Moorea, A Day to Remember

Day 5

My missionary trainer in New Caledonia, back in 1997, was Naea Bennett.  He and I got along really well back then and found our friendship picked up where it left off 16 years ago.  He and his amazing wife, Dayna, hosted us most of our time while in Tahiti.  They were gracious hosts and wonderful people.

They picked us up at our temple housing and we took a 45-minute morning ferry ride across the ocean to Moorea.  While crossing, we saw dolphins and flying fish.  The flying fish were amazing!  They’d jump out of the water and fly about 6 inches above the water for 100-200 meters.  Wow.

As we approached Moorea, we were amazed at how beautiful its rugged mountains are and the perfectly blue water of its lagoon. 

The Bennetts drove us up the mountain and treated us to the best pineapple we’ve ever had!

We next drove to the most beautiful beach I have ever seen…that’s saying something.  I’ve seen a lot of beautiful beaches in my time in the South Pacific and Thailand.

We rented a small boat and motored out into the lagoon about 500 meters. 

When Naea hopped out of the boat, I was amazed at what happened next. Dozens of wild stingrays and reef sharks swam around him.  He encouraged us to jump in.  Fully trusting my old companion to not feed us to sharks, we did!  The following pictures and video don’t do justice to what it’s like swimming with these amazing creatures.  Wow, Wow, Wow.  Something we will never forget…

Underwater camera view of swimming with tropical fish, sharks, and stingray. Wow.

On the way back, the motor broke, so we paddled back to shore…well, we paddled as hard as we could and Naea ultimately jumped out and walked us back in.

We went to the Bennett’s family home and washed the salt water off in their pool and shower.  The house was surrounded by beautiful flowers and a vanilla plantation.  Yes, I kept asking myself why I didn’t’ choose to live in Tahiti…

We caught the late afternoon ferry back to Tahiti and enjoyed a beautiful ride

That night, Candace went to Dayna’s Polynesian dancing class and I joined Naea and a few of his country’s teammates for my first match of beach soccer.  It was a lot of fun.  I felt honored to play with Naea, and even scored a goal! (I’ll not mention that I missed several open goals too, or that Naea scored an easy 15 goals…)

Truly one of the most wonderful days Candace and I have ever had!