Tim & Denise Tiner Travels: 2026 French Polynesia - January - Day 04

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.