Our French Polynesia Holiday

15-04-19: It’s the last day that we are in the apartment and it has been really hot the other days that we have been here. We have barely been anywhere because we are at the top of a really steep hill and there is barely any shade on it. Going down is fine but coming up isn’t. Luckily on this really hot day [so hot that we are all sweating] the man who was renting the apartment let us go in his swimming pool! It was very nice to finally cool off after not being able to for three days!

16-04-19: We have finally stopped flying on aeroplanes until May and it feels nice to know that. At about 5:00 in the morning we got up and went to the airport to wait for our plane to take us to the island that we needed to go to to meet up with Charm [the family that we are staying with for a month]. Joe is the captain of Charm [the boat], Lara is his wife and prepares what we are going to do in the days, Cobin, Marin and Tully are the children. Cobin is 12 going to be 13 this year Marin is 8 going to be 9 this year and Tully is 5 going to be 6 this year. When we arrived on the island we had to take a Jeep to a boat which then took us to where Charm was. As we were coming into the place we could see everyone there waiting for us. When we were mooring up Marin and Tully came running up to the side of the boat and said “Jessica, Olivia you’re here!” and they were really happy to see us. Once the boat had moored Livvy and I jumped off the boat and immediately Marin and Tully ran up to us and gave us both a hug. After all the excitement Marin and Tully showed us black tip reef sharks! There were loads of them and Joe came as well and he actually went into the water knee deep [for him] and the sharks swam around his legs and they didn’t care that he was in the water. We found out that they don’t bother you unless you bother them. After having lunch in this little hut we went snorkelling together and there was lots of beautiful fish around the reefs and as it got deeper there was sharks and I was scared so I stayed with mummy in the sea and it was very nice after a little snorkelling I was no longer scared of the sharks and went off by myself. When we finally got to the boat Lara asked who wanted to see some christmas tree worms. Livvy, Daddy and I said yes so Lara took us to see them on a thing that I think was coral covered in some yellow stuff and we called it the yellow blob. When you dived down to them they would close up in their tube and would come out again after a little while. After that we sailed to a different bay.

17-04-19: All the adults had to wake up at 7:00 in the morning so we could get to our next bay at 9:00 so we could spend the day at the place. I woke up at 8:00 and everyone else when we were there. When I woke up it felt nice to be out on the sea again and have the wind in my hair. The place that we were staying at for the day had a shop right where we were moored. All the children went to the shops with Lara and we got ice-cream. Near the end of the afternoon we did a little swimming but got out because there were big sharks not medium sized ones. We met up with some of Charms friends that were English and they had children called Eva and Henry. We went out to dinner with them and after the dinner Cobin gave Eva, Livvy and I riddles. Eva was very good at them but together we were better. We had to take a taxi there because it was too far to walk but when it arrived he stopped the engine for all of us to get in but the engine wouldn’t start again so Joe tried everything he could but it wouldn’t start so everyone got to push the car to start it and it had started to rain as the engine started.

18-04-19: In the morning after breakfast we did school and I helped Tully with hers and Livvy helped Marin with hers. After school we went swimming around lots of coral and I saw lots of different fish. Before dinner we went to a field where we could play a game that taught you about the eco-system. It was really fun and Mummy Daddy and Lara all joined in. Joe didn’t join in because he didn’t come as he had jobs to do. After dinner we played a game called empire. It was really fun.

19-04-19: Straight after breakfast we all got in the dinghy and went to a Pearl Farm! After watching a man open some oysters and explain to people how they did the stuff to get the oysters you had to grab a oyster to get a pearl. The thing was there were less oysters than there were people so you had to grab one fast. Livvy managed to dive and get one so did Cobin and Marin but Tully and I didn’t get one. If you took your pearl to a special place you could get it made into either a necklace or a bracelet. Cobin gave his to Tully because he didn’t want either so she had a bracelet, Marin had hers made into a necklace as well as Olivia. As I didn’t get a pearl Daddy and Mummy bought me one and I had a necklace that was already made. In the evening just before dinner Cobin raced us back to the pearl farm and we went to get the pearls. It was only the children that went.

20-04-19: Today we moved islands and it took us nearly all day to get there. On the way we did school and after that we made Easter baskets for Easter which is tomorrow! When we had finished we only had an hour left and then we were there. We arrived at the end of the afternoon just turning to night and we had other people from the world arc come over after we went swimming. Whilst they were with us we dyed some boiled eggs for the Easter Bunny to then get and hide them. After dinner we played on the trampoline and the swings.

21-04-19: It’s Easter! In the morning Marin woke Joe, Lara, Cobin and Tully up because she was excited and she let us sleep but we didn’t sleep for very long as we knew it was Easter as well. We were so excited that we woke up Mummy and Daddy so we could start the hunt! As Cobin, Marin and Tully wrote a letter to the Easter Bunny he wrote back and he said that each of us would get 7 little chocolate eggs each and that they were not hidden outside or in any bathrooms or in a place where they could get squashed. They weren’t hidden outside because it was raining and that our dyed ones would have the colour washed off and he didn’t want us to get wet either. After the rain had stopped we went in swimming because it got hot very quickly. We stayed in for a long time and it was very nice. After an hour we went in again but instead of playing around the boat we went to a reef that we were moored near. It was really pretty and there was lots of pretty fish. The second time we went there with more people and there was a HUGE fish that we followed. Mummy spotted it first but I saw it second because I was with her. Whilst she was getting everyone else I was following it so we didn’t lose it. Cobin was the first to get here and swam up to me and I showed him the fish. Then everyone else came and I showed them all. Mummy thought it was a puffer fish but I said it wasn’t because we had already seen some and they had blue dots on them but this one was only grey. We had guests over for dinner and after dinner we played a game called luck of the draw it was really fun after that we played one round of empire.

22-04-19: Today Lara made a game up that the children had to spy on the adult they got given. You had to see what they were doing at a specific time. When Lara said out a time the children wrote down what their adult was doing at that time. I was spying on Joe, Livvy was spying on Lara [even though she knew about it] Marin was spying on Mummy and Tully was spying on Daddy. After lunch we went ashore to try and find the beach. We didn’t find it but we did find a little beach that had lots of hermit crabs on it and there were huge ones, medium sized ones and there were tiny ones which didn’t pinch they only tickled when they walked in your hand. I found a really small one and I kept it until it was time to go. We were supposed to race them but instead we played with them. After we had a small dinner the adults went ashore and the children got left alone on the boat. Cobin was in charge and we firstly got taught by Tully how to make clay beads. After that we got to watch part of Lego batman and we got to have some microwave cake which Cobin made.

23-04-19: This morning Lara had the day planned already and she said it was going to be fun. She wasn’t wrong it was a lovely day and we were going outside the reef to go swimming. When we got out it was very rocky but it was ok. The best thing was that there wasn’t really current outside the reef so you could swim easier. If you got to close to the breaking part on the reef you would start to feel the waves push you towards it. At some points you were scared because you were near coral and you didn’t want to cut yourself on it and at other points you were really relaxed and joyful. When we got back we had lunch and then Joe announced that it was time to leave to do a night sail to get to another island called Rangiroa.

24-04-19: After the night sail we have arrived in Rangiroa. There were lots of other friends of theirs in this place and we made friends with them quite quick. One of them was Spanish and the other English. The Spanish one has three children which are Alejandro, Lucia, Gabrielle. The other one’s names are Daisy and Max which are twins. Lucia and Gabrielle came over on the sea bob which was really fun. The next fun thing that happened was dinghy catapulting which is where you hold on to a handle attached to a halyard which is attached to a dinghy and then the dinghy goes forward and it lifts you up and then you let go into the water. Lara also went water skiing as well as dinghy catapulting.

25-04-19: After lunch Gabrielle came over on the sea bob and we played on it for a little bit until he got told to go back. A couple of hours after we went to a natural underwater aquarium. There were loads of fish and I liked it but I didn’t want to swim there because I didn’t like all the fish swimming around me. I was sitting near the edge of the boat all the time with my goggles on and I got pulled in twice by Cobin and I didn’t like it although the second time I stayed in but then when I was finally alright Joe threw in a piece of bread right next to me and the all the fish came shooting up to me. I was surprised and terribly scared. When we finally went back Joe and Lara jumped out the dinghy a little way from the aquarium and swam all the way back and believe me we weren’t close to the aquarium. At night we went out for dinner with some friends.

26-04-19: In the morning Joe announced that we were going to Papeete which was 200nm away. For us that meant that we had to go through the night again to get there. When we left it was ok but when we got further into the trip it got more and more uncomfortable.

27-04-19: This morning just as we had finished breakfast we saw that we were there and we just had to moor up. By the time that all that had happened it was around about lunch time and as a treat the adults took us to McDonalds. All the children loved it and after that we then had to walk to Carrefour and back which was a long way. On the way there I spotted some eels under a bridge and a man was living on a side bit there. We were trying to figure out how he got up to buy his stuff but then we got interrupted by a zebra crossing so we could get to Carrefour. All the children were happy but they were also tired because of the long walk. On the way back we found a park and it was lovely to be able to play. Lara stayed with us and Mummy and Daddy went back. By the time we left it was dark and when we got back dinner was ready for us.

28-04-19: This morning we woke up to rain. All the windows were shut and it had rained all night and it was still raining now. When it had stopped raining we went to see if the park was open. When we got there it was closed so we waited an hour or two and then we went again. This time it was open so we just played there for an hour until it started raining again! At the end of the day after dinner we went to the cinema to watch a film called Shazam in English it was really good. We knew that it would go on late but when we got back it was 11:15 and Tully was still awake and as Daddy and Joe didn’t come they were already in bed and asleep. We went straight to bed.

29-04-19: Today Daddy got left in charge of the boat and school whilst Lara, Joe and Mummy went shopping. When they got back Lara was surprised because of the work that Marin and Tully did. She asked Daddy what his secret was to get them to do school. After dinner we played a game called pit and some friends came over to play as well and their names are Eva and Henry [Brother and Sister] and a girl called Catherine. We played a couple of rounds until Grandma called us on the phone. I loved speaking to her because I like hearing her voice. After that Cobin looked up some riddles to give us and we worked together to figure them out. Today was a great day.

30-04-19: Lara has hired some cars for 2 days. After bringing them back to the boat we went to the shops and Lara made a fun thing that we did for the shopping. We each got a list of things to get and you had to find them.

01-05-19: I woke up to rushing because we were leaving early to get in the cars and drive to the amazing places on the island. When we got to the first amazing place we found out it was a blowhole and we didn’t know what one of those was so we asked and they said we had to wait and see! The children were all excited to see this blowhole and when we had walked a little bit we heard this like dragon sound coming from a hole and suddenly water spray came thrown out. As soon as Cobin saw that he got onto a rock and stood there waiting for the spray to come again and when it did he got wet and jumped off the rock. Then Cobin, Marin, Livvy and I all stood on the rocks and when the spray came we all got wet and I turned so I didn’t get water in my eyes. Second place was a surprise as well. When we arrived we found out that this extraordinary and amazing place that it was the three waterfalls. To get to the waterfalls you had to climb up a hill and then you would arrive at the waterfalls. I took my camera and I videoed the HUGE waterfall and took photos. On the way to the next wonderful surprise we stopped in McDonalds [that we were just about to pass but stopped] for lunch. When we were back in the cars we went to the big surf wave. There was a big pretend surf wave with a surf board on it so it looked real. All the children had their pictures taken on the surf board. That was the final stop with the cars so the next stop was Charm. Now that was a perfect day.

02-05-19: Lara got told by Joe not to be late for the world arc welcoming from the mayor if we did this hike. So we went on this hike and went up a mountain. At the top there was a white cross and there was a place where you could look over the edge. When you went there if you saw a big bird there then it would look like a dot. When we got back Lara, Cobin, Marin and Tully came running past us so we ran after them and apparently we were going to be late for the welcoming from the mayor! So as soon as we got back everyone rapidly got changed and then went off. When we got there it was just in time because they were about to take the photo of all the world arc people. After the photo you got a flower necklace and a little flower as well. For our dinner we went to food trucks which are trucks that are side by side and you can sit where you want and then order your food. When we had eaten we walked across to a Karaoke bar and ordered ice cream. As it was getting late Marin, Tully and I got tired and we walked back. Everyone else stayed up until 1:00 in the morning.

03-05-19: As we walked to a sweet shop that Tully wanted to go into there was slushies outside that we got. Cobin, Livvy and Tully had blue ones I had a red one and Marin got a sweet. When we got back lots of people were working on Charm and we stayed out the way. At night after dinner we watched a film called song of the sea and it was really good. We watched a film because it was film night so that is what we watched. Joe and Daddy didn’t watch it and they went to bed.

04-05-19: the only thing that we did today was move from Papeete to Moorea. It was a nice sail to Moorea and I liked it. It wasn’t really a long sail at all. Only a couple of hours.

05-05-19: As I woke up we were just pulling up the anchor to move to get some fuel from around the corner. We would move back as soon as we had got it. When we had dropped the anchor again we went in swimming and there were puffer fish in the water swimming underneath us. Near the end of the afternoon when we had got out of the water I saw two big turtles swimming near the boat. Daddy asked us to get him a camera so he could go and take videos with the turtles but it was too late they had swam away just as we had handed him the camera. Also a little later on I saw 2 white spotted eagle rays right at the front of the boat. They were huge and no one else saw them apart from me.

06-05-19: after breakfast we left Moorea to go to Raiatea. When we arrived in a bay we all got in the dinghy and went up a little river and we met a man in a kayak and apparently he was a man that appeared out of nowhere and that is exactly what had happened with us he appeared out of nowhere! He gave us a tour anyway and he gave us a huge bunch of bananas straight off the tree! He showed us all of what they grow and then he cracked open coconuts and we tried some coconut water. I didn’t like it much. We also bought some pearls and then the lady let us have5 for free one for each of us. When we got back we moved up the coast a bit more to a place on Raiatea called Uturoa. When we arrived we ate out at a food truck and made friends with these teenage boys.

07-05-19: At Raiatea you could sign up for the Tahiti Pearl Regatta and today is that day that you can sign up. The Tahiti Pearl Regatta is a famous Regatta in French Polynesia and we took part of it. There were three hops that you had to do. We only did one of them because of some issues. The Tahiti Pearl Regatta is like a race but we call it a Regatta.

08-05-19: Today is the practice race of the Tahiti Pearl Regatta. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to so we didn’t do it because we are going Horse Riding! I have never done it before and I am so excited. My horse is called Pia and Mummy’s is called brownie, Daddy’s is called Everest, Livvy’s is called Lila, Marin’s is called Kiwi, Tully’s is called Smoosh. We all got adult horses except Tully she got a little pony. Everyone who hadn’t done it before had to have someone lead the horse. As Daddy, Livvy, Marin, Tully and I haven’t done it before we had someone lead our horses. Mummy and Lara didn’t need anyone to lead theirs as they have done it before. Joe and Cobin didn’t come as for the race they are racing on other boats. Firstly we went into a forest which they call it the Enchanted Forest. Next we walked the horses into the sea and stayed on them as they walked in the water. Daddy and Lara went further out to sea as we had to stay with Tully as her pony was up to his chin. When we got back it was a bit late so we had to get dinner on.

09-05-19: I am excited as it is the first day of the race. When the race started we pushed through all the boats and we were in second place and we were about to be in first place when the boat in first place blocked our path and we couldn’t go around him as it was the only way out of the reef. When we arrived it was a bit late but we were happy. Out of our group we came 10th out of 14 so we are happy.

10-05-19: As we are not doing the race today we are going on a tour around the island [Huahine]. The first stop is a shell museum. As we went in there was loads of shells and they are beautiful. The man explains to us about the poisonous cone shells. If you pick them up in the sea they will shoot out a poisonous dart at you and there is NO CURE for this poison. You do not feel it happen so it is very dangerous. Anyway the second stop was another museum and it was really good it was all about the Tahitians old life. The third stop is a Vanilla Plantation where the lady explained how vanilla was made. The last stop was the blue eyed eels. When we got there we got to feed them and they were huge and you could see there blue eyes. If you wanted to you could go down and touch them. L stayed up where I was but Lara, Livvy, Marin and Tully went down and touched them.

11-05-19: Today we are sailing to a different island and into the bay where the finish line is. We didn’t realise that we anchored right near the finish line. So when everyone crossed we could wave and shout and then they would see us and hear us. Tonight is a party for the Tahiti Pearl Regatta and the results. As you had to put up these stickers that you got on your boat we didn’t instead we made outfits out of them for all of us and it was great. As we got on the boat to take us ashore everyone cheered but we have no idea why.

12-05-19: Mummy and Lara have gone on the winning boat of the Tahiti Pearl Regatta to go out for a sail at least that is what we thought… when we finally realised that we were the only ones left in the bay we had to move to the bay that everyone had gone to. Daddy says that Joe and him were chasing after their ladies but no we just had to get to the same bay as them. When we got there we went swimming and it was lovely. For dinner everyone that was our friends and that was in the bay went to this Tahitian man’s house. When we got back it was a bit late so we went straight to bed. Also everyone this is our last day here because we are leaving tomorrow.

13-05-19: Nooooooooooooooo! We are leaving today and we won’t be seeing them for a long time. I spent my last day with everyone that I could. Lara asked if we wanted to go to the beach on a little island right near us. I said yes and so did the other children. When we got there we thought it was fine until Cobin said that there were loads of bugs and no one else had realised. So we all ran back to the dinghy and jumped into it. So once we had got out of the tricky bits Cobin took us round the bay really fast to get rid of the bugs. When we got back Lara sprayed the bug spray in the dinghy and on us in case we hadn’t got rid of them all. When it was finally time to leave we all had goodbye hugs and then left and waited for our taxi.

Thank you Charm for the great holiday!