Last night I had to stop writing when the Polynesian show began. I love the music so much, especially the drumming. Mary and I both love live music, but we don’t like crowds and prefer outdoor concerts. I put a bunch of outdoor concerts on our calendar this summer and we proceeded to go to none of them. So, last night, we both lay on the divan. It was dark, but we could see fish in the water below us – tons of fairly large blue fish just playing at the surface and occasionally audibly stirring the water. The sky was full of the stars of the Southern hemisphere. And then the music began. These musicians are very talented – also loud enough to hear very clearly from our bungalow which is about two or three hundred yards across the water. I think it actually would have been too loud if we were there in the restaurant. Also there would have been other people. Yuck! At the end there was a fire dance which we could somewhat see from our deck. I doubt that I can even describe how magical that hour was. Will I ever again get to lie in the dark, above a lagoon, snuggling with my sweetie, no one else around, enjoying our own private concert? I was wearing my Fitbit and checked my pulse and it was something like 59 bpm. I was so relaxed!
The show ended, we watched the people file out, and I checked my email. There was a message from our friend Jan telling me that Portland is getting a WNBA franchise! Last night was definitely the most wonderful night of 2024, maybe my most favorite evening ever?
Another amazing evening this trip was a bit of a surprise. It was at LAX where we were waiting for our flight to Papeete. We were told to check in 3 hours before our eight hour flight. I had read that the Star Alliance Lounge, which we could pay $75 each to enter, has an outdoor terrace. Neither of us relished 11 hours straight in a mask, so we plunked down a credit card and went straight to the outdoor terrace. I wasn’t very hungry and didn’t want to drink because I had read that the best way to sleep on a red-eye flight is to not eat anything heavy and to avoid alcohol. So we basically payed $150 to sit outside on a couch for two hours. I did have some ice water and eventually a small salad, but that was it in terms of taking advantage of the free food in the lounge. Those 2 hours at the outdoor terrace were SO worth the $150. There were lots of couches around fire tables and we each had our own couch to lie down on. I tried to find us couches away from a fire table, but there was only one and it was occupied. Eventually it got a little cooler and breezy outside and then we would get bits of cool air, then warm, then cool, which Mary said reminded her of visiting Haleakala in Maui in the early morning. It was delicious! Also it was SO LOUD out there. I’m not sure how close we were to planes landing and taking off but there was a constant roar, and that felt wonderful too. I think we both felt like we were all by ourselves surrounded by a beautiful black night. It was awesome.
Our flight left at midnight and we boarded at 11. We were each given a tiare flower when we boarded, which was a nice touch, but in practice it was just this thing that got squished in my hand as I got what I needed out of my carryon and then got it up into the overhead bin. Mary and I did not get to sit together, but I had managed to snag the seat across from her and the seats were wide enough that the woman next to me never encroached on my space and vice versa. We were given amenity kits with an eye mask, ear plugs, toothbrush and toothpaste, and some cozy blue socks. We also got a pillow and blanket. These premium seats also had footrests and the headrest could be adjusted so it kind of enveloped my head. There was pretty good recline in the seats also, so as soon as I was able to I reclined, covered my head with the blanket and managed to go to sleep for about 5 and a half hours. I woke up when they were getting ready to serve breakfast, which was a cheese omelet and something else I can’t remember.
Soon it was 5:30 am and we were in Papeete. Our Costco package included transfers from the airport to the ferry terminal. The tour company representative was there with our names on a sign. He presented us each with a lei and then gave us a ticket book for the round trip ferry, as well as transfers from the ferry to the resort. He wanted to take us straight to the van. I had to ask if I could use the bathroom first. I also explained that we were not getting on the 8 am ferry like everyone else, but that we still wanted to go to the ferry terminal and we would walk across the street to our hotel for the morning. I wanted to get some francs at an ATM, but it seemed like we barely had time to pee – Matin was eager to get us out of the airport. He took us to a van and loaded our luggage in the back. I thought we were going to get in the van and go, but then he remembered that our luggage shouldn’t be with everyone else’s luggage because all the other luggage was going to get loaded straight on to the ferry. (Even though I love what we did that morning, it would have been great to have our luggage loaded on the ferry for us, given what happened to me later.) Matin removed our luggage from the van and led us to a big bus where he loaded our suitcases into the side of the bus. He said, “You will ride the bus.” We got on the bus, which had no driver but many passengers, and we waited. And waited. And waited. Eventually I got off the bus and just sat on the steps because I didn’t want to wear my mask. The wait was at least a half an hour, maybe more, with no appearance from anyone to tell us what was going on. Eventually a few people got off the bus to inquire and learned that we were waiting for a couple who had gotten held up in customs. We waited another ten minutes or so and finally were taken to the ferry terminal. Matin rode the bus with us, and when we got to the terminal he showed us where our hotel was, directly across the street. We had to cross four very busy lanes of traffic to get to the hotel. It felt a little harrowing with our luggage, but we managed. At the Hotel Kon Tiki we were given immediate access to our pod room. It was clean, very small, and the bed felt perfect. When we turned off the lights it was pitch dark. Mary went to sleep and I went back to the lobby to get a little breakfast. They had a small buffet which I thought was $10. I loaded up a plate with two of everything that looked good, payed what turned out to be $35, took it back to the room, where we both devoured it, and then we turned out the lights and slept until 1:30 when we checked out and crossed back over to the ferry terminal. Again, the traffic was scary. It felt a little aggressive. We made it to the middle island and then all the way across, but I was nervous about being in the way of cars, so I rushed myself, tripped over something, and landed flat on everything except my face. I scraped both knees and my right elbow and sprained my right hand. I hurt everywhere. At the ferry terminal the elevators were out of order so we had to schlep our luggage up two flights of stairs. This was painful and difficult. I took it one step at a time with a rest in between each step because my whole body was throbbing.
Upstairs it was not at all clear where we were supposed to be. A very kind woman saw that we were confused, and she looked at our tickets and told us where we needed to go. Mary sat down there with our luggage and I went in search of a bathroom to tend to my wounds. Sadly I had to go back downstairs, but I was able to wash my scrapes. There was a food area and we were both hungry but Mary was nervous about leaving her spot, so I bought us each a hamburger and as soon as we finished our burgers it was time to board the ferry. Navigating the ferry was also a bit opaque. There was an outside area, but I could never find it so we sat at the front of the boat which was mostly empty, just a couple locals there, and we watched our approach to Mo’orea through windows filmy with salt.
That was Monday. Now I will take you back to today, which is Sunday. It is very stormy outside. The water in our lagoon is moving so much I feel like I’m on the Queen Mary crossing the Atlantic Ocean – though this is a gorgeous shade of blue we did not see in the waters off the Queen Mary. The wind and the surf are very loud, and the thatches on our bungalow make a lot of noise as they blow around. We were able to snorkel this morning before it got this bad. It’s now 1:45 and we’ve decided to put on our water shoes and walk through the surf to the beach bar for lunch. We’ve never been to the beach bar, but they have coco sorbet for less than in the restaurant so we’re going to give it a try, though it may be unpleasant in this wind. I’ll continue this after lunch.
