Mosquito management in Mo'orea

It's rainy season and I am DYING.

Went to bed at 10:30pm on new years eve, but got up early to see this on new years day…

Happy new year and welcome to 2024!

I did a look back at the year that was last week, and while I was tempted to do a look forward to the year that’s coming, I’m always a victim of making completely unrealistic new year’s resolutions that never actually stick.

I’ve tried to wake up at dawn for a year, twice, and both times made it about half way (one was stymied by Covid, the other by first trimester nausea and fatigue). I’ve tried painting every day for 100 days. I’ve tried doing Inktober and various other projects.

What I’ve learnt is that I’m pretty good at starting things, but not always so good at continuing or finishing them.

So no resolutions this year. Just the sincere hope I can keep this newsletter going amidst the chaos of giving birth and living with a newborn.

Tell me in the comments -

• Do you make new years resolutions?

• If yes, what’s one of your resolutions for this year?

And now, the thing that’s occupying a LOT more brain space than it should.

There are so many bloody mosquitos

I did not expect the volume of mosquitoes I’ve had to deal with since arriving here. We live right next to a swamp and hoo boy, it is a mosquito FACTORY out there.

It doesn’t help that for some reason I seem to be irresistibly delicious to those little suckers. My husband likes to joke that he doesn’t need mosquito repellent when he’s got a mosquito attractant (aka, me).

It’s rainy season. And the mozzies LOVE rainy season. We’ll have two weeks of solid rain, then the sun comes out, and BAM. Mosquito paradise. I keep encountering pools of the little squirming larvae and I imagine if I had a magnifying glass that they’d all be lazing around in novelty floaties and sunglasses, drinking mosquito-sized piña coladas.

So here’s an unsolicited list of items I can’t live without, and my review of a bunch of mosquito sprays for effectiveness.

Things I can’t live without

1. The electronic anti-mosquito

This goes on whenever I have a nap or for the evening, and it works (most of the time) like a dream. Sometimes one or two mozzies will slip through, but mostly I can sleep entirely naked with the window open and emerge from the night unscathed.

2. My fan

For some reason mosquitoes don’t seem to bother me as much when I have a fan pointed directly at me, so this stays on most of the day. Drying for the eyes, but ultimately worth it.

3. Maxi dresses

I love a good maxi, and during mosquito season, only having my feet poke out is one of the best ways to protect my legs. Plus when I wear a maxi the nephew and niece like to use me as a tent.

Things I found weren’t worth it

1. Mosquito net

It feels like it just blocks the airflow to the bed. If one hand or foot manages to escape, then the mosquitoes are treated to a cheeky feast.

2. Eating garlic

I was told this was a natural mozzie repellent, however we eat a LOT of garlic and I’ve never noticed the difference.

3. Electronic tennis racquet zapper thingo

We’re on our second one and it’s broken again, because it’s cheap Chinese trash.

My unsolicited review of various mosquito repellent products

I feel like I’ve purchased possibly every mosquito spray on the market (in Australia and French Polynesia), and here’s the definitive list.

1. Moov Insect Repellent Roll On - ⭐️

I was looking for something natural, but didn’t realise this was literally just tea tree oil. Could’ve saved myself a couple of bucks just using the tea tree oil at the house.

2. Aerogard Tropical Strength Mosquito Repellent - ⭐️⭐️

Nothing gives more confidence than a massive warning on the bottle that says ‘don’t use this product over a long period time on large parts of the body’. Yes, it works, and for the 8 hours advertised, but the application and the smell feels like you’re gassing yourself as well as the bugs. Plus I don’t know if I trust DEET which was developed by the US Army (and we all know those guys have never developed anything that caused widespread health issues).

3. Thursday Plantation Walkabout Insect Repellent - ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This smelled AMAZING. Like a lemon-scented dream. The only issue was I felt like I needed to use a lot of it, and the roll on didn’t last for a long time.

4. Bug-Grr Off! - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is my go-to, and I recently purchased 6 bottles for family to bring across to me. The active ingredient is oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE); not to be confused with lemon eucalyptus essential oil, this is apparently concentrated in a way that makes it much more effective at keeping those pesky mozzies at bay. It’s all natural and lasts a surprisingly long time - the bottle says 6 hours, which feels about right if you don’t get wet or sweat too much. It leaves a lingering lemon scent on my clothes which I really like. The only downside is that it can feel a little hot on the skin after application (not ideal when it’s 35ºC and 80% humidity outside).

5. NaoNao Anti-Mostiques - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a Tahitian brand which has picaridin as the active ingredient, synthesised from the chilli plant. Despite this there’s no spiciness to the application, and this brand has a pleasant tiare smell (kind of like gardenia), and seems to work for a long time. You can find it fairly easily in the shops and pharmacies here and there are versions with monoi (locally made coconut oil) and tamanu (which is a magical oil for hair and skin used worldwide in cosmetics).

At the end of the day…

There are costs to living in paradise; one of those costs is sacrificing a bit of my blood every so often, and stupidly itchy feet when I forget to turn on the anti-mosquito at night.

Reading, watching, thinking about…

1. My tarot reading for the year

I did a big spread with 1 card per month to start thinking and projecting about what I want from 2024.

I also stumbled across this Substack, which I’m excited to dig into:

2. I revived my kombucha!

Now I’m trying to figure out how to make mead and how to make ginger beer (alcoholic, of course).

3. Making a reading list

Yes, I know, no resolutions. BUT. I want to read more books this year that

• Uplift my soul

• Make me feel more connected to humanity

• Are beautiful or beautifully written

• Make me feel things

• Are classics for a reason

Any recommendations for me? Tell me in the comments!