there always seem to be clouds hanging around the peaks.  Nevertheless, it was a beautiful morning at Cook’s Bay and we stopped and hung out – watching the clouds float by the peaks.  We then went to our next destination, Mt. Belvedere.  The windy road took us only about 20 minutes, and the view from the top was gorgeous.  Right in front of us was this incredibly noble peak, and at the foot of this mountain, to both its left and right, were the two north shore bays.  Just beautiful.  We were the only ones up there and enjoyed the solitude...while it lasted.  Soon, more cars started to arrive, and we left as soon as we saw a tour bus full of cruise ship passengers on approach.

On the road to Mt. Belvedere

We then took a leisurely ride home, returned the car and spent the rest of the day at our Tahitian retreat above the lagoon – reading, snacking, playing scrabble, snorkeling – all great fun.  Although the afternoon had one drawback - I reinjured my hamstring kicking at a fish that was attacking me and Joanie.  (I didn’t mention it earlier, but I pulled my hamstring taking a panorama picture at Hamilton Gardens.  I was trying to appear on the left side and the right side of one photo.  Hurt like hell that day, but was better the next – although I’ve been a bit gimpy ever since. 

The View from Belvedere

I also spent part of the day tuning in and out of the BSU game on the internet, and saw that USC beat Oregon – and some other top 10 teams lose as well – a good day for BSU after last weekend’s disappointment!

Enjoying a fantastic adventure!

We had dinner at the main restaurant and once again they put on a great Polynesian show.  I think it was the same show we saw a couple of nights ago from our deck.  Very enjoyable.

We then walked (and limped) back to our bungalow and went to bed early to be ready for another full day of taking it easy on Moorea.

Moorea – Adventures on the North Shore

Captain Cook's Bay in the early morning

This morning we decided to rent a car, just for 8 hours, realizing it would be the best (and most cost effective way) to tour the north shore of the islands, and Moorea’s beautiful and famous bays – Cooks Bay and Oponohu Bay.  Our first stop though was to the main grocery store to stock up on some items for breakfasts and lunch, to help control these high resort restaurant expenses.  Besides, there’s not a better place to have our breakfasts and lunches than our deck.

The drive was only about a half an hour to Cook’s Bay, which is absolutely stunning.  However, after about 15 minutes on our drive, as we turned the corner and reached the north shore – there were clouds.  It was still beautiful, but the vibrant colors were missing.  So we took a few photos, drove around Opunohu Bay (taking more photos) and ended up at the beach restaurant at Les Tipaniers for a lunch break…. Because those clouds turned into rain.  We were hoping it would be a passing shower, but as lunch passed, the rain didn’t.  We then decided to return our rental car and pay only the 4 hour rate, and rent it again for 4 hours tomorrow for a second chance at some beautiful skies.

First signs of sunshine at Captain Cooks

But we got the car back too late, and the woman wouldn’t let us turn the car in – we were stuck with the 8 hour rate.  But, we worked out something else.  We paid just a little more and increased the rental for 24 hours.  This would give us another chance today, and even another chance the next morning to get some blue skies on the north shore.

So we went back to our bungalow and had a great snack on our deck, and then went for another great snorkel in our lagoon.  Before we knew it, it was getting to be late afternoon and the weather was looking good, so we hit the road for the north shore – hoping for either clear skies or a great sunset – or both.

Caught snorkeling through our glass floor

What we got was better skies for a few more photo opps, but we ended up with a great sunset.  We went back to Les Tipaniers and instead of going to the restaurant, there was a pier on the beach there.  We went out to the end of that pier and sat there, watching the sky light up in all sorts of sunset colors.  And to add to the experience there was some live Polynesian music coming from the restaurant.  Oh, and a nice warm breeze blowing as well.  Simply perfect.

But perfect never lasts, right.  To expect that would be foolish.  So when the colors started to fade we decided to hit the road for the 30 minute ride back home, wanting to avoid too much night time driving.  But once the sun sets out here, it gets dark pretty quick, and as we started our drive, the rain joined the party.  Not strong, but it was a small challenge with the dark, the rain, the headlights (brights) and potholes – but we of course made it home safe.

A view from Sunset Pier

Joanie then put together a great meal which we ate on our deck.  It was leftover pasta from the night before and a rotisserie chicken we bought on the side of the road from a local vendor.  Dee-licious!  Another great end to a great day.

Moorean Sunset

November 17th – Take Two - Living a Dream!

Arriving in Moorea by Ferry

So today is our second chance at November 17^th, 2011!  And we get to spend it, and several more days, on Moorea!

Once we got to the ferry terminal yesterday (or was that today), it was a 20 minute trip until we reached our island home.  The arrival was beautiful, this cute little harbor nestled beneath these towering lush peaks. 

Joanie then worked her magic and we ended up getting a free shuttle bus ride to our hotel.  And the bus driver was really cool – he actually drove us past our resort a bit to an overlook to take pictures of our over-water bungalows.  It was a great way to arrive at this incredible destination.

My Tahitian Queen

We then checked into our piece of paradise and hung out for a while on our own private deck, over the water, with our mouths jaws dropped.  The scene was a beautiful as they get!  We then walked down our private stairs (from our private deck) directly into the lagoon for a swim and snorkel.  And the great news here is that the snorkeling was great!  We saw a ton of different kinds of fish and even a very large moray eel.  Really don’t even need to go looking for other snorkeling spots – but we definitely plan on exploring the island.

In fact the next thing we did was made arrangements to rent a car for tomorrow – just for 8 hours – to drive around the island and see what we can see.

Our Tahitian Dream Home - 3rd along the front pier, from the Beach

Our View looking towards the Beach and inner Lagoon

We then went to dinner at their outdoor restaurant, and it was very good, and fun.  (Actually, before dinner we enjoyed a glass of the Syrah we purchased at Villa Maria on our deck!)  Anyway, we split everything at dinner – a Cesar salad with chicken, an entrée of chicken stuff with spinach and bacon in a rosemary gravy and another entrée of vegetable & feta fettuccine.  During dinner, a very light rain began to fall, but all the diners just opened up our beach umbrellas and continued.  As dinner was winding down, the resort put on a Tahitian show, that was really entertaining – with musicians and dancers.  Much better than the show we saw in Rotorua.

Sun down from the infinity edge pool, on our way to dinner.

It was time to take a very happy and satisfied walk through the garden and down our pier to our bungalow.  Life just doesn’t get any better than this!   This is definitely a dream come true for us – and we realize how lucky we are.

November 17th (Take One)

Today we are leaving Auckland on November 17^th and arriving in Tahiti on November 16^th.  Going back in time as we land in Tahiti – somehow that seems very appropriate.  We spent a slow morning at our airport hotel in Auckland – which was a very nice place.  It was set on 10 acres, and in the morning I spent a couple of hours in the gardens by the pool, and Joanie spent some time in the gym.

We finally packed up, returned the car, and spent a few hours in the airport, which we are getting accustomed to doing – with all the international flights we’ve been taking.  Add to that, that the plane was delayed by almost an hour, and the day was spent basically in transit.

Great place to spend the night after a long traveling day

The flight on Air Tahiti Nui was a fast and comfortable 4 ½ hours – with pretty good food, free drinks and I had a movie to watch on my iPod and Joanie, of course, had her Kindle.

We arrived in Tahiti around 10pm, and found a taxi for a very expensive ($35) ride to our hotel – and that was after some negotiating.  When we got to our place, it was awesome!  A two story apartment, with very contemporary furnishings, but this was really only a place for us a spend the night and a few hours in the morning before we were to catch our ferry to Moorea. 

A flower petal welcome on our bed - just one small problem through...

And speaking of that, Joanie put her bargaining skills to work again – she found a couple of New Zealanders that were going to the ferry on a pre-paid bus.  So instead of taking another expensive taxi ride, we waited for their bus to arrive and worked out a very good deal with the driver, and off we went.  But that didn’t happen on this November 17^th – you’ll have to read more about what happened once we got to the ferry on the posting for the next November 17^th!

The Grounds of our Airport Hotel - not too shabby

WOW!

View from our Tahitian Home

Well, we may not be posting too frequently over the next few days, because we're busy living a dream...

View of our Tahitian Home

Returning to Auckland (with gardens and vineyards thrown in!)

Not a bad spot for a picnic!

We left our apartment in Tauranga around 11am, with plans to take our time on the drive.  It started out as an overcast day, but the clouds began to disappear and once again we had beautiful New Zealand landscapes accompanying us.  We stopped briefly at this picnic area overlooking the Wiakato river, and it was beautiful.

Another view of the Waikato River

We then stopped in the town of Hamilton – our half way point – and went to the Hamilton Gardens which I had discovered using Google Maps.  And man they were beautiful gardens.  Joanie was in heaven.  The gardens are owned and maintained by the city of Hamilton, and they don’t even charge an admission fee.  Situated on the banks of the Wiakato river, Hamilton Gardens is themed; they have an English garden, a Japanese garden, a modern American garden, a perfume garden, a rose garden, a Maori garden and a lot more.  Just a very special place and kudos to the city of Hamilton for providing this for their citizens and visitors alike.  A really unexpected find.

Then back on Highway 1 and in about an hour we were near our destination – a hotel near the Auckland airport.  But more internet research from the previous night led us to Villa Maria Winery – which happened to be just a kilometer away.  

The Italian Garden

So the winery and vineyard became our first stop – the hotel could wait.  The funny thing about finding the winery was that we had put in the vineyard’s address on our GPS system and it didn’t quite get us there, telling us our destination was on the left – but it wasn’t.  Joanie had a feeling that it was further down the road, so off we went on another of Joanie’s wild goose chases – although this one paid off!  See, we were in a business park and it didn’t look like there would be a vineyard within a hundred kilometers of this place, but just a few blocks down the street were the gates to Villa Maria.  And as we made the left turn – wow! – opening before us were acres of vineyards.  We were both blown away as we happily proceeded down their long driveway in search of the taste of wine.

And the wine tasted great!  The funny back story here is that when we first arrived in New Zealand, we went to a bottle shop (liquor store) in Paihia and Joanie picked out a bottle of wine, and it happened to be Villa Maria.  So visiting the winery on our last night in New Zealand nicely bookended our trip.  We bought a bottle of Syrah and sat on their deck enjoying the view and the pleasant weather before we decided to head, finally, to our hotel. 

The Entrance to the Maori Garden

We had dinner in the hotel bar; a very good pizza and the best beer Joanie and I have had down under.  It was a dark beer brewed here in New Zealand.  Good job mates!  All in all - a very nice day spent traveling from Tauranga to the Auckland.

Ending our day at the Villa Maria Vineyard

Isn't Greg in this photo twice?  Yes, and it cost him!

Two Days in Tauranga

Joanie's Mt. Maunganui from the tip of my Pennisula

Day One – This morning we woke up to another beautiful, sunny day, and we decided to go for two walks.  Joanie decided she wanted to scale Mount Maunganui and I decided to explore the peninsula right near our apartment.  Both of us really enjoyed our walks and got some great pictures.

And that was about it for this day.  Well, not really but we did spend most of the day just hanging out at our apartment.  We did laundry, hung out on our courtyard, and in the afternoon went across the street to our beach and just hung out for about an hour.  A very relaxed, no sightseeing day.  (We definitely realize that when you’re on the road, away from home for over a month, you need these occasional down days.)

My Peninsula from the top of Joanie's Mountain

That evening we went out to dinner at a place here in town called Amphora.  Nice little restaurant where you can bring your own wine - which we did – a Chardonnay we bought at Omata.  (BYO wine, with little or no corkage fees are actually fairly common in Australia and New Zealand – which is very cool.)  We sat outside and had a pleasant dinner.  Joanie ordered a Filo Puff appetizer and I ordered the pesto scallops – which came with their pink/orange toungues attached.  I tasted them, not bad, but the texture didn’t work for me.  We then split an Lamb Shank entrée with a mint flavored gravy.  Not bad, but not great either.

The Beach Across the Street

A very relaxed Spring day in this New Zealand beach town.

The Kind of Day it Was!

* * * * *

Gushing with Excitement!

Day Two – Today we drove to Rotorua – a town about one hour inland from Tauranga – famous for its geothermal activity and displays of Maori culture.  Our first stop was at a place called Te Puia – which combined both of these elements.  First was a “performance” where I thought we would get to see the famous Maori warriors and their tattooed faces doing their intense war dances, etc.  But instead, we got  a small “troupe” of singers and dancers, singing a few songs in the Maori language.  There was one song/dance where one guy was making the well-known bulging eyes, toungue sticking way out move – yippee – but basically the performance was very corny.

From Leaves

However, all was not lost.  Next we went on a guided tour of the grounds, where first we saw their Weaving School and Carving School.  Both of these were pretty cool, in that they are actual schools where they teach these cultural arts to a younger generation in hopes of keeping them alive.  And both were very interesting – Its amazing the things they can create from leaves and trees.

From Trees

Next was the highlight – a tour of the geothermal valley.  Here we actually left our guide and went on our own, and it was great.  Lots of steaming vents, many pools of boiling water, and one awesome boiling mud pool and gushing geyser.  And it was really cool how close we were able to get to the geyser – at one time the wind direction changed and we felt the mist from the geyser.  It was weird that the water was cool – we both thought it would be warmer.

Our last stop at Te Puia was in a Kiwi display.  These flightless, nocturnal birds are actually endangered and this display was inside a very dark building.  We barely saw a couple of them walking near the back of the display.  Bigger than I expected – and in the dark they actually looked like, and walked like chickens.

Our next stop in Rotorua was at the Polynesian Spa.  Here we planned on soaking in the mineral waters, and possibly getting a massage – very expensive here.  This place is listed in the Top 10 spas in the world by Conde Naste.  We thought it was way over commercialized, and they didn’t even offer therapeutic massages – just people rubbing mud gently on your backs – things like that.  So we bailed on this idea and ended up grabbing a bite to eat at a downtown Rotorua café…. Fish and chips for me and a turkey wrap for Joanie – nothing special.

The day came to an end with Joanie and I going to a place called Fernland in Tauranga – a place where you can soak in their mineral waters and get “real” massages.  It was a pretty nice place, and I had a pretty good massage, but unfortunately, Joanie didn’t couldn’t really rave about hers.  And the soaking was in a mini, not-jetted pool, inside our massage rooms – nothing special.

We then stopped at an Indian restaurant in Tauranga and Joanie and I shared an appetizer platter.  It was okay, but boy do we miss our Madhuban!  Actually, I think it’s that time in the trip when we start missing more about home.  But we’ll hang in there – after all – Tahiti is just a couple of days away!