We finally arrived in French Polynesia!

Our first stop was in Rangiroa. Rangiroa is the largest of the Tuamotu Atolls and the second largest in the world. If you’ve forgetten from your geography class eons ago, an atoll is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. Made of mostly water, the lagoon in Rangiroa is so substantial that the entire island of Tahiti could fit inside.

Our time in Rangiroa was mostly spent snorkeling. We arrived on shore and grabbed a local boat for the ride over to Motu Nui Nui, a natural, open-water aquarium renowned for its rich marine life. For $50 each, we were able to snorkel in what was truly a giant aquarium, with brightly colored fishes of all kinds.

The highlight of the experience was no doubt seeing a blackfin reef shark swimming with us. There were a ton of fish (probably in part because some of the snorkeling excursion people would throw in food for them), and then all of a sudden they would scatter. And then, lo and behold, there’s a shark swimming along. John and I found ourselves pointing out the shark and various other fishes constantly to one another. (The image below of the shark isn’t mine – we aren’t great enough photographers to even pretend to try to capture good photos under the water, but this way you can see what it was we saw.)

That was pretty much it for Rangiroa for us (though it was plenty for us – a success, I’d say.)

The next day we went to Papeete, Tahiti. Let me tell you that I’ve spent *so* much time trying to get the pronunciation right for this place. The best I can tell you is that it sounds something along the lines of “Papa-aytay” but fast and all together as one word. Anyway, Tahiti. Wow. This is the place that people get to win vacations to if they win Price is Right, right? It’s beautiful.

I won’t pretend like we did a ton here because we didn’t. We took a stroll from the boat through town. The streets are narrow, the trees are tropical, and the people are either beautiful or not. But knowing we were in Tahiti (!) was amazing.

Did you know that the word “tattoo” comes from the Tahitian word “tatau”. Tattoo are considered signs of beauty among Polynesians. These are ceremoniously applied to the body when reaching adolescence period. No, the boys aren’t getting tattoos while here. (They didn’t ask for one, but I think I saw a tattoo on every single adult I saw. That, and a lot of flip flips with no arch support. C’mon people – think of your backs!)

Another fun fact: The Tahitian alphabet consists only of 13 letters: the vowels a, e, i, o, u and the consonants f, h, m, n, p, r, t and v. John and I play Quiddler (a word game like Scrabble except with cards) and this could make that game a lot more interesting!

I read that overwater bungalows were invented in Tahiti in the 1960s. That’s cool, right? (We did not stay in nor did we see one of these here. John and I did stay in one the last time we were in Fiji though, so I can attest to the fact that it is, indeed, a wonderful experience.)

In addition to wandering around a little, John and I spent a little wifi time at Les 3 Brasseurs (translates to roughly the three brewers), a nearby brewpub. He needed to finish up some FAFSA forms (government financial aid forms for the college kiddo). The irony of being on a world cruise while filling out financial aid forms is not lost on us. I direct you back to how it is that we made this trip a reality for us (here). Anyway, the beer was fine. It was cold (yay) and wet (duh) and tasty (whew) so it made for a good stop to get some work done. Because, again, this isn’t a pure vacation – we *are* actually working while here. So there. Cheers!