Yes folks, we’re back in paradise – time to visit Moorea
Monday 8 August - We arrived in Papeete at the ungodly hour of 2.00am with a lot of baggage – all sorts of boat parts, a new sail and I stocked up on herbs and spices and bits and pieces for the galley, along with a replacement Nespresso machine (and a box of my favourite PG Tips!). I can tell you we were pretty shattered by the time we checked in at the Hotel Sarah Nui, and finally crashed into bed around 3.45am.
Not to waste any of our precious time, we were up, baggage stored with the porter and off to the Ferry Terminal for a quick breakfast and to catch the 11.00am ferry over to Moorea. We were keen to have a visit there as we’re not coming this way on the boat and it’s only a 40 minute sail on the ferry. It was a pretty little port to arrive in and we snagged a precious taxi and were on our way to the Hotel Hibiscus which is located on the north west of the island. It was a lovely picturesque ride around - Moorea is almost heart shaped and very pretty.
We passed Maharepa one of the tourist spots and two splendid bays, Cooks and Opanohu both of which sported a fancy superyacht. Then around the coast to Tiahura to our hotel. It’s lovely to be back and seeing all the lush foliage, pretty coloured flowers again and natural beauty.. We checked in and then went and picked up the scooter we had reserved. Passing by a little restaurant we bought ourselves some sandwiches and sat on a little beach with our takeaway lunch. Moorea is 31 square miles and is often called the “getaway island” for Tahitians because it’s so close to Papeete and offers a perfect, tranquil retreat after the noise of the traffic and busyness of the capital.
Not many restaurants around so we headed out on the scooter to the Hilton in Maharepa for dinner around 6pm. We were given a lovely over the water table where we could see the rays and sharks swimming below us amongst the lit coral, it was really lovely until……I opened my handbag to get something and out fell our room key (yes, not a plastic card, a proper key) which dropped off my lap, off the chair and down between the wooden beams and into the water below!!!! What a disaster, talk about clumsy – but it did give the other diners a good laugh!
We were in such a small hotel we knew there would be no-one around to let us in when we got back so we had to get the key! Fortunately for me, Geoff found a guy from the maintenance department of the Hilton and out he came to the restaurant with a long pole and a piece of hooked wire and provided the entertainment for all the other guests when he fished around and eventually hooked up the key.
This is an especially funny incident because the Hilton does not accept outside guests and we had blustered our way in pretending to be meeting people, and then got into the restaurant and sat down and it was only then that we told the Maitre’d that we actually weren’t guests of the hotel so they said we could stay. So having been allowed in, it was quite funny that the one thing the maintenance man had to fish out for us was a key to another hotel!!!
I should also quickly mention here about my bad luck that day – when I was at the ferry terminal I went to the ATM and guess what – it swallowed my only credit card. Another crisis which has thankfully now been averted thanks to an efficient bank and a friend arriving from Auckland on Friday!
Tuesday 9 August – we headed back in a taxi to the ferry terminal, this time driving the other way around the island, so we got to see it all in our 24-hour stay! And it’s beautiful, not a lot of tourism around this part, but all very neat and tidy, beautiful scenery and coastal views of the sea and the sharp peaks.
40 minutes back to Papeete and we had a quick walk around – I showed Geoff the farmers market I had visited on my previous visit en route back to Auckland. It’s amazing, everything you could want, fruits, vegetables, clothes, Tahitian perfumes and the most beautiful flowers. Geoff found a stall selling the headdresses made of fresh flowers that I had wanted ever since we first arrive in French Polynesia. He treated me to one that had the most gorgeous fragrance and of course purple flowers included. It was heavenly to wear all day with the most fragrant wafts of frangipani flowers just above my forehead!
We picked up all the baggage and headed to the airport for our flight to Raiatea – quite a work out with so much of it to get on a small plane, but Geoff managed to charm the girl at the check-in and we got it all through and then we both stood tall so as not show the huge kilos in weight we were each carrying in the bags on our shoulders as hand baggage!!!
Back off to Raiatea now where the boat has been in the Raiatea Yacht Service since Geoff left it on 29 July. Guess what is being fixed…….yep, the old generator, the watermaker and the freezer again….. amongst other things.