We filed our paperwork yesterday to check out of French Polynesia. None of us want to leave and we were joking with with gendarme in the office. They smiled and nodded, I don’t think this is the first time they heard that! It turns out that they have their post for a couple of months and are probably feeling like we are.

Over coffee this morning Jon and I were chatting in the shadow of Bora Bora’s mountain peaks and we realized we arrived in Fatu Hiva and French Polynesia exactly a year ago. What a year it has been! This is wonderful place, rich with incredible nature on land in the water, amazingly friendly people and excellent food. We have been dazzled and delighted by the breathtaking sights and views. We have been blown away by the underwater world and had some incredible experiences making fishy friends. We have shared our time with some incredible cruisers including lots of wonderful families. We made Nuku Hiva our home and we will return one day, that is a sure thing. We learned to dance and drum and a little bit of French, Marquesan, Tuomotan and Tahitian. 

We have noticed that the places where the French government are looking involved, the people have a better way of life. Thanks to the subsidies they seem to have options to feed their families, there is money in the community so there is less desperation. It has a huge effect on the atmosphere of the place. Poverty is not wiped out, of course, but it feels a lot less desperate. We have noticed it in French Polynesia and we remember it from the French island of the  is  after the people both here and in the Caribbean islands, as well.

We have loved getting to know the culture here and we are sad to leave. We are tempted to linger and if it weren’t for our boat family fleet, we would be tempted to stay another year. But we love  spending time with these lovely people and it is good to leave a place wanting to do more there so we will keep some things on reserve for future adventures, and next time we will speak more French.

Here is list of stuff we will miss:

> Baguettes and pain chocolat

> Subsidized red label food items at magazins

> The sound of music from the shore, especially Nuku Hiva drums

> Ukulele music 

> The pride people have in their gardens

> The “roof lace” called frie

> Kids in rowing dinghies delivering fresh baguette in the morning

> Tikis, tikis everywhere

> Welcoming committees in passes in the form of dolphins or whales

> A flower tucked behind every ear

> So many fabulous patutiki

> Floating motus

> Polynesian fabric on everything

> Huge welcoming smiles

> Hermit crabs and black tip reef sharks

> The coolest pirate money with tropical paradise pictures

> The Hinano girl

> Steak frites, especially from Henri’s in Taiohae

> Mango trees with a long harvesting stick propped against the trunk 

> Dance lessons

> Wild chickens and friendly stray dogs

> Non ironic “hang loose” gestures

> Vini birds

> Enthusiasm for black pearls

> Drum lessons

> Teo says he will miss ‘the lovliness”

> Also did I mention the baguettes?

Like Arnie would say “We’ll be Back!”