Andrew’s Visit

As previously alluded to, Andrew joined us in Papeete.  He had a direct flight from LAX and he was arriving in the early morning, so I texted him (via inReach) to catch a taxi at the airport to the marina, and I would meet him at the marina and pay for the cab (so he didn’t have to worry about getting any local currency).  Does this seem rude?  When I told a friend that Andrew is taking a taxi from the airport he laughed at me, like how could I possibly NOT be going to the airport to meet my son whom I haven’t seen in 8 months.  I don’t know, it never occurred to me.  Taking a taxi was the most efficient thing to do, and Andrew is so independent and self-sufficient, and he’s like all grown up and stuff it just made sense to me.  And Andrew never complained.  The night before Andrew arrived the boys and I mused about what they remember about Andrew.  Brenden mentioned how Andrew would go to the store for ice cream if we ran out, but only if Brenden asked, not anyone else.  Yeah, Andrew always had a soft spot for Brenden.  I remember how Andrew practically carried Brenden around Hawaii, because Tim and I would just tell Brenden to suck it up when he got tired and whiny, but not Andrew.  Alex told me how he used to do the dishes for Andrew and in return Andrew let him play warcraft.  Too funny, I didn’t know about that one.  I guess when I used to rail at Andrew for not getting the dishes clean enough it was really Alex?  It was probably still Andrew too.

Our day in Papeete was a pleasant one, and Andrew’s first (and only) objective was to get a gift for his girlfriend.  We walked around the shops upstairs at the Gran Marche mostly looking at jewelry, and more specifically, mostly looking at black pearls.  I was in the market for a sarong myself, as they are so versatile.  Is it a wrap, a skirt, a dress?  Why yes, all three.  I picked one out, and right away Andrew said he really liked it and he wanted to get one for Jamie.  Of course it was the only one of the style, and he gave me puppy dog eyes (like Brenden gives him) and I relented.  Fine.  Give it to Jamie.  She better like it.  🙂  We also found some nice black pearl earrings for her, but I’m afraid I’m not much of a haggler, so I’m not sure we got the best deal.  With gifts purchased, it was time to find the beer.

On Exodus, Andrew spent a lot of time on the foredeck with shirt off soaking up the sun.  Like a mom, I kept reminding him to put sunscreen on, remembering the time at Coronado Island when he got so sunburned, he actually got nauseous.  Eventually, I let it go, since, like I said, he’s all grown up and stuff.  As luck would have it, Andrew’s visit was timed right smack dab in the middle of the Stanley Cup finals, and, of course, the Kings were in it.  Our first night in Moorea, we decided to visit the Hilton, which was nearby where we were anchored, to see if we could find the game on TV.  We knew it was a long shot, but it couldn’t hurt to try.  So, we semi-successfully “navigated” our way through the coral mine field in the dinghy over to the Hilton, and they had a TV, but no luck finding the game.  So, we just had a few drinks and enjoyed free, fast internet for a while.  They also had a pool table, which kept the boys entertained.

Our search for the Kings on TV did not end there.  The next day we went to the Intercontinental Hotel hoping to hijack a TV, but then we learned that the World Cup games were starting.  I guess we had been living under a rock.  Or just without internet.  Anyway, being in French Polynesia where hocky isn’t exactly a popular sport and there are tourists from all over the world, we stood basically zero chance of finding anything but World Cup on TV.  But we didn’t give up.  We trekked about a mile to a small shopping center with a few restaurants, and we found an empty cafe that appeared to have the setup to stream sporting events from the internet.  Since we were the only ones there, they obliged us and found the Kings game for us.  Yes!  We were in business.  If the Kings won, that would be it, they would win the Stanley cup.  And of course, it went into overtime, and the clock was ticking away for us because we couldn’t stay past dusk.  We had a dinghy ride back through the coral to think about and doing that in the dark wouldn’t be fun.  So, of course, we couldn’t stay for the end of the game.  Luckily, when we got back to the boat the internet actually worked for once, and we were able to listen to the audio feed live.  I think the entire anchorage must have heard us screaming when Martinez scored!  KINGS WIN!  It was so fun to be with Andrew for that, since he’s such a huge King’s fan.

We did more than watch (or listen) to the Kings games while Andrew was with us.  As I mentioned earlier, we played on shore, went snorkeling and hiking (ok, walking), and we even rented a car and drove around the island.  We snorkeled around some coral heads inside the reef near the anchorage at the mouth of Opunohu.  It was some of the worst snorkeling we have done.  Visibility was poor, coral was mostly dead, and the fish were few and tiny.  Funny thing is that Andrew didn’t care or know the difference, and he told us to stop complaining about it.  He was such a good sport about the walk and the car ride, and his presence made those activities so much more fun.  The boys enjoyed Andrew’s company, but in different ways.  Brenden likes Andrew, but Alex wants to be like him.  Brenden likes to be around Andrew, but Alex looks up to him (even if he’d never admit it.)  They had fun playing together, and I had fun watching them play.  One of my favorite moments was when they were all three out there playing on our two standup paddle boards.  There was sheer joy and Alex and Brenden’s faces having Andrew out there messing around with them.  They missed him when he left.

It turns out there is a ferry that goes back and forth between Moorea and Tahiti, so very early in the morning the day of his flight, we said good-bye to him at the ferry terminal.  He took the ferry back to Papeete and then a taxi from the ferry terminal to the airport.  Again, is that rude?  Well, whatever, I don’t think Andrew thinks so.

For just a few days, the void in our life was filled and our family was complete again.  Andrew has his own life with work and school, but we are really hoping he visits us again in New Zealand.