La Orana!

You catch on to the Tahitian lingo pretty quickly.

We would hear La Orana (yo-rah-nAH) about 10 times per day!

Emphasis on AH!

Meaning, hello or welcome!

Much like Aloha in Hawaii. 

La Orana to our first full day!

Giddy to explore the breakfast buffet!

Our view right out the front door.

Such a beautiful scenic route to the find food.

My favorite umbrella tree.

The most well maintained grounds.

Loved the rock placement along the walkway. 

Nothing says welcome to breakfast like a cute bowl of fruit!

 

Breakfast buffets are my love language!

This was nothing short of amazing. 

So many different varieties of all cultures to choose from. 

And nothing says happy eating while listening to ukuleles and singing. 

We decided to drive the whole island today.

Renting cars is a breeze here!

They basically just write your name down in a binder and 

give you the keys.

Our kids would die to have this statue out front of our house!

Pretty sure it would be named booty cheeks Bob. 

Such teeny tiny cars!

Church was our first stop. 

Church on vacation is one of my favorite things to do.
Especially internationally.

This would be my first time not understanding a word that was said!

It was a lovely service with lots of confirmations and baby blessings!

It was also fast Sunday.

There were people literally running up to bear their testimonies.

Gods children around the world are so special and no different than

where we live! 

SO jealous of all the mumu's !!

I chuckled at the fact that each church building sports their own ancient silk

plants of sorts.

America gets ivy plants, French Polynesia gets tropical!

No AC meant open windows and breeze blowing through the curtains!

At breakfast back at the hotel I ran into this man.

Clearly he was on the same page as us with wearing a white shirt and tie!

I said going to church?!

He said, yes!

Come to find out, they are big wigs.

He and his wife oversee all the missions in the South Pacific.

They currently live in New Zealand, and cover all the way to Hong Kong!

The week prior was a big deal.

The church had just celebrated the 180th anniversary of the arrival of

missionaries in the South Pacific.

It was on the Island of Tubuai. 

Apparently one of my great grandfathers, Addison Pratt, was a big role in that

missionary work!

They came in for that, but then decided to extend their time for a little vacation.

But wanted to meet with some of the elders. 

Come, Come, Ye Saints!

This little boy was eyeing me all during church!
(Must not see a lot of blondes).

He was one of the kids who had their baby blessing.
He came over to me and I was showing him pictures of our kids on my phone!
He would point and smile at me. It was sweet the way we

figured out how to communicate since we couldn't 

understand each other!

This was an old building, with an outdoor baptismal font.

Simple, yet wonderful!

Back in AZ, we got this picture from Casey's executive
secretary of Lane making himself at home in his office.

Don't think he was missing us. 

A much prettier view outside of the church

than ours of a busy road and Burger King at home!

I SO want to rename my nursery class the La Petites!

 

Literally right across the street from the church is Cook's Bay.

It is GORGEOUS!!

It's a lovely stretch of calm water with tons of boats that anchor there. 

Casey waiting on me to stop taking pictures!

You can see the side of the church building to the right of him. 

Fruit stands at the gas station. 

On Sundays everything shuts down on any island in Tahiti. 
It is a ghost town with no street vendors or restaurants open.
We still decided to explore knowing this, which I loved

because the traffic was minimal!
SO many scooters and motorcycles!

I got a chuckle when there

were a group of kids being obnoxious to each other with the

beeping of their horns as they whizzed by.

Made me think of my obnoxious kids at home who would

do the same thing!

Luckily we did find a place that opened later for lunch.

My parents were here not that long ago and recommended it to us!

If you don't order fish, your next option is steak and fries.

Lots of red meat and fries for Casey this trip!

And lots of baguettes! 
You are always given a basket of baguettes before each meal. 

This is French Polynesia after all!

We also learned that tipping is not a thing in Tahiti!

It was so hard for us to just walk away without leaving money each time!

This stray cat scared the crap out of me!

I hate cats, let alone stray ones on my chair while I'm trying to eat.

Every meal you also got to pay for a $10 bottle of water!
No free water here.

Well, unless you want to risk getting parasites. 

It didn't take very long for it to sweat to death on your table with the humidity!

Driving to the popular lookout point was an adventure!

Especially in the toy cars they have to drive in.

We drove through the bumpy, dirt road jungle hoping to not pop a tire!

It was pretty busy, so Casey found a makeshift
parking spot on the ledge of the cliff!

Belvedere Lookout is where you can see views of 

2 different Bays. 

Its hard to see, but behind us is Opunohu Bay to the left, Cooks Bay to the right. 

We beach hopped the rest of the day.

Driving the whole island only takes an hour at most.

My front seat view was breathtaking. 

Tamae Beach with its white sand, turquoise water, and coconut palms.

Post card perfect!

Our first time dipping into the ocean!

These snorkel masks were money!

I ordered them very last minute (thank you amazon overnight delivery)

and ended up being the best purchase for the trip!!

SO much better having your whole face covered.

Made for easy breathing, they never fogged up and

made you look extra fabulous:) 

We love to stroll the shoreline for seashell collecting. 

Laying out couldn't get more heavenly than this.

My view looking up.

Palm tree paradise. 

Roadside scenery.

Boats parked on the side like it was a car.

We drove to the other side to of the island to

Ta'ahiamanu Beach. 

A golden sand beach with a view of the lagoon and many sailboats.

This was a more chill beach with calm waters and lots of

families enjoying their Sunday afternoon. 

We enjoyed a dip in our pool before getting

ready for dinner. 

We decided to try a local restaurant instead of eating

at the resort.
The restaurants in the area arrange for free pick up and drop off

which was super convenient!

Rudy's was a popular suggestion while researching on Pinterest 

so we went with that!

It was French cuisine and very tasty!

A massive crepe for dessert was the perfect end to a perfect day!