Bora Bora

Bora Bora!!

View flying in...

We were picked up in our resort's water taxi from the airport which is lovated on a "motu" which is what they call the small islands that surround the main ones, but are still within the reef.  It was about a 30 minute trip. This is a view of the main mountain on Bora Bora, "Mt. Otemanu."   

Arrival at Intercontinental Le Moana, our home for the week.

Our adorable over the water bungalow! Number 34!

Our coffee table had a view through to the ocean, with a reef below perfect for feeding the fish.

It was wonderful being able to wake up every morning and walk outside to our porch for a swim.

We are happy to be in Bora Bora :) 

Off to fetch groceries for lunch including baguettes and brie, and Lychee juice perfect for cocktails. 

Getting a tan...yes, I am wearing a bikini, it is just white!

Playing with the fishies...under the bungalow-- Mike took the pic from our bungalow above-- via the coffee table.  We fed these fish multiple times a day-- it was so fun. 

Mike out for a snorkel...

Dinner at the Yacht Club, great atmosphere, great music, and great food!

This picture was taken from the porch, the water was so clear that it almost looks like and underwater picture.  We had sting rays visit on a daily basis.

Dinner at the most amazing restaurant in Bora Bora, Villa Mahana.  We loved it!!!

Mike and I with the chef, Damien.  The restaurant was located in his home, and his wife was our waitress. There were only 6 tables, and it was such personal and wonderful service.  Not to mention amazing food!

We did an all day excursion, including sting ray feeding and shark feeding, as well as multiple beautiful stops to snorkel, and a fabulous Tahitian feast to end a great day...

Laura loves sting rays!!

The hut where we stopped for our lunch.  I borrowed the banjo of one of our guides.

Our plates and serving dishes were made by our guide who weaved them out of palm leaves. 

Yum....grilled tuna, Poison cru (the local dish of tahiti--raw tuna in lime and coconut milk, with tomatoes, carrots, and cucumber), tahitian potatoes, coconut bread, fresh shaved coconut and coconut milk, banana dessert and watermelon!

Mike and I loved trying all the local food of Tahiti!

Our guide taught the men of the group how to crack open a coconut.  Here is Mike giving it his best...and yes, he was successful!

We were thrilled to meet up with TC friends Jon Bratsis and his wife Hannah.  This night we went to a local restaurant and had a great time getting to know them better.  Jon and Hannah got married 1 week before Mike and I (in Charlevoix---also in northern MI for you non-michiganders!) and came to Tahiti for their belated honeymoon one week after us.  Such a coincidence!   They happened to be 5 over the water bungalows in from us, so we saw them on almost a daily basis during the 4 days our trip overlapped.  Just a reminder of what a small world this really is!  I wish we had gotten a picture with them.

Enjoying the sun and paddling around...

Mike with a beautiful background...it was awesome watching the waves crash on the reef all day long. 

Our last night-- dinner at Bloody Mary's

Packing up...we still couldn't get over how much we loved our over the water bungalow!!

The pool....

Last day...so sad!  I was working on my 6th book by the pool this day.   I can't believe how much reading I did...it was so nice to read for fun again! We didn't leave Bora Bora to head home until 5:30 pm so we had one final long day in the sun!  

Sad to go....what a great trip!

Arrival in French Polynesia: First Stop Moorea!

Our overnight flight to Tahiti was better than we expected.  It was a huge plane and we were surprised to have such great service including food, (free) wine, movies, and Mike's favorite, video games!! We arrived on the main island, Tahiti, in the city of Papeete at around 4:30 am on Monday morning.  We immediately boarded a small plane and headed to Moorea.

Our flight to Moorea only took 7 minutes!  We had great view of the beautiful jagged rocky island as we were landing.  Moorea was so beautiful!

Our beachside bungalow

View from the front!

This is where I spent my free time!

On our 2nd day, we rented a "bugster" and traveled all around the island.

We went to the scenic Belvedere Lookout point, with a great view of both bays with the mountain jutting out between them!

We stopped at a agricultural center, Lychee Agricol, where we were able to get fresh pineapple juice and sorbet! Yummy!

We spent the rest of the day driving around the island, and pearl shopping.  We got my beautiful black pearl that afternoon!  

At our resort, there was a Dolphin Center, and our Beach Bungalow had a great view of the dolphins swimming and jumping.  

Honeymoon!

On the way to our last dinner in Moorea...showing off my new black pearl necklace!

The Mayflower, our favorite restaurant on Moorea!

NEXT STOP: Bora Bora

Honeymoon Part One: Santa Barbara, CA

On April 17th, Mike and I took off for a two week adventure...our very much awaited honeymoon.  We had a blast, and took over 300 pictures.  I will try to post just a few of the best pics to give you a glimpse of the fun we had.  

Our vacation started out with a flight from Detroit to LA.  We rented a convertible (mike's idea of course) and headed up Highway 1 to Santa Barbara.  On the way up we stopped in Ventura for lunch at a local brewery and our first of many local California beers.  After checking into the hotel, our first stop was the beach!

When we arrived we rented a "deuce coupe" to bike along the Santa Barbara coast...so much fun!  We almost drove off the trail a few times, but it was hilarious!  We also had a great time exploring the shopping (maybe me more than mike) in downtown SB. 

Dinner our first night in SB

A beautiful look out point on the way to wine tasting in the Santa Ynez Valley. 

Bridlewood, the 2nd of the 3 vineyards we visited on my birthday.  

CHEERS!

More beautiful Bridlewood Estate Winery.

We went to three beautiful vineyards, Roblar, Bridlewood and Buttonwood....with Bridlewood being our favorite. 

Celebrating my 28th Birthday at "Seagrass," an amazing Santa Barbara restaurant.

The next day we had a fabulous sushi lunch, and headed back down highway 1 to LA to leave for Tahiti.  Our flight didn't leave until 11:30 pm sunday night, so we took our time exploring as we traveled back to LA....all in all a wonderful way to start our belated honeymoon!

UP NEXT:  Arrival in French Polynesia,  Moorea

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter dinner tonight at my Aunt and Uncle, Marge and Allan's home.  We were joined by my cousin Eileen, her daughter Kimberly, and mother Karen.  We had a yummy meal, followed by birthday cake in my honor...which was a great surprise!    We came home to the smell of our easter Lily.  I had made hard boiled eggs earlier today while Mike was finishing his 30 hour shift, and convinced him to join me in a Nichols family tradition, coloring easter eggs.  

Here are the finished products!  

Learning to golf???

Mike has decided it is his mission to teach me to golf.  After years of persuading, he has finally convinced me to give it a shot.  As many of you know, my Dad is a great golfer, but I have only played 9 holes ONCE and went to the driving range a few times in my life.  Here is a picture of me at the driving range this spring...glad it is finally warm enough to get out there....

 I have a new golf glove, so I won't get blisters....and the word on the street is I might have some equipment of my own soon enough....my birthday is April 18th :) Anyone interested in golf lessons or going to play with Mike and me....let us know!

Out of touch...

As many of you know, we took off in a hurry to Salt Lake City last month for a family emergency. On the way there, I left my computer under a table in a restaurant in the Detroit Airport, and it was STOLEN. Without my computer, or a good way to download pics (Mike's old computer is on it's last leg....but it is better than nothing, so I am using that for now)....I have not been able to post updates with pics! :( Oh well, I need to get back into blogging so here are a few updates sans pics...

Thankfully, Mike's Dad's is doing wonderfully. He bounced back from a scary situation, and is doing great as far as we are concerned (he has his own personal doctor squad now, whether he likes it or not!). His cardiologist has given him the OK to go back to work and life continues as usual.....AMAZING! Thank goodness for the health care professionals, Ski Patrol, and Doctors of Utah....they did such a great job taking care of Jeff.

We are ready for VACATION....18 days and counting until we leave for Tahiti. We will be spending 3 days in Santa Barbara, CA, followed by 4 days in Moorea and 6 days in Bora Bora. We can hardly wait and promise to take lots of pictures.

I just got back from a wonderful trip to Milwaukee to spend time with some of my dearest girlfriends from Hope College, Sarah (Little) Teller and Emily (Little) Troyk. I also had the pleasure of meeting their beautiful boys, Alex and Logan. We had a great time catching up including Pizza and Movie night, shopping with the little ones, and a girls night dinner complete with scallops and grapefruit martinis, yum! It was a much needed reunion, and I hope to see them all again very soon!!

I am so looking forward to my best friend Macare's wedding shower, which is coming up soon: APRIL 4th :) I can hardly wait to start the celebrations to come over the next few months with her,. I am also looking forward to catching up with all of my TC girls :)

Fortunately, we had my computer insured, and the insurance check is in the mail....so hopefully I will be back up and running with PICS soon! I may branch out and get a MAC, I hope I like it.....