Day 4 - Anniversary - Moorea

Day Four - 12 September, 2010 - Happy Anniversary

Today is our special day so we have quite a bit planned, well at least for those of us who find it nearly impossible to just relax.  It started out cloudy and raining so we figured we'd do some running around.  Being a Sunday, most places and shops are closed part if not all of the day.  That didn't slow us down.  After breakfast, the hotel called a taxi to take us to the village of Papetoai just on the other side of Opunohu Bay.  There they sell pearls, pareas (those colorful things the Tahitians wear that look like beach blankets), things carved of wood like tiki things, plus it gave us a chance to do some sight seeing.

We start with the standard walk along the pontoons to the reception area.

The pontoon that joins the bungalows to the mainland

The taxis drive on the "right" side of the road, but man do they go fast!  Lots of neat jungle foliage and flowers (note flower on dash of cab)

Moorea Taxi

We passed several coconut farms and various little village houses before getting to town.

Coconut farm - Moorea

Typical looking house - Moorea

Our first stop was a balck pearl shop "Tahia Collins" to see what all the fuss was about.  We got to learn about how these are made, the variations in shape, size and color from a really friendly guy named Matt that is from the neighboring Cook Islands, a part of New Zealand. 

Pearl store - Moorea

Well, they had just about every price of pearl or pearls ensemble you could imagine, we liked the simple ones that were shaped odd and had a peacock or purple color to it.  Here's one Paula found...

But, I thought Diamonds were a girl's best friend...

After shopping and not finding a "perfect" one for Paula we continued on into the village where we saw lots of neat things, mostly European like stuff but then... Wow!  A big ol' Dodge Ram truck from America complete with the Tahiti beer girl symbol in the back window.  Not at all that common but we did also see some Chevys and Fords.

"Does it got a Hemi in it?"

After a couple of hours the sun was peeking out so we trekked back to the bungalow so Andrew could get back into the water to do some more U/W photography.

Back to the aquarium...

Paula's "secret fish" - Nearly invisible from above because of thier blue color

Another butterfly fish species

Moray Eel (at center)

Spineless urchin of some sort

Sea slug?  This was about 2 ft. long and 6in. around... eeew!

These lil' camoflauge guys were quick!

Another beautiful day in the water ended as the cloud cover returned.  Sunset didn't look promising for this evening so we got ready for dinner and headed to the reception area and inquired about transportation for dinner, but not before taking advantage of the lighting below the bungalows for another photo op.

Evening bungalows as seen from #85 - Moorea

We decided to get another "relaxing" photo while waiting for the cab

What a day...  on to dinner

We were told to go to the Mayflower restaurant for dinner by Matt at the pearl shop but it was closed for rennovation.  We were also recommended by one of the staff members at the hotel that spent her anniversary at the "modern" La Villa des Sens restaurant located near the Intercontinental on Moorea so des Sens it was.

La Villa des Sens - "The Villa of the Directions"

 First we ordered some refreshments...

11th anniversary date - Moorea, French Polynesia

...and began to notice that we had some extra entertainment.  "Modern" pest control, Geckos, no, not the ones on TV... the ones on the ceiling!

"Modern" pest control

Lizards or not... Food was AWESOME!  Scallops and NewZealand filet, YUM!

Appe-Teaser

Sea Scallops

This filet was INCREDIBLE!!!

Day 3 - Moorea

Day Three: 11 September, 2010 - Moorea

Ia Orana! (e-ah rah-nah) Tahitian greeting


Where the heck is Moorea?  Click the link below to take you there in Google maps.


Map of Moorea

If anyone is/was wondering why the sporadic (an now belated) blog update cycle, when we finally found internet, it was 1000 Polynesian Francs (about $12) per hour.  It was a wireless connection but it was worse than any dial-up we have ever used.  Regardless, we bit the bullet, got 2 hours worth to make our first blog posts, sent out a Happy Anniversary wish to the Lecher and Hart gangs and each checked our e-mails.  We are home now (21 Sept.) so posts will be robust, plentyful and many more pics available.  If anyone ever considers doing a blog while out and about, you may think twice as it is quite time consuming especially with slow connections from remote parts of the world.

Good Morning from Moorea!  We started at around 5:30, made coffee (and Coke "light" for Paula) and watched the sunrise just off the deck of the bungalow.  Unbelievable how clear the water is with chunks of coral scattered all over the lagoon.

Sunrise from Moorea

View of the deck - 1st morning in an overwater bungalow

Looking north just after sunrise

About a 5 minute walk along the pontoons where everyone gathers for breakfast.

Moorea Hilton - Main restaurant

Moorea Hilton - Pool and Reception Area

After breakfast we took a stroll and took a look at the various opportunities for activites before we opted for a little time back on the deck and another swim.  Underwater is a whole new world...

One of many species of butterfly fishes - These things follow you around while swimming

Either a sea slug or urchin, either way I wouldn't mess with it

One of many species of  puffer fish 

A barnicle looking thing that comes in many colors, but spooks easily

Gonna have to research what type of fish this is, but was it ever brilliantly colored

More fishy pics later... time for lunch where we made friends with the restaurant staff and Paula found her next favorite thing to Diet Coke...   

Paula finds grapefruit... and it's green!

Fresh caught seared tuna salad, YUM!

Tahitian and French are spoken mostly but it seems everyone understands FRESH!

We filled a liter bottle with FRESH squeezed juice and we are good to go

Had a few 3 o'clock variety showers pass by but it was really nice to just sit back for a change.

Looking east at passing afternoon showers


Happy Birthday Pat! (Andrew's bro-in-law, hockey player, avid Thirsty Thursday promoter, BUT also a Florida Gators fan), We did celebrate your b-day Tahitian style with the local biere... Hinano.  It's pretty tasty.

The storms DO make for really nice sunsets and the lighting underneath the bungalows adds an almost eery glow.

Moorea sunset - Day 3

For dinner we visited the Restaurant Aito, an open air venue right on the water where we had a HUGE chunck of fresh mahi mahi and a marinated raw tuna dinner that was interesting.  Most of the pics did not come out well due to the lighting but I did manage an unfocused image of the host that carried around the "menu", a chalkboard that he would set in the sand at the various table as new customes came in.  We couldn't read it anywasy as it was in French.

Reeeeelax

Had to do this...

Day 2 - Tahiti / Moorea

Day Two: 10 September, 2010 - Tahiti & Moorea
When we woke, it was a dream to look out over the ocean and nearby motus, but we were starved...


From the Intercontinental looking over at Moorea

We had breakfast in our hotel which is a huge buffet as you can see by the pictures. It reminds me of my trip to Italy. European fare with lots of yummy Italian cold cuts and fresh baked goods.

Buffet Cold Cuts




Hot Order Menu, Omlettes and such

 Before we headed out, we took some pictures (more SUPER blues) of our new surroundings and found time for a little kicking back and refreshments... Tahiti Style!  Hey, it was 4pm at home... :P



View of Moorea from the reception area of the Intercontinental Tahiti

Flowers EVERYWHERE!

Lady picking flowers along the shore

Intercontinental bungalows - Moorea in distance

Paula finds her purple flower



Finally!



Cheers!

A truly incredible drink we shared!

Next was on a little plane for a 10 minute filght over to Moorea on a 20 seater, twin engine (Otter 300), so small both of us hit our heads when we climbed the stairs into the plane.

Air Moorea - Otter 300 (20 Seater)

Our heads didn't hurt so bad once we started taking in sights, all of the blue hues are sooo incredible

Just leaving Faa'a - Intercontinental overwater bungalows visible at left center

This time we were greeted by a guide holding a piece of paper with our name. He grabbed our luggage and we boarded a little bus (by ourselves) and took off through the little villages of Moorea, where you can see pineapple and coconut plantations and the famous Cook Bay where parts of Marlon Brando's Mutiny on the Bounty was filmed. Along the way we stopped at a local market to pick up some stuff for the room.   Here's the Hilton Moorea Lagoon resort front.

Reception Area

Hilton Moorea

It didn't take long for the relaxation to begin and Andrew to jump into and start playing in the perfect 82 degree aquarium, I mean lagoon where was able to check him out through the glass floor in our room.

Andrew taking a picture of me from in the lagoon up through the glass floor

Moorea's crystal clear waters and tropical fish (zebra damsel) just below the bungalow.

After settling in we went exploring, caught the sunset




went for dinner. found some entertainment...



...and ended up getting a burger and shrimp dish, man was it tasty!