Moorea, Tahiti

So, it is our last night in Tahiti and it has been an extrememly interesting trip so far. It started with an entire day of flying. The good part was for some reason we were upgraded to business class on the LA to Papeete leg so in LA we were able to use the Delta Crown room for the layover there. Being upgraded to business class on Air France for the 8.5 hour flight to Papeete wasn't to bad either....We arrived in Papeete at 5:10 am on the 25th and by 6:00 discovered we had no luggage. Got to hang out for about an hour filling out forms and then proceeded to "Le Truck" to get to the ferry with assurances from the airline they would find our luggage by the next day. Right.....! However, sometimes things work out well. When we got to "Le Truck" there was no way our luggage would have fit. Plus, now we didn't have to haul all those suitcases to the ferry. The ferry ride to Moorea was 25 minutes on a high speed catamaran. Pulling into Moorea harbour on the ferry was an amazing site. The water, the mountains, the palm trees combined to make one of the most beautiful sights we have ever seen. This island is breathtaking.




We got to the hotel, went to buy tee shirts and bathing suits and went back to the beach bar where we spent the rest of the afternoon. To our surprise, they did manage to find our luggage, get it to the ferry, get it to our hotel and delivered to us by early the next afternoon. AMAZING. We spent that day reading and lounging lagoon side.


We took an outrigger canoe and paddled to a nearby motu where we got to view Moorea from the blue lagoon. Spectacular.


The next day we rented a scooter and circled the island. About halfway around there was a hike to a waterfall. After climbing for about 25 minutes we came to a junction. Tanto (for those of you who did not guess is Tom) said we should head left, away from the sound of the water. He saw footprints (tracks) and said it was an old Indian trick not to be fooled by going towards the sound of water. After another 15 minutes of climbing, we went back down to the junction and went in the right direction!

Today we left the hotel and took the bus to the ferry. It is about a 45 minute ride on the bus. About 3/4 of the way to the ferry, I remembered I left our Sony reader behind (gift from the family before we left, not good). When we got to the ferry, Tom was trying to talk the bus driver into going back for it and I was trying to rent a scooter. I explained what happened to the scooter man but, unfortunately, he was all out of them. I thanked him and walked away while Tom was trying to talk the hotel into calling a cab and bringing it to us. We didn't have much time before we would miss the last ferry. With that, Marcel, the scooter man, came over to me and offered his car. Can you believe it, the man offered us his car. Told Tom to "just put in some gas.....and drive slow, you have time to make the last boat". Tom gave Marcel a tip and he went and bought us a special Tahitian banana!


The people of Tahiti, but especially Moorea, have been terrific. The island was paradise and it is a trip we will never forget.