May 10, 2014
I woke up this morning feeling a million times better and
was healed! I woke up starving and sore
since we had done so much physical activity the day before and I had not
eaten. We finished up packing our stuff
and right at 7 we headed up to breakfast.
We both ate a ton of food before heading down to finish up packing then got off the ship around 8. We caught a
taxi right off the ship dock and headed to the Intercontinental where we were
staying our last day/night. The taxi ride
was 2400 XPS and before we knew it, we were at the Intercontinental. The taxi driver was very friendly, and once
we arrived we got checked in although our room was not ready. They took our luggage and we headed out to
explore the property and then changed into our bathing suits.
The property was huge, and a lot more commercial than the Hilton in
Moorea. It was very nice and they had
two very large pools, one fresh water and one salt water. The salt water one had a sand ground that was
amazing and very unique. Both were infinity pools that
looked over Moorea and for the majority of the morning there was not a cloud in
the sky so we soaked in the beautiful view! They did not seem quite as
friendly and accommodating as they did at the Hilton and we were not welcomed
with flowers and drinks, but that was ok since we were worn out! The hotel was simply much busier and they were constantly answering questions for guests/checking people in. After seeing the property we headed to the
fresh water pool where we relaxed until about 1. At 1 we checked to see if our room was ready
and it was so we headed to our room that overlooked the lagoon. It was a beautiful room on the 3rd
floor that had great views. After
getting settled in, we headed to lunch where Joe had fish and chips that were
quite good, and I enjoyed the cool air, still full from breakfast. After lunch, we headed to the salt water pool
where some of our friends from the cruise were hanging out. We enjoyed the swim up bar and the sandy
floors of the pool for a while, then headed up to our room around 5. We had perfect weather for a day of
relaxation by the pool with breathtaking views of the beach and Moorea.
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Swim up bar!  |
We headed to our room at 5 and showered and
got ready for dinner than sat on our balcony and enjoyed the most beautiful
sunset over the water and listened to the live music coming from the restaurant. We headed down to dinner fairly early since I
was starving from not eating lunch. We
ate dinner at the same place as lunch, Tiare.
As we were walking down to dinner, we ran into some friends from the cruise, including Brett and Stephanie. They had not ordered and had just sat down so
we sat with them and enjoyed a lovely dinner outside, enjoying live music and great company. I think all of us were about fooded out for
the week, so we all opted for salads.
The food was so amazing on the cruise that it was so hard to pass up
anything, even desert, so it was refreshing to have a little bit of a lighter
meal. Once dinner ended, Brett and
Stephanie left for their flight and we got our rides set up for the next
morning to head to the airport. We got
back to the room and relaxed a bit and enjoyed the music outside, then packed
up our stuff for the morning.
May 11, 2014
We got an early morning wake up call at 5:30 and it was time
to get up and say good bye to the beautiful country of French Polynesia. We headed to the lobby and got our taxi which
we were sharing with some friends, and arrived at the airport a short 5 minutes
later. We all got checked in, surprised
by the long lines at the airport! After
we checked in we grabbed some breakfast at the café before security, and then
walked through security before enjoying breakfast. There is also a café beyond security, all
have sandwiches for 500 XPS or so. We
sat down and enjoyed our breakfast and the beautiful outdoors since the airport
in Tahiti is wide open! Right as we
wrapped up eating, the boarding process had already begun so we boarded and got
settled in.
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| Heading Home |
Joe and I were lucky to have great seats where Joe did not
have a chair in front of him, so he had miles of leg room. This leg of the flight was from Tahiti to LAX
and we were on an Air France flight (bought through Delta). It was about an 8 hour flight, so we settled
in for a long flight. We were pleasantly
surprised by their service (we hadn’t noticed it on the flight to Tahiti since
we were both asleep the whole way) and they served two full meals and beers and
wines were flowing! The amount of times
we got service was incredibly, and they had a self-serve beverage area right
behind the bathroom area! We enjoyed
some great movies, played games, and the flight was over before we knew it.
We landed in LA at 7 PM and went through customs at
lightning speed. They happened to open a
new line for US Passports only right as we were getting in so Joe and I were
the first in line. Our luggage was also
one of the first to come through so I am pretty sure all customs were said and
done in 5 minutes. We then walked from
the international terminal to terminal 5 (man we miss the tram in Atlanta!)
with all of our luggage to recheck it in.
I have to agree with what I had heard,
LAX is not easy to navigate when switching flights, going international
(besides our luck in customs!). Once we
got checked in, we grabbed some dinner, good old American burgers and fries! It was something both of us were craving so
we were loving it! After dinner, we
headed to our gate where we caught up on the world, downloaded emails (and
proceeded to not look at them for just a couple more hours!), looked at
pictures, and write about the day. It
was 10:30 and time to board before we knew it.
We struggled on our first red eye and got very little sleep but at least
we got to enjoy that one last beautiful day in Tahiti, so it was worth it! We landed in Atlanta at 6 AM and Joe headed
to grab breakfast and headed to his gate to start his week of travels in Miami,
as I went to retrieve our luggage and got picked up by Joe’s dad. It was hard saying good bye to the honeymoon
and welcome the real world back by being apart for a couple of days, but that
is what married life is all about!
It
was the perfect vacation where we disconnected from the world completely for 10
days and simply enjoyed each other’s company.
It is not often that you get to do that these days, so we were blessed
to have this opportunity. Not once did
we miss Facebook, or emails! The scenery
was breath taking and pictures do not do it justice, the weather was amazing
and cloudy on just the perfect days so we did not get too hot or burnt on the
beach, the food was some of the best we have ever had in our lives, and the
days were filled with a perfect balance of activities and relaxation! What more could we ask for in the honeymoon
of our dreams!
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