We all met in LA over a period of 24 hours. The group consisted of Ryan and Tate, a younger couple from Portland, Marla – also from Portland, myself, and Bonita from Austin. Marla, Bonita, and I go back decades, but this was really the first time I have spent any time around the “boys.” I have resorted to calling them the boys, since they are almost 20 years younger than the rest of us.
The boys choose to fill their idle time with drinking – needless to say, when it was time to catch the hotel shuttle to the airport, the boys were already toasted… from drinking in their hotel room.
We found Tate passed out on the lounger near the hotel pool. Notice he is still clutching the room key.
We got to the airport, not entirely sure if we were going to make it through TSA/Customs with two drunk boys, especially after the recent shooting in the airport.
Tate, Marla, Ryan, and Bonita at LAX
Marla told them to be quiet, offer up no giggling, and pretend they were in court (they are both attorneys). It worked and we passed through security. The boys promptly found bar stools and drinks, and by the time they were deposited into their airline seats, both went out like lightbulbs for the 8.5 hour flight.
We flew in to the island of Tahiti from LA. The largest city is called Papeete. We were only there long enough to make a connection to the island of Huahine. We were worried about the weight limitations between the inter-island flights. We all were packed right to the limit of 44 pounds, and we were carrying tons of booze.
Why were we carrying tons of booze you ask? Because we had learned that alcohol in French Polynesia was very expensive (right there next to suntan lotion, which incidentally costs $45 a bottle), and I am traveling with party animals. French wine is easily available throughout the islands, and not too expensive, but the travel tip was, “Pack it in if you want to drink it.”
We hit the Duty Free store in LA and each of us bought the maximum amount of liquor you are allowed to bring into the country: two liters each. Two liters times five people meant we hauled in ten liters or equivalent of 21 pints!
Lots of vodka, and rum, and one special bottle of Don Julio’s 1942 Tequila (at $140 a bottle), and off we went to the islands!
Marla making the inter-island connection from Tahiti to Huahine. Notice the booze bag she is carrying.
Huahine by air
Huahine is a slow-paced island with not a lot of people. There is only one grocery store on the entire island, and less than a half a dozen small villages, the largest being Fare.
Sing Sing picks us up at the airport
Ryan’s arrival
We rented a beach house in Fare, and walked to the grocery store and loaded up the fridge. We stayed at Hauhine House (awesome), and the owner, Sing Sing, was a very likable man that was very pleasant and laid back. The beach rental included a car, but we used it only once.
This place was amazing. It had a large covered patio attached to the house, then a separate patio in the corner of the back yard that overlooked the ocean. The beach was pretty private, and the toughest decision was deciding where to sit. We rotated between ocean side on the sand, to the corner overlook most of the time.
Huahine House deck overlooking beach
We spent the days sleeping on the beach, drinking, walking to town for baguette and fresh fruit (and very expensive ice cream sandwiches), snorkeling, kayaking, and reading. Most locals on the island spoke either French, or Tahitian. We spoke neither. Tate had a little bit of rusty French in his background, so he did the best he could to translate. Needless to say, when we went out to dinner that first night, our toast was to what we ordered for dinner which none of us really knew what it was.
What? This sounds good… I think…
Local beer. At least we could understand that
(It turned out to be skewered tuna fish roasted with vegetables – and pretty damn good).
Dinner was good.
We ate here: Guynette, Huahine – French Polynesia
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