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| Welcome to Tahiti |
We flew Air Tahiti for the 6-hour flight from Los Angeles to
the Island of Old Tahiti, and the city of Papeete. The friendly flight staff
and comfortable plane made for an enjoyable flight (and we don’t often say
that). Papeete (pronounced: pap-aye-ET-tay) means “water basket” in Tahitian
Island talk and is the capital and largest city in Tahiti with a current population
of 200,000 people.
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| Native welcoming committee at the airport |
Tahiti is part of the Society Island archipelago located in
the south-central part of the Pacific Ocean. The body of islands that make up
Tahiti are called French Polynesia and number about 118 major islands, but
there are many more than that if you count the “motus,” which are the small
uninhabited rock protrusions seen everywhere.
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| Buckets of black pearls |
Tahiti is known for its black pearls, and there are black
pearl shops on almost every corner. We browsed the shops, and at one, they let
us play with a few buckets of pearls, spreading them out on a white tablecloth
so we could inspect them properly. Anne bought one to add to her travel
talisman collection, good luck charms she carries with her on every trip.
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| Celebrating our arrival in Papeete |
We spent a brief night in Papeete in a wonderful apartment
where we celebrated our arrival in Tahiti. Then, we took a ½ hour ride on the ferry,
the Aremiti II, over to the port of Vai’are, located on the east side of the Island
of Moorea.
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| First glimpse of Moorea from the ferry |
We were surprised that Moorea has an extremely mountainous
center with jagged and dramatic volcanic peaks covered in a jungle-y mantle of
palms and other tropical vegetation. Although the max height of the mountains is
less than 4000 feet, they seemed much higher.
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| Paradise by the shore |
Moorea Island is about 10 miles across at its widest point
(east to west) with one main ring road that allows you to drive around the
periphery. Makes it impossible to get lost! It’s 36 km (about 25 miles) around
the island, with stone markers at every kilometer to tell you exactly where you
are on the island. Most of the services and attractions are on the east and
north sides of the island, while the west and south are undeveloped, and mostly
reserved for quiet residential living.
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| Our side-by-side bungalows |
One thousand francs ($10 American Dollars) got us (and our
luggage) seats on the local bus for the 40-minute ride to our hotel on the
northwest corner of the island. Moorea feels like the real Tahiti and our new
residence, the Moorea Sunset Beach Hotel provided quaint island-style bungalows
with every amenity including a back porch with a covered deck shaded from the
sun, offering a cool haven for sitting, eating, and even hanging wet clothes to
dry. We had side-by-side bungalows ideally located just a short walk from the
beach. Colorful tropical flora was planted all around the grounds often outlining
walking paths around the bungalows and the walkways down to the beach for easy
navigation.
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| On to the beach! |
We couldn’t wait to check out the water, so we threw on our
swimsuits and headed for the beach only about 100 yards from our bungalows. With
sparkling blue water and a gorgeous wide beach, it was exactly the tropical
paradise we hoped for. The shallow water of the lagoon was surprisingly cool
but refreshing on this sticky, hot day.
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| Snorkel girls check out the sea life |
No shortage of wildlife here. A breathtaking variety of
tropical fish glided around the coral reefs just a short distance from the
shore – parrot fish, angel fish, neon blue fish, and even the multi-colored
Picasso fish. Frank spotted a large stingray slithering along the bottom in the
waist-deep waters. And Anne and Marcia watched intrepidly as a 3-foot snake
writhed thru the coral reef about 10 feet away from where they stood.
(Actually, they took one look and ran/swam/flew like hell!).
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| Enjoying dinner at one of the island restaurants on Moorea |
The people were just as lovely as their island, and we had
great restaurant experiences wherever we went. Endless seafood dishes, superb fresh
octopus, pasta dishes, and even slabs of delicious entrecote (thin beef steak French
style!).
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| Frank with his Dacia Sandero |
One day, we rented a car from the local Avis outfit to take
a spin around the island. Over the course of the day, we drove the entire ring
road, stopping at various places along the way.
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Marcia and her big brother in front of Moorea's
tallest mountain |
We drove up to the Belvedere Lookout, which is supposed to
offer the best view in the Pacific. We followed the signage up a steep and
windy hill with lots of switchbacks on a narrow road. A few times, we narrowly
missed the oncoming traffic, since many novice “tourista drivers” veer out of
lane when negotiating these curves. The views from the top were excellent. We
are actually enjoying the mountains here almost as much as the beach.
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| Tahiti Drink from Manatea Distillery |
Next, we headed east to the Manatea Distillery for a taste
of their famous liquors made from fresh local fruit like pineapple, lychee, and
banana. If you ever get here, look for our favorite, a delicious, inexpensive,
alcoholic (9%) fruit drink called Tahiti Drink L’original. Smooth and super-fruity
- you won’t be disappointed!
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| Frank at Temae Beach |
It was a bit slow going as the ladies shopped at various
places for black pearls and souvenirs. On the eastern side of the island, we dropped
by the famous Temae Beach.
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| Marcia (floating) and Anne |
The beautiful, white sand beach looked like pure
bliss, but the deep blue water carried a strong riptide-like current. Anne and
Marcia snorkeled pretty far out where they saw a huge stingray, but the current
was so strong, and they had to do some real work to get back to shore. Fortunately, they made it!
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Hinano, Tahiti's most
popular beer |
Frank always likes to report on favorite new beers he
discovers along the way in foreign places. The most popular beer here in Tahiti
is Hinano. It was excellent, in his
humble opinion, and of course, he liked the draft version the best!
After three days in this perfect stopover paradise, we took
the ferry back to Papeete for one last night before flying to Auckland.
More pics:
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| Anne with Tahitian god |
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| Loads of luscious black pearls |
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| Our lucky gecko walks on ceiling inside our bungalow |
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| Tiare (aka plumeria) outside our bungalow |
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| Snorkel Annie (wearing her sun protection) |
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| Frank at the beach near our bungalows |
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Wonderful Tahitian citrons that livened up
our water every night |
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| Bonjour from Tahiti! |
