Waterfalls in Moorea (We're On a Boat)

Hive, I apologize that it's taken me so long to write these honeymoon recaps. We bought a brand new underwater camera the day before we left, which ended up seriously malfunctioning toward the end of our trip and DELETING over half of our pictures. Yeah, I know. Tears were shed. Luckily for all, superdad came to the rescue once again with the help of a hacker friend and I'm happy to report that we were able to recover most of the pictures. It just took a while. Anywhoo... let's get started, shall we? This post is a little long, but I had a lot to condense into it, so bear with me :)

If you recall, we had booked our honeymoon back in February. But as I got sicker and sicker, my family started to worry that maybe running off to the other side of the world wasn't the best idea. Even my doctor strongly advised me to stay and made me sign a release after I told him that I was going on my honeymoon come hell or high water. That might seem crazy and irresponsible to some of you; but for months, every time a needle pierced my skin or I had to lie on a procedure table, I went to my happy place and pictured myself in Bora Bora. I just had to go!

Our flight was for the Tuesday after our Saturday wedding and that worked out perfectly for us.  I have to admit that with everything else going on, I hadn't even started packing for our honeymoon (well, unless you count piles of new outfits haphazardly strewn on top of your suitcase as packing). The days immediately after our wedding were spent saying goodbye to friends and family who had come into town for our little shindig and running errands. Having those few days gave us just enough time to get our affairs in order before jetting off on our honeymoon.

We showed up at the airport with plenty of time to spare, mostly because I was determined to get us upgraded to first class like they do in movies, which my brand new husband found extremely amusing. I tried every technique I could think of, but nothing worked, so we had to fly coach... I know, the humanity! We first flew Montreal-LAX, then LAX-Tahiti. The Tahitian airline, Air Tahiti Nui, was awesome, and greeted us with fresh jasmine, pineapple juice, cozy blankets and pillows, fuzzy socks, and the soothing sounds of ukulele music!  However, we weren't able to get any sleep on either flight and watched some movies instead.

We finally landed in Papeete airport at 6 am on Wednesday  and were greeted by some more ukulele music and our very own leis! We were then taken to the Papeete marina and waited a few hours for our ferry to Moorea.

Mr. W and I love the lonely island's I'm on a boat, so of course we kept singing it the whole time we were on the ferry. The part about riding the dolphin will become especially funny as you read on!

Upon checking in to the Intercontinental hotel in Moorea, we were greeted yet again with fresh flowers and delicious fruit juice. To avoid jet-lag, and since we would only have two days in Moorea, we decided to avoid sleeping until that night. While I sipped my delicious juice, my new husband snuck in a cat nap. No shame, guys!

Our bungalow was amazing and had the most serene view ever. Little did we know, we were right across from the dolphin center! We got to watch quite a few dolphin flips right from our back yard!

After getting settled, we decided to grab some lunch and explore the grounds a little bit.

Moorea is very different from Bora Bora with its lush vegetation and grassy mountains. The water was crystal clear, and the reflection of the mountains is what gives it the green hue you see in these pictures. We also checked out the resort's turtle rehabilitation center. Turtles are actually endangered in French Polynesia, but they're considered a delicacy, so they still get hunted by locals. The rehab center rescues injured turtles and nurses them back to health until they can be reintroduced back into the wild.

That night, the hotel was hosting a Polynesian BBQ right on the beach, complete with traditional Polynesian dances. This was one of our honeymoon registry items and it was a great way to kick off our honeymoon!

The next day, we woke up bright and early to grab some breakfast. In order to save some money, we opted for the half-board plan instead of full-board. This meant that breakfast and supper were included, but not lunch. We honestly didn't feel the need to buy lunch except on the first day (we were starving since we didn't eat on the plane). The breakfast buffet was completely insane and that was normally enough to keep us full until supper. We had read how expensive meals can be in French Polynesia, so we brought some snacks like chips and dried nuts as well.

After breakfast, we headed over to the Dolphin Center to swim with the dolphins! We actually booked our stay at the Intercontinental in Moorea solely because that's where the Dolphin center was. Dolphins are my absolute favourite animal, and I've been dreaming of swimming with them my entire life so this was, hands down, the part I was most excited about.

Before our swim, can you see the excitement?

While it's certainly pricey, the apnea program in Moorea is one of a kind in that you're actually swimming with the dolphins. Yes, you read that right. We got to hold on to the dolphin's dorsal fin while it dragged us underwater! Mr. Waterfall is not as good a swimmer as I am, so he was a little worried about running out of air, but he ended up loving it almost as much as I did. We also got to observe the dolphins perform tricks under water and learned quite a lot about them from our guide, who was a marine biologist. Finally, we had a little meet and greet where we got to kiss and snuggle the dolphins. I even got to feed one! Mr. W says it's probably one of the happiest he's ever seen me, and it was definitely my favourite part of our honeymoon. We also paid for both pictures and video because honestly, it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience, you want to have those memories for a lifetime. Plus, I get to share them with you :)

Dolphin Swim from Mrs.Waterfall on Vimeo.
Here is an edited version of our dolphin video. You can see us swimming with the dolphins, playing with them and kissing them at the end. There was another couple on our swim, which I tried to edit out as much as possible. For some reason, the original soundtrack for the video was this weird, 80's softcore porn music, which I switched for some Gavin Degraw for your listening pleasure ;)

After our swim, we popped into Helene spa, where we enjoyed a deep tissue Tahitian massage, yet another registry item courtesy of our amazing guests!

We spent the rest of the day snorkeling right outside our underwater bungalow, taking in the sunset, and eating one of the most delicious French gourmet dinners I've ever had - which is saying a lot for someone who lives in Montreal and has visited France on three occasions! We did take pictures, but they simply didn't do the meal justice, so use your imagination.

Before we knew it, our time in Moorea was up and it was time to move on to Bora Bora!
Did anybody succeed in getting upgraded to first class on their honeymoon?

* All photos personal