Our next big adventure is to experience another item on Randy’s bucket list – snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Before that, we have a few days in Tahiti,  a few days in Auckland, and a two week cruise.   

The cruise is mostly around New Zealand with a few ports in Australia.  We hope you’ll follow along.  This trip began on January 11, 2025.

The first leg of our journey was from Phoenix to Los Angeles. We had a bit of anxiety about whether our flights into and out of LAX would be operating normally because of the massive wildfires.  (We recognize that our flights are unimportant in the big picture of the LA tragedy.)

Our flight from PHX to LAX was in the evening so we expected to see the fires from the plane but we did not.  We arrived and spent several uneventful hours in LAX.   

I spent most of the time reading Mrs. Jewel and the Wreck of the General Grant by Cristina Sanders.  I enjoy reading books in preparation for a trip to get a sense of place or the history of a region.  I especially like books where an author takes a historical event and creates a fictional narrative.  It is truth that Mrs. Jewell was the only female survivor, of 15 total, from the sailing ship General Grant, which wrecked in the Auckland Islands in 1866. Little is known about how she spent the eighteen months before the group was rescued so the author made a narrative.   I loved the book and hope I am able to get a feel for the location when we sail around New Zealand.

Our flight to Tahiti was an overnight flight in premium economy on Air Tahiti Nui. That meant we had reclining seats, just two together on the side of the plane. The attendants gave us a hot sandwich soon after we boarded and mostly everyone slept. (I spent a bit too much time finishing with Mrs. Jewell.) 

We were roused about 3:30 a.m. local time (5:30 pacific time)and fed a hot breakfast. 

Since my book was finished, I spent time with the plane’s onboard entertainment screens to learn more about Polynesian sailors and how they became experts with navigating by the stars.  They also knew about the currents and the indicators for land.

I learned just a little about Tupaia, who accompanied Captain Cook on his journeys in the South Pacific.

In 1770, Tupaia put his knowledge on paper, the first Polynesian to do so.  I was not surprised to hear that the original map resides in the British Library.  (It could be a year long bucket list item to explore all the things we’ve heard about in our travels that are in the British Museum and British Library.)

We landed about 4:45 a.m. and walked into the terminal.

There were dancers waiting to greet us.  

Many years ago we experienced something very similar as our family and my parents came through Tahiti on our way to the Cook Islands.  That brief experience led to Randy wanting to bucket list Tahiti and staying in an overwater bungalow.  That trip actually happened in May 2019. It was his mental reward for getting through chemo and surgery for bladder cancer in 2018.   The blog post for that trip is Randy’s Bucket List – Tahiti and an OverWater Bungalow.

Getting back to our early morning on January 12, 2025, we gathered our bags, received our lei greeting, and met our driver.

We arrived a little after 5:00 a.m. at the InterContinental Tahiti Resort.  Because we have an IHG Hotels account, we were able to access our room right away.

It was quite nice. 

We had eaten on the plane a few hours before, but knew we wanted more breakfast before taking a nap.  We had slept for a few hours on the plane but nothing like a whole night’s sleep.   

As we walked towards the restaurant, we had the sensation we had been there before.   I remembered that on the 2019 trip we had spent one night in Tahiti before going to Moorea and Bora Bora.  We checked on our blog, the same one I referenced earlier, and sure enough, we stayed at the InterContinental Tahiti Resort before.  The restaurant that felt so familiar was actually on the InterContinental Moorea Resort, where we also stayed.

The Sunday Brunch extravaganza was available at the main restaurant but we were too tired for an extended and large meal. We opted for a continental breakfast at the bar cafe.  We were prepared to order two, but our waitress wisely suggested we share just one order.  

It was more than enough! 

We did get a look at the brunch show, but didn’t stay long. Our need for a nap was more important.

We left for Tahiti on January 11, 2025, arriving on January 12th.

Next Up:  We explore the grounds of the InterContinental Tahiti Resort.