2026 French Polynesia - January - Day 06 - Bye Moorea, Hello Tahiti Temple.

Tuesday, January 20, 2026

I’m sitting at the Tahiti temple writing this.  It’s 1 pm and the temple reopens at 2 pm with the work commencing at 3 pm.   The day was not planned this way however.  We were going to leave our flat later, around 1:30 pm, to catch the 3:30 pm ferry back to Tahiti.  However, our host texted in the morning asking us to put out all linens and towels for the ‘concierge’ to pickup and wash.  That kinda defeated our purpose for leaving late as we wanted to snorkel in the morning, shower and then go to Tahiti.   But with no towels, showering was out.  So we hit the road by 10 to see if we could get on the 11:30 ferry…which we did.  So here we are.  

It’s quite warm and humid even though it is gray skies.   They had a nice cool waiting area in one of the buildings but they kicked us out and locked it.  Bummer.  I guess it reopens at 2 pm also.   I’m not really dressed to for the temple. I do have a white shirt and tie to put on.  The lady at the recommend desk just said come as I am.  I should.  But that would embarrass Denise.  So we shall see.  😉. But we are excited to be here at the temple.

We went into the temple promptly at 2 PM.  They recognized by our confusion on what to do and all the names we were printing that we were not from these islands.  It couldn’t have been due to our skin color or lack of speaking French.  Anyway, they  were so amazing accommodating us.  They even put together a sealing session for just Denise and I.  What temple does that?  They did in Tahiti.  We did Initiatories, sealings and 2 endowment sessions.  16 ordinances in total.  It was amazing.  We were so grateful that another travleling couple that we met at church told us that there was a temple in Tahiti.   We were under the impression that they were building one…which they are…but the Tahiti temple has been around for 50 years!  It was a marvelous time doing this work in this beautiful house of the Lord.

We arrived at the airport a couple of hours early.  I’m glad we did as the heavens opened and it POURED!  And the funny thing is, at the Papeeté airport, you have to walk onto the tarmac and then up stairs to get into the plane.  Fortunately they handed out umbrellas to use as we walked between the gate and the plane.  Part of the nights drama was if we would get Polaris class seating.  Stand by numbers grew to 49.  Relative to Polaris upgrades, Denise was #26 and I was #27.  Turned out there were 26 Polaris seats open and Denise got  the last one.  I was in Premium Plus, which is better than standard seating.  But nothing like Polaris where you can lie flat.  So nice on a red eye flat.  

I’m now writing this at home which is once again kind of a miracle.  The Tahiti flight landed some 20 minutes early which opened the door for us to try and get on the first flight to SLC from SFO.  We flew through customs and then through security again to arrive at the gate as the last passengers were loading.  We listed ourselves on the flight while flying as there were 4 open seats.  Denise got a seat as we were walking.  I said, just go, thinking I would not get on as I was behind other stand by folks.  But, none of them were around.  And as luck has it, there was one seat open that I had to wait 5 minutes to see if any one ahead of me would show up.  And they didn’t!  So I got the last seat open on the plane.  

It was a great trip but different in many ways.  I loved the sea, the people and the beauty of the islands.  I always say that I’m going to go back someday.  But I highly doubt that we ever will as there is so much more for us to see in this world even though it is always great to get back home!

Some final photos:

Good shot of the temple.

Us in front or the Tahiti temple.  That shirt and tie was put on by the car in the temple’s parking lot.  

This is where we sat with some of the locals waiting to go into the temple.  It was a bit warm and humid.  The air conditioning of the temple felt so good once we entered.

This temple was remodeled a few years back and I think this was the spire that existed there previously.

As we were driving to the temple, actually a block away, this apartment building had an amazing exterior.  We had to get some pictures.

This is from the back of the ferry as it backed into the harbor.  We were down here to get back to where our car was to get ready to go off the boat.

Finally, we found a French pastry.  It happened to be on the ferry!  Heck, the cheapest food we found was on the ferry.

This is the parking lot where we waited to load our cars.  You can see the green of the scenery and the clouds that just get rolling in.

We enjoyed our little Kia.  It got us around the islands great.  I think it was absolutely needed over there to get around.

2026 French Polynesia - January - Day 05 - Moorea Day of Snorkeling.

 Monday, January 19, 2026

We woke up this morning to very gray skies and steady rain.  I was a bit bummed out.  But hey, we are in the South Pacific and the weather changes every 10 minutes.  So we hung out in the flat until it started to ease up and the sky getting lighter.  Around 10 AM’ish, we walked across the street, down the rock steps to the gully and over to the beach.  It was very calm, very little wind.  The skies were a bit gray is all.  Denise came to snorkel too and she has progressed so much!  At points in the day, she was swimming by herself!  That is really overcoming one’s fear.  Proud of her to try this.  We were both proud of ourselves for not screaming when we popped up for a quick rest and noticed a black tipped fin passing in the water about 30 yards from us.  Clearly it was a black tipped reef shark that are so popular in these parts.  I immediately went underwater to try and see if I could see it.  But it was too far away and probably was swimming pretty quick.  I never saw it.  It’s was the second time I’ve seen a black tipped fin in this area.

We snorkeled for probably an hour or more and then came back to the flat.  Our hopes were that the sun would come out and that we would head to the spoke our host has kayaks and then go kayaking.  A little after lunch time, the skies seemed to part and sun was seen.  So we gathered up our stuff jumped in the car heading to the kayak spot.  But as we drove north we could see a big ominous cloud that began to rain and then dump the rain.  Nonetheless, we drove into his area where his bungalow is and kayaks are stored and then stayed in the car for about 10 minutes.  The cloud passed, the sun began to come out and we headed to the kayak.  Jeanro, our host, had placed the 2-person kayak in the water and had it all ready for us.  He popped, surpringly, out of the bungalow and said it should be sunny for a while and then took off.  So off we went, kayaking in a very shallow lagoon.  We thought we’d head over to one of the two islands across the lagoon but we became nervous as the skies still had some thunder head looking clouds that seemed like they were headed our way.  So we went out about 10 minutes and then turned around and came back.  We can at least say we kayaked near Moorea.  

After putting the kayak away, we decided to go snorkel a bit in the lagoon.  It was somewhat challenging in that it was quite shallow in parts.  But lots of pretty fish.  The interesting thing about this lagoon was the current.  It was sweeping through this lagoon that sat between mainland Moorea and a couple of islands a few hundred meters away.  It make made swimming tough, especially without fins.  I did not put on fins.  What would have been fun would be to enter the water up current and then just float down.  I know that some people do this.  That would be much fun.  Anyway, we were there for a couple of hours is all before heading back to the flat to look at the pictures I had taken on the GoPro.

Well, our trip is coming to a close.  Our host has told us that no one is coming in tomorrow and that we can stay until we need to leave for the ferry, which is at 3:30 PM.  Plan is to maybe snorkel again in the morning, get dressed for the temple, take the ferry over and go over to the temple where we have a 5:30 endowment session lined up.  After that, it’s off the the airport for our redeye flight back to the USA.

The food on the island is ok.  It is quite pricey.  But what will cost us the most is the rental car.  I could have rented a car here on the island instead of ferrying a car over.  But we were not quite sure what we would do the last day if we had to be out of our flat early.  I don’t know, using taxi’s in Papeete to get around would have cost a bit, I hear.  I think it will be wash cost wise in the end.  I got the car much cheaper at the airport.  But I’m paying for mileage and ferry transport.  It is what it is.

Here are some pictures:

A cruise ship passing having probably left Cook’s Bay.

Chillin like villains.  Amazingly relaxing day.

Those are the two islands that we thought we’d kayak too.  But the weather was to concerning so we punted.  Kayaked a bit, but not long.

The kayaker!  The pictures are from my GoPro and I think it has some water causing blurriness.

Getting ready for the big plunge.  So amazing she is to conquer a huge fear.  

Snorkeling!  

Kayaking!  She’s a woman of many talents!

An underwater shot of some of the fish and seabed in a shallow area.

Don’t the clouds look angry.  We were concerned about them as the wind usually kicks up as they pass by.  The rain would be no big deal.  We’re wet already.  But the wind…problem it would be.

Nervous, but happy, kayaker.

A few more underwater shots.  Pretty shallow in the afternoon.  Fun nonetheless.  Love it.

To finish the day, we went to eat at a place called O2 Cocos.  It’s a legitimate restaurant with a nice ambiance.  We shared some fish and chips.  They were pretty good.

Well tomorrow will be a long day as we do a few things and then begin our journey home.  It’s been a unique trip here on Moorea.  We really experienced what island life can truly be on a rather small island.  Kids just loitering around, slow pace and everyone wearing swimsuits and no shirts.  Pretty chill! 

2026 French Polynesia - January - Day 04 - Moorea…Beautiful Sabbath Day.

 Sunday, January 18, 2026

Last night was a nice rest.  It was probably the best nights sleep in along time.   We kept the A/C off and the room stayed a bit warmer.  That might have been the reason why.  But waking up today, it’s all blue skies and with the sun out, it will feel much warmer.  Sundays are usually the best days when traveling.  Just the adversaries way of tempting me to do things that I would not normally participate in on the Sabbath.

There are 3 wards on this island.  One of the chapels is only a 10 minute drive from our flat.  Church started at 9 AM and being on an island, we thought they would be on ‘island time’ starting a bit late.  Such was not the case.  We pulled into the parking lot and you could see into the chapel and it looked full!  And it was.  Fortunately they had another section that they could open and it slowly filled up.  It was a large congregation of saints.  Denise and I and one other couple were the only visitors that we could see.  I think I saw a set of sister missionaries there too.  Anyway, it was in French and neither of us understood a single word.  We are finding that very little English is spoken here, which is not surprising, since it is quite isolated.  And they speak Tahitian…a different form of French I guess.  All in all, the people were kind to us.  We did meet the other couple, the Adam’s, from Houston, Texas.  He’s a pilot who flies with FedEx.  They are over here for a week.  They informed us that there has been a temple on Tahiti since the 80’s and that they stayed there the first night they were there.  Soooo, guess what we are doing on Tuesday before flying home.  Yep, we are going to do some temple work in the Pápeeté Tahiti temple.  We were wondering what we were going to do that day.  I just need to figure out ferry appointment and so on.

This afternoon, we kind of just chilled in the flat for awhile.  We then got in the car and drove up into the mountains where we were told a beautiful view was had.  The place is called Belvedere and it is a very windy road to get up there.  But the view out across two of the bays was pretty spectacular.  This island is so green.  The drive took about 30 minutes up and back.  And at the top there were some folks there blaring loud music acting a little interesting.  So we did not stay long.  

As we drive around, we see a lot of people just sitting, not doing anything, on the street, on porches, etcetera.  It really gives the appearance that island life is so slow, especially on weekends when schools are not in and parents are not working.  But we did see many get together, parties that we were not invited to.  😜

We returned back to the flat, chilled a bit more, then got our lazy bums out to walk on the beach.  We decided to go down to a public beach close to an eatery that we thought we’d try for dinner.  We got there about 4:30 PM and noticed a sign that said the park and beach were closing at 5:30 PM.   I wanted to go for a walk on the beach.  But the tide was up and there was little beach to walk on for any length.  Nonetheless we strolled a short ways and took some pretty amazing pictures out across the water.  The beaches name was Tiahura.  Weather permitting, we will be over there tomorrow kayaking and snorkeling.

For dinner, we went to a place that was open.  90 percent of the places in the touristy area were closed.  The food at the place was yummy.  We ordered a plate of Mahi Mahi that was. grilled.  Holy smokes that was good.  We split it and it was ample food for both of us.  The portions here are large.  But so are the prices.  I think the Mahi Mahi plate was 23000xpf…about $22.  Add on a bottle of water and 3 small scoops of ice cream and you’re well over $30.  And we shared everything.  All good though as we knew it would be pricey here.

Now get this…after coming home, I pumped a tire on an old bike that the host has here.  That made two bikes available to ride.  Two old, not taken care of bikes.  Nonetheless, off we went.  It was like riding in a steam shower and believe it or not, we didn’t ride far.  But it was fun to just get out and head down the highway with the sea a stones throw away.  Nice memory we will have.  I’m glad Denise wanted to do it.

Well here come some pictures…until tomorrow!

Denise on her bike ride.  These bikes were pretty bad and I should have put air in Denise’s back tire.  We made it nonetheless.

Our grandsons back home only want to see pictures of our house mates who seem to come out in the evening and hang out at the top of our walls.   Glamping we are doing….

A picture of the old man struggling to ride these bikes.  Where’s my e-bike?

Look at that plate of food.  The Mahi Mahi with that sauce on it was to die for.  Perfect amount for both of us.

You see these opening inks with these coconut trees.  I envision native folks climbing them and throwing down coconuts.

Denise taking in the beauty of the sea.  The water is quite clear and a turqoise color.  It shallow for the most part making it easy for beginning snorkelers.

A glamour shot….

You can see the small storm out a bit on the sea.  This is Tiahura beach where we stopped and walked a bit.

Me, wondering why I’m not out there swimming and snorkeling.  This was a different beach a bit further north.  I forget the name.

The is in the mountains at Belvedere.  Such a nice view down into a couple of bays.  The one to the right is called Cook Bay and a cruise ship was parked there.  I don’t remember the other bays name.

A shot of us at Belvedere looking out across the sea.  

The guy at church this morning.  This was a little courtyard between the chapel and class rooms.

Interestingly enough, they had a baptismal font in between the chapel and class rooms outside.  I’m sure it is pretty amazing when baptisms happen here.

Us in front of the chapel.

What is it about chickens on islands in the pacific.  Chickens are everywhere and 80 percent are roosters crowing all the time.  Crazy.

These were the guys blaring music at Belvedere.  They were an interesting looking crowd…kinda made me feel a bit uncomfortable.

Just some more shots of beaches…

Cooks Bay from Belvedere view point.

I loved that cloud burst that was going on out in the sea.  But adding Denise to it made the shot even more amazing.

This was a lookout at Belvedere.  The little guy to Denise’s left was giving us his best shot!

Another day in the books here in the South Pacific.

2026 French Polynesia - January - Day 03 - Moorea…oh my… rain, rain, rain.

 Saturday, January 17, 2026

Oh my, we’ve had a lot of rain today.  So much so, I’m starting my blog at 1 PM over here.  The rain started at about 6 AM and rained really hard.  As usual, it stopped after about 30 minutes.  But then the skies have looked quite angry.  Nonetheless, we just chilled in the morning.  I got busy and scrambled some eggs and then heated up some pan de chocolat in the microwave and had a very French,  breakfast.  I am missing my milk however.  The skies remained nasty looking and the wind a bit up, so we fired up a movie that we had started a day or two ago and finished that.  It was called, ‘Train Dreams’.  Kind of slow and depressing, per Denise.  But interesting to some degree.

Well, we kept watching the skyline and it seemed to ease up around noon.  So we put on our suits, packed our wetbag and headed to the place where Jeanro has kayaks.  I texted him that we were coming there.  I don’t know where this guy lives, but he was there waiting for us.  Turns out he has a bungalow there but does not live there.  He said he lives in the mountains.  But boy, his bungalow is on one of the most popular spots in Moorea.  It is an amazing lagoon with a couple of islands about 300 meters away.  One is called Coco Island and has a restaurant on it.  But as we talked, you could see the sky growing angry again.  And it was apparent to all of us that it would not be safe to kayak or even swim.  So we told him we’d come back another day and kayak around the beautiful lagoon.  And, getting back into where his bungalow was a muddy drive for about 50 yards with water filled pot holes.  We made it ok.  Car did not get swallowed up in a sink hole.

After meeting with Jeanro, we went to find a hotel, restaurant…Lestrapinier.  We apparently drove right past it and went always down the road.  We eventually turned around and found it coming back.  But the rain began to come down hard so we opted to just head home to the flat.  Fortunately we have some food that we bought at the supermarket and left overs that we can survive on if the weather continues and we do not venture out again.  It’s crazy.  Jeanro says his weather app is telling him that tomorrow and Monday will be much better days.

After taking a small nap, I turned on the BYU game to listen to it.  I can’t stream ESPN over here.  But I can stream KSL radio.  So I listened to the first half.  Good first half.  But at half time, we decided to go check the little stream that we hike down to get to the beach near this flat.  It was fine.  A little more water but easy to walk.  So we gathered our stuff and off we went.  It turned out that the water was calm, warm and awesome.  Denise dawned snorkel gear and being the most brave person ever, hooked on to me and went out snorkeling.  She should be writing here to share her experience.  But I’ll just say, she was amazing as together we swam over coral, through valleys, seeing so much sea life of all sorts of colors.  I think we snorkeled for nearly 2 hours…well maybe 1.5 hours.   While swimming at one point, I knocked a piece of coral off.  I felt bad as the little piece fell to the ocean floor.  I think the deepest part where we were was probably 8 to 10 feet.  But it was quick to get back to shallow areas.  We had so much fun.  A few more days of it.

After snorkeling, we came back to the flat and showered.  We then went out to find some food.  We remembered a food truck like place a few kilometers down the road that we passed when we first arrived here at the flat.  So we went and found it.  It was a pizza and hamburger joint that advertised milkshakes all over the place.  So we decided that we’d share a pizza and Denise wanted a milkshake.  We ordered a cream based pizza.  Then Denise asked for a milk shake.  The girl politely replied, ‘we don’t have any’.  We just smiled in amazement wanting to say that you have signs everywhere saying that you have milkshakes.  But we just said ‘Merci”.  We took the pizza back to the flat.  It was quite good.  The remainder of the night was spent watching a movie…’Rental Family’.  It was interesting.  Now, I’m heading to bed.  

Here come some pictures:  

Our yummy dinner.  White sauced pizza from a food truck.

This is our driveway.  That is my rental car back there.

This is the driveway looking from my rental car.  The building you see is the two bedroom flat that we are in.

This is the Moorean version of Papa Murphy’s.  You can see the food truck down there.

This is a picture of the food truck where we bought our pizza.  A couple of folks are waiting to go deliver pizzas on their scooters.  Lots of scooters over here.

Not sure why or what it represents.  But this sits just down the road from our flat.  Handsome fella!

They don’t believe in fold up chairs I guess.  So we are having to drag the table chair to the beach.  Jeanro, our host, said that would be fine.

It’s a beautiful mermaid in the water.  We had much fun snorkeling together and seeing the beauties under the water.

We climb up and down this to get from our flat to the beach.  It’s the only way to get there and is right across from our flat.

We went to check out the kayak options and there was this swing.  Denise immediately climbed on it and started to swing out over the water forgetting her fear of water.

Kayaks that we will be using before we go home assuming we get some better weather.

The chef making breakfast.  I couldn’t get the fire stick to light so I could light the burners.  Fortunately he had matches there.

Our bedroom set up.

The living area.

From the bridge where we hiked down, we entered this runoff area to walk to the beach.

Just a picture of me holding my chair.  Denise though that was funny.

Denise took this while out in the water showing the beach.  Today there were some kids playing in the water while we were there.  They were boogie boarding on the areas where the fresh water was flowing in.

It turned out to be a good day with a slow rainy start!