Tahiti & in-between

So now begins the real journey...

As we just arrived a couple days ago via Tahiti, I thought I'd stick with "Trebuchet" font, something I am sure you all want to know...I've never been much on fancy scribing here, but I've also decided to use various colours, or should I now say 'colors' to keep myself amused.

Taking a few days layover from New Zealand on the way here made so much sense in so many ways: 1) We were able to see friends. 2) We were able to save $ to a destination that we may never have afforded being able to check out. 3) We were able to break up a 12-13 hour airtrip, which almost made it bearable.

Believe it or not, Moorea, the island on which this photo was taken, is NOT a national park...

As being resourceful is going to become ever more important in our changing world, it is a good thing to take advantage or any way possible to make things possible.  If you have never been to Tahiti, do stop!  The people were friendly, and the scenery is incredible.  We were able to use our 'carry-on' tent (I really do think that we brought everything but the kitchen sink with us on the trip.) to make a one day stopover on Moorea, a national park in its own right.  I'll try to include some pictures once I have access to a computer in Denver where I'm going next to visit family members to add to this post.

Sleeping was a challenge in the warm/hot temps and especially the humidity.  That being said, the rest (and some great French cooking!) we experienced with our travel network hosts, Gerard and his friend Stefan, and the warmth of spending scattered hours with our New Zealand friends, Olivier and Erica, made it all a real, much needed break on our way back to the intensity of the USA. 

Part of the wonder of our time spent Down Under was all of the places we were able to travel to and explore.  During our six years there, we made 5 travel circuits throughout New Zealand, with many more trips to Northland and to the Coromandel, we went to Australia twice, we travelled to Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa, New Caledonia, and finally through Tahiti back to the States.  There isn't a place I WOULDN'T recommend which we visited...and we will return--remember, that is a promise and not a threat!