We had such an amazing time in Tahiti! Spencer earned this trip through his work. If you hit your quota number for the year they take you on a Presidents Club trip and this year it was to Tahiti! Tahiti is such a BEAUTIFUL island. I actually liked it better than Hawaii since it is less touristy, the locals are super nice and the colors are so vibrant and beautiful! The water is sooo blue and the mountains are super lush and thick. The sunsets are unreal!! It was such an amazing vacation for just Spencer and I to go on. It was also fun to be with some of his co-workers and do some things with them too. We started off by staying one night on the main island, Tahiti and that day we were able to go to the Temple with a big group and then go to some food trucks that night. The next morning we took a 30 minute ferry to the island of Mo'orea where we stayed a week at the Hilton. Each room was it's own little bungalow on the water! It was amazing. We were able to jump into the ocean straight from our own private dock. There was some really good snorkeling right outside our dock and Spencer would go each day/night to check out the fish. There were also some really cool black-tip sharks that swam around. They were pretty tame and were actually scared of people so the whole week Spencer was trying to catch one by luring it near our dock with food.
We did some pretty fun things too. One day we went to a Private island and snorkeled around. It was called the Lagoona and it had some amazing colorful fish. There were also HUGE sting rays and black-tip sharks. We rented scooters and scooted around the island. We found a yummy lunch place and shopped around for some black pearls since that is what Tahiti is known for.
Another day we went with a small group 4x4ing up in the mountains. We were able to ride these sweet four wheelers and take them on the back roads and see the island. It was so pretty! We stopped at this place that had the BEST coconut ice cream and some yummy jams. We bought a vanilla pineapple jam to bring home. When we rented scooters a few days after that, we tried to get the coconut ice cream again but they were out so we got mango and vanilla which was amazing too!
We had a luau one night with the whole Work Front team and they had a huge buffet dinner and then some fire dancers! It was good food and they always had these amazing mango drinks that I got. So good!!
My AMAZING mother watched the girls while we were gone. She would text me pictures of things they did each day. She was awesome and got out of the house everyday with them going to different playgrounds, museums, ballet class and the library! She is super just amazing!
Each night we would go to a different place to eat dinner. The restaurants around the island would actually come pick you up and take you back so we would just call a place that people recommended and have them come get us. The food was amazing! We went to some really good places. One was a one-man show. He was the cutest little man that made some great dishes. We tried the parrot fish and a shrimp curry. He also had these sharks and sting rays right on the balcony of his restaurant the Spencer and some of his friends loved seeing. Spencer got super close and could pet the sting ray right on the balcony!
When we took the scooters around we stopped at this yummy place for lunch that everyone recommended. It was super good! Then we went to the Intercontinental Hotel to see their dolphin reserve and turtle reserve. They rescue turtles from the sea that are injured or have deformities and help care for them. It was pretty cool! We also stopped on the side of the road and got fresh coconut water and then had the guy shave the flesh off to get the good coconut flavors. It was divine.
Spencer was super cute wanting to go fishing each night. When we rented the scooters he went into the local grocery store and got some hooks and line to be able to fish better. He caught quite a few! He had all the guys in on it too and one night after our buffet team dinner everyone had pocketed napkins full of food to bait the fish with. One night we had about 10 guys on our dock trying to catch some fish/shark! haha
Another day we went repelling with some friends. This french guy took us up in the deep woods and we were able to repeal down 5 different waterfalls in the jungle. It was exhilarating and fun. There were also a few natural waterslides that we slid down and got wet in. It was super fun!
I absolutely loved our vacation! Spencer has actually made it the last 3 years but 2 years ago Bergen was born and last year my brother-in-law Jim passed away so we weren't able to go. So this was a MUCH needed and well earned vacation for us! It was the perfect getaway of relaxing on the beach and by the pool but also being adventurous and getting out and doing things. Since the time zone was so different for us we went to bed around 9pm every night and then got up with the sun at 4am. We worked out a few times and I ran on the roads about 2 miles out. The sunsets and sunrises were so amazing! It was also perfect because Spencer could do a lot of his work between 4am-6am and not feel like he had to work during the day. We loved having our own bungalow too and being able to just be by ourselves or just our neighbors or go out to the main pool and be social.
The way of life there was so different too. It reminded me of Hawaii with how laid back and calm it was. Everyone was super nice and just went at their own pace, waking slow and not doing much besides cooking (which was mainly done outside on fires) and talking with people they saw on the roads. Someone said that the island has like 0% percent crime because everyone knows everyone and takes care of everyone. I thought that was pretty cool. Our tour guide also told us that they don't have a lot of things and so presents and gifts aren't a big thing there.. it is mainly just spending quality time with each other and just spending the day with someone. I loved this!
This trip could not have happened without my sweet mother! I had no concerns while we were gone and knew the girls were in good hands! She was so good with them and was able to still get out and do a lot of things. The girls LOVED being with her and after she left Bergen kept calling me Gramma B! It was cute.
17 weeks!!!
