Tahiti, New Zealand, and Australia: Paradise in Tahiti

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!).

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!).

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.