Farewell to Kylie & Happy Birthday Liz, Shelby , Charli and Peter

Our final week with Kylie was spent in two picturesque anchorages in Southern Tahiti. Our favourite was outside of the community of Puunui through the Havae Pass. This pass is world renowned for surfing, and since we were there over a weekend, we got to witness these wild and crazy guys and gals firsthand. We also discovered that it is a popular spot for visiting tiger sharks! The beachside park was alive with multi-generational families out for a picnic, with bocce ball tournaments going in full swing. While strolling through the village we enjoyed seeing most of the locals out and about having an old-fashioned Sunday visiting with family and friends and the kids playing pick up soccer games.

Kylie had a major essay to finish from her Philippine’s field study course, so she spent the better part of four days working hard on it. Peter & I went off kayaking, and exploring on land to give her the peace and quiet to concentrate, which is no easy task while in the middle of the South Pacific!

The night before Kylie left, we returned to the marina in Tahiti where we were docked on “super-yacht” alley. There were approximately ten of these yachts ranging from the most humble 82 footer to 210 feet. It was really quite something to see that many sailing vessels, with only one mega power boat in the line up.

To celebrate Kylie’s finished masterpiece and to say farewell, we made reservations at the self-proclaimed “world-famous” Le Belvedere restaurant, which is the highest restaurant in South Polynesia, boasting the most magnificent sunset over Moorea. The only way to get there is by their van shuttle service and the hour long ride itself was almost worth the price of admission. We climbed further and further up a one-lane road that twisted and turned, with steep drop-offs on either side and a panoramic view overlooking Tahiti. We all needed a drink when we miraculously arrived safely! The set meal was overpriced and overrated at $73.00 per person, which at least included transportation. We ordered their house speciality, which was a beef fondue that simply consisted of raw cut-up meat and seven different bottled sauces, followed by ice cream for desert. Kylie joked that she was going to open a restaurant that didn’t need a chef! The view was magnificent though and the company couldn’t have been better. We are still shaking our head over the price of one of the worst dinners we have had (yes, Danny including some of my own home cooked ones), but it does make for a good story.

We saw Kylie off at the dock at 4:00 a.m. for her return flight. She arrived safe and sound in Canada at midnight, but her bags did not. No great surprise since she transited through the notorious L.A. airport. Hopefully they will be found and returned to her shortly.

After three months with company, QuickStar felt almost like a super-yacht herself with all that extra space. We spent the last two days, cleaning, re-organizing, provisioning, doing laundry, filling propane bottles and getting a transformer installed for the 220 voltage that they use here. Good news – we found our stash of flags, so we now have the French Polynesian flag flying proudly along with the French flag. (sorry, Halldo, no luck finding your recorder)

Provisioning over here is a bit of a chore. The prices are at least double what we would pay at home; it is about a mile walk to get to the major grocery store and then a mile back with a cart that steers as if possessed. Kylie explained that these are the carts in Australia as well, where they have four wheels all going in different directions. On my walk over, I almost jumped in to two lanes of traffic when one of the many roosters surprised me when he dropped out a tree over my head. As he strutted along crowing in front of me, I understood the saying “the cock of the walk”. On the return trip, I got a full body workout as I fought with the cart the whole way to prevent it from getting both of us run over.

While we were extremely fortunate and grateful that we had the best possible crew starting with Don and Martha for the initial crossing and the Galapagos, followed by Doug and Shelby for two months, and Kylie for two weeks, it is still a treat to be on our own, with no one else to think about and to simply be able to dance in the galley whenever we feel so inclined!

Where to next? We are heading over to Moorea again to celebrate Peter's birthday tomorrow and to do some hiking, relaxing and a return to our daily routine of Spanish lessons, Yoga, workouts, snorkelling and alternate alcohol-free days!

Until next Friday – sorry we couldn’t reach you Liz (my step-Mom) by phone on your birthday and just had to leave a message. Hope you had a good one. Glad that Danny’s 25th birthday weekend on a houseboat was a great success and that no one ended up in jail.