🦈 Grosmaire
Tikehau, 2022
We didn’t dive with tiger sharks.
But Denis does.
He’s spent years forming quiet, trusting relationships with them — a kind of underwater companionship I find both humbling and extraordinary.
When we dove together, there were no tigers that day. Just reef sharks in the distance and the usual turtle, the calm of Opunohu bay, and Denis moving with the stillness of someone who truly belongs down there.
New letter — Grosmaire — is now live on Notes from the Pacific.
Presence, fear, and the subtle way the ocean teaches mindfulness.
(Link in bio)
– Timo
#NotesFromThePacific #SharkWisdom #DenisGrosmaire #Tikehau #Polynesia #LettersFromTheRoad #OceanEncounters #UnderwaterLife #SlowTravel #ReefSharks
Seventh Letter – Fisherman
Taha’a, 2022
🌊
I lived with a fisherman for a month.
Each day, Thierry would show up late afternoon with a few spearguns to let me know that it was time to head out to the reef and go fishing.
There was something about his presence — steady, patient, like the tide.
He taught me more about rhythm, instinct, and attention than anyone ever has.
Not with words. Just by being.
New letter now live on Notes from the Pacific.
(Link in bio)
– Timo
#NotesFromThePacific #LettersFromTheRoad #IslandLife #Spearfishing #OceanRhythms #FishermanWisdom #SlowTravel #Tahaa #polynesia
🐾
Pedro
Tikehau, 2022
A timid stray dog was left behind on our motu.
I named her Pedro — though she wasn’t a he, and I taught her Finnish, though she certainly wasn’t a Finn.
No one knew where she came from.
She stayed with us for weeks, hunted baby reef sharks in the shallows, and nearly died after mistaking a pufferfish for a toy.
New letter — Pedro — is now live on Notes from the Pacific.
(Link in bio)
– Timo
#NotesFromThePacific #PedroTheDog #SharkDog #IslandLife #LettersFromTheRoad #SlowTravel #Polynesia
Papeete, 2022
The last meal.
But also; the last mango, the last morning dip in the lagoon, the last time I changed my youngest’s diaper, the last chance to pet a cat.
We rarely know when a moment is the last — until much later, or sometimes not at all.
On our final night in Tahiti, I watched the banged up food trucks glowing at Place Vai’ete, savouring their frozen fries. It was our last supper after all.
The last letter — La Roulotte — is now live on Notes from the Pacific.
A farewell to all things always left unfinished.
(Link in bio)
– Timo
#NotesFromThePacific #LettersFromTheRoad #LastTimes Tahiti Papeete LaRoulotte FrenchPolynesia TravelReflections SlowTravel
Sharks of Tahiti 🦈
Tikehau, 2022
I’ve spent quite a bit of time underwater in their neighbourhoods — and over time, I somehow managed to build a strange connection with these humble beasts.
Sharks.
Possibly the most misrepresented creatures on the planet.
So wronged by pop culture – which is understandable. Sharks demand quite some respect.
But still, strangely familiar.
I even found myself relating to them when spearfishing.
Toriki called them “the stray dogs of the sea.”
and @denisgrosmaire — who I had the honor to dive with — has formed deep, trusting bonds with his local tiger sharks on Tikehau. It is quite moving to say the least.
And then again, as my fisherman friend Thierry put it:
“The tax man,”
he said, after his buddy reeled in a massive tuna — only to find half of it bitten clean off while still dangling from the line. (Pic 3.)
If you’re curious, I wrote a bit about sharks in my last letter Fisherman — and of course in the letter about Pedro, the shark-catching dog.
(Links in bio.)
Now I’ve been wondering —Should I do a separate post about my moments with the sharks of Tahiti?
#NotesFromThePacific #SharksOfTahiti #Fisherman #Tikehau #OceanLife #LettersFromTheRoad #TigerShark #Spearfishing #Polynesia #UnderwaterWorld #SharkStories
’We take air for granted, so it’s much harder to see the connection to other forms of life above water. But isn’t a bird flying in the sky much like a fish swimming in the water? One is up high, the other low – there’s not much difference. N2 and O2 or H2O, who really cares except a chemistry teacher? In one, bugs crawl around your feet; in the other, crabs and molluscs, but we all float in the same ether-like substance.’
Link to full note in bio.
#NotesFromThePacific #LettersFromTheRoad #Taha’a #BreathAndWater #UnderwaterThoughts #IslandReflections #SlowTravel #OceanMind
We all float in the same element — air or water, it makes little difference. Reflections from below the surface, written after a dive in Taha’a.
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#NotesFromThePacific #LettersFromTheRoad #Taha’a #BreathAndWater #UnderwaterThoughts #IslandReflections #SlowTravel #OceanMind
Boatpeople
Tikehau, 2022
⛴️
There’s no forest to see from the trees.
No peaks to orient by. Just flat light, salt, the lagoon, and each other.
Days blur. There’s always something to fix — a line, a leak, a plan.
But somehow, everything disappears when the boat becomes the sole buoy in the whole world.
From Matehau in Notes from the Pacific.
(Link in bio)
– Timo
#NotesFromThePacific #Boatpeople #Tikehau #LettersFromTheRoad #AtollLife #SaltAndTime #tahititourisme #tahiti
Fourth Letter – The Atoll – Matehau
🌊🦈
A ring of coral, like a mouth gaping just above sea level.
No forests. No peaks. Just open space in every direction.
When the world is nothing but water, where do you place your gaze?
New letter now live on Notes from the Pacific.
(Link in bio)
#NotesFromThePacific #IslandWriting #LettersFromTheRoad #Tikehau #AtollLife #Reflections #tahititourisme #tahiti
Time gets strange out in the wild.
It’s not just the jet lag or the time zones — it’s the way memories fold in on themselves, and yesterday keeps turning up in odd places.
We’ve simply agreed that the international date line runs through the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Come to think of it – it’s odd that you can cross the line without any special permission.
I once arrived a day too early.
This time, I nearly did it again.
New letter now live on Notes from the Pacific.
– Timo
(Link in bio)
#NotesFromThePacific #LettersFromTheRoad #IslandTime #SunsetThinking #Reflections
Second Letter – The Huahine Loner
🚲
After days of rain, I noticed a man walking his bicycle along the roadside.
Nothing was wrong with the bike.
He just chose to walk beside it.
That image stayed with me.
The new letter is now live on Notes from the Pacific —
a short story about solitude, rhythm, and the quiet understanding of what it means to be alone, together.
(Link in bio)
– Timo
#NotesFromThePacific #LettersFromTheRoad #IslandLife #SlowTravel #Reflections
First Letter – The Octopus
🐙
Usually around seven in the morning, the Octopus starts thinking about breakfast.
That’s when it slips out of its nest and begins its search for food. It’s how we first met….
The second letter from Notes from the Pacific is now live.
It’s a story about a Monday-like Monday of a battery-collecting octopus and its awkward date.
(Link in bio)
#NotesFromThePacific #LettersFromTheRoad #OceanLife #TravelReflections
