September 14th: Our last day on Fakarava…Why couldn’t it have been sunny? It cleared up mid-morning, but we were all tired from the rain and the wind in the night. Eric announced that we would be going back to the red sands beach. Momma had decided that she would kayak there and Sue and I decided to go with her. Even though the wind had died down considerably, it was still a grunt, especially because I was tired and the sun was hot. Half way to the beach we stopped for a quick dip in the lagoon. It was refreshing while I was in the water, but afterward it only made me more tired. When we finally reached the red sands beach, Eric was just arriving to take everyone else home. I grabbed my chance and caught a ride back in the boat. It was a good thing too, I almost fell asleep in the on the way back.
At 2:30 we took the boat back to the North end of Fakarava to catch our 6:oo flight to Tahiti. The boat ride was the same length of time as the way there, but for a different reason. We had to take shelter several times to wait for the rain to pass. After Raimiti, the airport felt like a big city. Customs at the airport consisted of a long line where you checked in your baggage and showed your passports. The fight to Tahiti was noisy and uneventful.
There was a surprise waiting for us at the Tahiti airport. Teremoana was supposed to meet us in order to give Sue her survey equipment. Instead, the whole family came over from Mo’orea, except Romilda, who was working. We were overjoyed at seeing them again, but were sad we would have to say goodbye again in two hours. As the time came for us to board the plane, we were strung with more shell necklaces. Paulette and Momma started crying, everyone was heartbroken too. We all waved until they were lost behind the crush of people.
Changes to September 15th somewhere in here: We went from a 48 seater airplane (Fakarava to Papeete) to a 340 seater (Papeete to LA). A huge difference. It was delayed taking off, so instead of 10:30pm, we started flying at 11:30pm. We were all exhausted from our day of traveling, and we weren’t done yet. The flight was scheduled to arrive in to LA at 10:30am. That is a nine hour redeye flight, my first redeye. I normally can’t fall asleep on planes, but I guess I was really tired. I woke up several times in the night: my blanket was slipping off, my feet were cold, my neck was sore from flopping onto my chest, and my legs were cramping…It was an uncomfortable flight and I got only five hours of sleep.
Landing in LA on the 15th gave us all a severe case of culture shock. From little town to big city, French to LA drawl, a relaxed way of life to the hyped-up US. We all miss French Polynesia.
