Here's a sampling of the flower/tree shots I took while on vacation for those who like pretty things.

Here's a few more shots from around Bora Bora. The videos take way too long to upload (anywhere, FB, Youtube, here...) so if you want to see those you'll have to invite me to dinner and I'll bring my laptop with the videos to share in exchange.

Just arrived in my hotel in Bora Bora


Looking out over patio #2 (I had 2 different patios in my overwater bungalow here)


Watching the sun go down on one of the patios


Catching the sun go down on the other patio, first patio is visible in the background


Sun is all gone, sets very quickly there


Swimming with sting rays


Swimming with sharks


Freshly showered in my robe


Dressed up for Polynesian night

Swimming with turtles


Swimming with rays again


Swimming with fishies


On the beach at the Lagoonarium


on the beach again


Another beach shot


Beach at the Lagoonarium


Standing in the shadows of my bungalow before laying out on the deck


Me and my shadow hiking in the mountains


Hiking to the top


Halfway there


Back at my bungalow


Other side of my smaller patio


Last day in Bora Bora

I literally have 1000s of pictures from my trip, no exaggeration. So you'll have to settle for some sample pics of me for now (much less of those as I was the photographer). 

If there's anything in particular you want to see a picture of, request away. Fish, sharks, sting rays, turtles, mountains, oceans, lagoons, sunrises, sunsets, beaches, waterfalls, hiking trails, food, drinks, etc etc etc.

I'll try to put up a sample of some of my favorites from each place over the next few weeks along with some stories, but requests will be easier initially until I get everything organized.

For now, enjoy!

Arrival in Papeete Tahiti


Waterfall in Tahiti


Different shot of the waterfall

Sitting by the pool in Papeete


At the new hotel in Moorea


Along the beach in Moorea


Sitting on my patio in Moorea with a nice drink


View from Magic Mountain,  Moorea


Different view from Magic Mountain


Magic Mountain again


Near Mt Belvedere


Looking out at Cooks bay


Morning of my shark SCUBA dive in Moorea


Sitting near the beach before the tan lines got evened out


Dressed up for my 2nd dinner date


Last day in Moorea


Moorea sunrise


Moorea view from my side of the beach

It's 4am NY time, and I can't sleep. Uploaded over 1000 photos to my G+ account, but if you can't find me on there you'll have to ask for a link (not sure I'm allowed to post one directly on here) or just wait for me to get around to putting some up on here. 

In the meantime, here's a sneak peak at the old and new tan lines...

Typed this all out last night but couldn't connect online until today. Who knew I'd meet an amazing man down here in Tahiti and have the best date of my life while on vacation....

Wow… just, wow. I have no idea what day today is or what day of the week it is, but it was by far my best in Tahiti so far. I went SCUBA diving this morning and there was just a small group of us. Two dive masters, a woman from Paris, myself, and a tall gentleman from Philadelphia. Naturally I started talking with the Philly guy and we got along wonderfully making small talk until we boarded the boat for our dive.

Took a quick 10 minute boat ride out into the ocean for our dive site, and Philly told me to look over the side of the boat. I could see sharks clearly through the water surrounding our boat and swimming up near the surface. A mix of anxiety, adrenaline, and pure excitement was rushing through my body. We all hopped into the water and started making our way down. As usual, I had a problem clearing out my ears and had to hang closer to the surface hanging onto the anchor line with one of the divemasters. The other one went with the other divers to explore a bit, but I had plenty to see where I was as they had put a bait bag on the bottom of the ocean for the fish and sharks to eat out of. Lemon sharks about 10 ft long, and black tip sharks slightly smaller were all swimming nearby, close enough to touch if you were on the bottom. I hung around 20 ft or so, my ears just wouldn’t equalize for me to go lower, plus I don’t think I had enough weight on my belt to keep me much lower without holding onto the dive line.

From where I was though I had an amazing view and experience nonetheless. We got back onto the boat and I still had ¾ of my tank full, but I was ready to get out anyway. Made our way back to the island and I was talking with Philly the whole time. Turns out he’s a private pilot for some rich family down here on vacation. He flew them in with a copilot and one flight attendant, the family hopped on a charter boat for the next month, and he and the rest of the crew wait in Tahiti until they return and he flies them back home. Wow, just wow. I had no idea jobs like that even existed. I mean I’m sure in the back of my head I knew there were people rich enough for private planes and personal pilots and such, but never had I met one before.

He’s been all over the world and is only home roughly 5 months of the year total. We exchanged a few stories about work and personal life, and before I knew it we were back at the dive shop. Hung around talking some more for a bit until his copilot arrived to see how the dive went. He introduced me to him right away and the 3 of us exchanged small talk for a bit. I felt like a 3^rd wheel and that I was holding them up from some plans they had, so I excused myself from the convo, said it was a pleasure meeting him, he shook my hand and said the pleasure was his, and I said I hoped to bump into him again over the next 2 days when I’m in town.

Oh, and he also helped me carry my gear onto the boat, helped me take my tank off, helped carry it back to the dive shop for me, etc etc etc. Extreme gentleman the entire time. He was staying on the opposite side of the resort from where I was, so he joked that he’d let me come visit and snorkel in his part if I wanted. Well after I went to my room for a quick water break and to change and grab my underwater camera, I took him up on the offer. Headed down towards his part of the beach where the snorkeling was much better – or easier at least, less rocks and coral to walk over before getting to swim deep waters.

I was snorkeling around the water for an hour or so before climbing out for a break. Layed down on the lounge chair to get some sun and dry off, and kept looking around hoping to see my new friend. After I felt myself getting crispy I decided to head back home for a shower and to get out of the sun for a bit. Good thing because I was burning up on my chest and the back of my shoulders. I’ve also since gotten  a lovely rash all over my legs from all the bug bites which itch like a mother effer.

Took a nice shower, doused myself in lotion and aloe, then had a naked nap thinking of my new friend. Finally decided to get up and go toward the bar for a drink and maybe some real dinner around 6pm (I brought a bunch of protein bars/meal bars to snack on since food is expensive and its lonely eating alone in a restaurant). Sat at a fancy light up bar table right next to the water and was just starting to read through the menu when my friend appeared. I invited him to join me and he sat down talking with me for the next 2 hours or so. We eventually made our way to the super fancy romantic restaurant next door and as soon as we sat down he told me to order whatever I wanted as the entire meal was on him.

I had already explained how I was a fussy eater, so he suggested I try the beef tenderloin as it was delicious when he had it the other night and it seemed safe for me. We got a bottle of red wine and they brought out a complimentary appetizer of smoked fish with caviar. I’m a chicken nuggets kind of gal, I don’t eat caviar. He tried it first, said it was ok but that I probably won’t like it as it tasted fishy. I had just said earlier that I need to be adventurous and try new things, so I decided to go for it. Put the whole thing in my mouth in one bite and had to fight not to throw it up and swallow it all down. He helped me out by constantly refilling my water glass so I could wash it away and didn’t laugh too hard at the nasty faces I was making as I choked it down. Smoked fish and caviar is definitely something I don’t like, but at least I’ve now tried it.

Dinner was great, conversation the whole time was great, wine was great, we shared an amazing chocolate dessert with hazelnut sorbet which was great… the whole night was simply amazing. Polynesian dancers wiggling around, the ocean in the background, at a private table in the sand with candles all around, it was without a doubt one of the best dates I’ve ever had in my life. Never in my wildest dreams would I imagine something like that happening on my trip here.

After dinner he walked me back to my room as it was a good 5 min walk from the restaurant and it was quite dark out. As we passed the spa he asked if I had checked it out yet. I told him I had never had a massage before in my life or a manicure pedicure. He stopped walking, got behind me and started massaging my shoulders right there. I explained I had had massages, just not a professional one in a spa before. Thankfully he didn’t stop right away though, and it actually felt quite wonderful.

 When we got to my hut we walked down by the water so he could check out the view from my side of the resort and then argued about which direction was east. I had seen the sun come up at 5:30 in the direction which was apparently North. He told me the sun was supposed to come up where the moon was starting to rise from, the actual East. So we bantered back and forth a bit about where the sun does come up vs where it should, and I told him to meet me by the bridge at 5:30 tomorrow morning and we’ll see for sure who’s right.  Stood there by the water watching the moon rise up from behind the mountains, looked at the stars some more, flirted a bit some more, joked some more, talked some more, then he walked me back up to my door. Thanked me for a lovely evening, I thanked him profusely for dinner and the lovely company, he shook my hand and we mad tentative plans to meet up at some point tomorrow either for breakfast, snorkeling, walking around, or some variant of all of the above.

Never did he try to be pervy or push me to do anything. Even the flirting was very subtle and sweet, and he truly seemed to enjoy my company as opposed to treating me like the weekly flavor of the month during his extended visit on the island. He was a complete gentleman the entire time, letting me walk in front of him and waiting for me to get up and do things before he did. Always asking my opinion about where I wanted to go, what I wanted to eat, sit, do, etc  - letting me have a say in everything. Encouraging me to try new things but without pushing them on me and actually complimenting me when I did try the nasty fish.

The whole experience was completely new and different for me. I’m used to dating selfish pigs who are only nice because they’re trying to get something from me. I’ve honestly never gone on a date like this before where I felt like such a princess. Not that he was worshipping me or putting me on an untouchable pedestal, but simply for the first time ever I felt truly respected. I’m sure I’ll bump into him tomorrow so hopefully I can spend as much time with him as possible as it’s my last day there. With his crazy travel schedule for his job I doubt I would get to see him much outside of here, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to have him as an amazing friend to exchange vacation stories with when he is back in town in the states.

We’ll see how tomorrow goes, and hopefully I can get a kiss at least. But for tonight, I’m floating on cloud 9 and truly amazed at what a wonderful night I just had in paradise.