That bench must’ve been made of teak, because it was harder than anything else I have ever laid on. But at least we were off the ground, since the airport has open sides, and any number of tropical critters can get in. Surprisingly the airport actually closed for an hour, but no one made us move. It was incredibly humid, and there was no AC, however we managed to get a couple of hours of shut eye before the sun rose and the terminal became packed with travelers.
Realizing I had forgotten to factor in the International Date Line when booking our accommodation, we now had a surprise bonus day of vacation! But, no place to sleep for another night. So, we scurried and booked a hotel. We happily forked over the money this time, not wishing to revisit our sleeping area from the previous night.
Tahiti is a sumptuous delight for the eyes. Out of the driver’s side window, were tall, piercing green mountains obscured by clouds, looking like something out of The Lost World. 
One of these black sand beaches is world renowned for having the most dangerous wave in the world. At Teahupo’o, there is a powerful wave that forms a big, vacuum-like tube of huge amounts of water. This wave moves in very shallow water, over sharp razor coral. It forms so fast that surfers have to be towed out on jet skis to be able to ride it. Every year people are injured attempting to ride this mighty wave. Nevertheless, Teahupo’o remains a mecca for expert surfers. The Billabong Pro championship is held here annually. After years of seeing the infamous wave on surf videos, Paul wanted to see it up close.
Unfortunately, what is normally a consistent 8m swell, was nonexistent that day, and we couldn’t get a water taxi out to see it. Instead, we swam near the shore, and watched kids surfing smaller waves.
After swimming in the ocean and driving in a car without AC all day, we were sticky with seawater and sweat, and we wanted to shower before boarding our nighttime flight. We visited a public beach and showered outside in the cold water, then settled on the sand to watch the sun go down. Burrowing my feet into the black sand, enjoying the sunset, with the moon high above, I was reminded of a Porno for Pyros song. “I don’t know if I’ll make home tonight. But I know I can swim under the Tahitian moon.”