Getting up at 4:15 am was perhaps the most difficult part of our vacation although the kids were anxious enough to be headed for Mexico that they didn't seem to mind and were on the best of behavior considering how tired they must have been. We were packed and ready to go and so following a very early breakfast, we loaded our luggage into the car and were off to the airport for our 6 am departure. Having checked in online for our Alaska Airlines flight did save us a lot of time at the airport and enabled us to show up only 50 minutes before our flight was to depart. Checking in online enabled us to preenter our passport information and print out our boarding passes.


Within 3 minutes of clearing security we were ready to...

Introduction

I am travelling with my wife Kirsten and five children Alyssa (12), Jaeden (10), Dailin (8), Orin (6) and Eli (3) for a two and a half month adventure to the South Pacific. The first two weeks will be in the Cook Islands (Rarotonga 11 days and then to Aitutaki where we will stay in the islands' most affordable shack for 3 days).

We will then head off for Tahiti for two months. While in Tahiti we will be staying with two families (of friends). Another friend also has a husband who works on the cargo ships which distributes goods throughout the Society Islands so we will have some real adventurous sea sick stories to tell. The first 2 weeks in Tahiti will probably be on the island of Tahiti, followed...

Part 3: March 8 - 21, 2007 - Two Weeks on the Island of Tahiti

First Week in Tahiti - March 8 - 14, 2007

Well the first week in Tahiti has come and gone in a flash. It has been full of excitement and adventure as expected, sometimes a bit too much. We have slept on cold tile floors, snorkelled, met past friends, swam by an enormous waterfall, visited the Hospital's emergency room and walked around the capital city of Papeete... but first things first.


A Quick Flight

The flight over to Papeete from Rarotonga was less than 2 hours. The difficult part about the flight was not the short duration but rather the late hour of the flight. We left just after 10 PM to arrive in Papeete...