Precious Tropical "Jewel"

Coprah or Copra is the dried meat of a coconut and used to extract coconut oil from. Even today, for many people on the islands and in other tropical countries where palm trees grow in abundance, it is a gift of life. In Tahiti copra is partly government subsidised to help the people of the outer and often isolated islands earn a basic living. When the sun dried kernels are ready to be processed, they are packed in large bags and shipped to the coconut oil refinery in Papeete where the oil is produced. Some of it is used to make the famous Monoï Tahitian oil, which is a cosmetic lotion used as a skin and hair softener.

Jewel Of The Tropics

Hard Work

Let The Sun Shine and Dry us Out

A Wonder Named Petra

I may have travelled "millions" of miles, seen, studied, lived and worked in uncountable countries and crossed all the continents of our beautiful planet, but the amazing, magnificent and ancient rose city Petra, was a totally incredible experience that never seems to leave my mind… This was the start of my long way back to the South Seas and what a great place to do so! One day I hope to go back to Jordan and do it all again!

The Long Way To Petra

The Walk Up The Siq

Totally Amazing...

There She Is: The Treasury!

Beautiful in Pink

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Most incredible rainbow today and it was truly an awesome sight! I want to dedicate this photograph to MH370, all it's passengers, crew, family and friends! May you RIP!

Thank You Rain!

Once more we are blessed with a great sunny day and so I want to share some pics of "my" island with you, knowing and realising at the same time, that it is the rain, feeding all the plants and trees, which makes this place so beautiful and almost magic like!

Opunohu bay

Mou'a Puta

Bali Hai Mountain

Cook's Bay

Just a Perfect Day!

Today is just a beautiful, gorgeous day! The sun is out, hot and bright and it is great to feel its warmth after the many wet and rainy days we've had lately.
Early this morning I cleaned the garden and burned the green trash while rethinking one of my chapters. It seems to help me a lot wandering around "my little paradise" on the edge of the lagoon, while scratching my brain about certain chapters and subjects.

We have also been plagued by a huge -once in a hundred years, or so it seemed- swell, which almost took my little house, sweeping everything from the inside out, taking many souvenirs back into the angry ocean. It was a very stressful experience but I was lucky to have been able to save my dog Noera, most of my precious things and my car... and really just in time.

How quickly we can forget such misadventures when the sun comes back out again, bringing just enough wind to colour the lagoon in the unforgettable turquoise shades! Just a perfect day to write!

Clean yard and perfect day

Angry Ocean

Wow!

Wowow!

KUALA LUMPUR

These days my thoughts are very much with flight MH370, its passengers and crew and their families and friends. Daily I check for any news concerning the desperate search to locate the plane. It is a very sad, intriguing, mysterious story and almost too crazy to be true in a day and age where everyone and everything seems traceable except this plane.

During my long trek back to the South Pacific, I spent a couple of days in KL and I thoroughly enjoyed "meeting" this city for the first time. As a young kid the words "Kuala Lumpur" always had a certain ring to it for me and when I wanted to extend my journey in Thailand, without going to jail with an expired visa, the easiest way out and back in to obtain a new visa was KL. I flew with MAS from Phuket...  Without saying, the events surrounding MH370 brings back a lot of memories.

Phuket to KL

I have written a chapter about my KL adventure and am happy to share some of my photographs with you.

Malaysian Police Force

Sultan Abdul Samad Building

Petronas Towers

KL Monorail, downtown

A Dog Named Christmas...

Her name is "Noera," which means Christmas in the Tahitian language. She was an abandoned, very abused dog and found on the island's garbage belt on Christmas day.
Today she is my most faithful companion, always nestled beneath my chair while I am writing away on my computer.

I have written about Noera in one of my book chapters too. Not only because she gives me so much joy and I have come to love her to bits but because animals and "paradise" do not always go well together. Most dogs are loved during the puppy stage only and then either abandoned, abused or raised to end up on the family BBQ. Shocking? Yes, but still a hidden fact and part of the cultural life on these islands. Especially the brown or rather yellow dogs as they are called, are the favorite, with most dog-eating people thinking that any other color has bad "mana" or spiritual powers.

Over the past few months, Noera has learned to trust me, she is no longer scared when I have a broom in my hands to sweep the floor, she loves her new bed, probably the first in her life, and her collar, which at first made her jump up into the sky before I was able to put it on.  I am truly happy being able to provide her with a safe home and to make a difference in her life!

Noera

Happy Christmas

TAHITI, New Beginnings...

I returned to the South Seas in July 2013, taking the long way back and across many oceans, to start my now new and single life. Not an easy decision, knowing that memories, good and bad, would be popping up like little "Youtube" video's having spent so many years here, but for me and my endless wandering past, it is the closest I will come to a place called "home."

The beauty of the islands was waiting for me with the new day slowly being painted by the rising sun and the familiar smells of green burning trash and freshly baked French bread surrounded me like a delicious perfume as I got of the plane and set foot on the tarmac. I was happy to be back and in a way excited and ready to "re-start" my life from zero.

Moorea

Lagoon, how I missed you!