Our arrival to Opunohu Bay on the island of Moorea was very early, as we did not have that far to go from Tahiti to arrive there. Only the early riser among us was up to take photos leaving Papeete and sailing into Moorea, mostly in the dark. During breakfast, we waited to hear that the ship was cleared, but it did not happen. In fact, that is Kimberly's job, but when a different voice came on the speakers, it was not her….someone had taken her place. Our guess was that she had left the ship yesterday for an overnight stay in Moorea. That was confirmed by another guest. Good for her.
What was repeated at least three times was the agriculture warning, then followed by an announcement that it was "open tendering" around 9:30am. Then we guessed that the excursion groups had been taken off first before it was stated we were cleared by the local authorities. Pretty sneaky we think?
Speaking of tours, they ranged in time from 3 to 5 hours with the pricing from $100 to $180. Two of them were island drives, while the other three were water-related. Expensive, but then everything in Polynesia is pricey. These tours still cannot compare to the ones in Easter Island as far as price is concerned.
Moorea is considered Tahiti's little sister with beaches, mountains, water activities, and many excursions. A mere ferry boat ride here brings you to a whole different version of paradise. The hustle and bustle of Papeete's traffic and downtown scene does not exist here. There are 37 scenic miles around the entire island of valleys, waterfalls, and interior plantations of bananas, pineapples, and vanilla. A total of 18,332 people live here, and some of them commute to Papeete to work. The highest point of this volcanic island is Mount Tohiea at 3959 feet in elevation. Another mountain, Moua Puta has a hole in the top and is 2722 feet high. Rotui is located between the two bays – Cook and Opunohu, and is 2949 feet high. Finally, Moua Roa or Bali Hai is 2887 feet high.
When the ship dropped anchor, the temperature was already near 80 degrees. The humidity was up there as well. From what we could see, it was going to be a nice, but very hot day. We left the ship at 10:30am, taking the umbrellas just in case. Boarding the tender was not as easy as it usually is here, due to winds that popped up. There were plenty of helping hands from the crew members once again, and it was very much appreciated. And the umbrella was a good idea to use for blocking the sun for one of us.
Our last visit here was in November, less than two months ago. We wondered if we would see our elderly lady friend again selling her custom-made seashell jewelry. Well, after watching the young Tahitian dancers welcoming all of us, we spotted her sitting at her table. Her face lit up, and she actually got up and came over to us saying "bonjour". Once again, wish we could speak French. Of course, we checked out her creations and found a suitable necklace with different colors of shells in it. She did try to match some earrings to it, but there were none that were even close. With that, she insisted on a discount on the necklace. Saying no was not an option. Maybe next time we will find a match. We were just happy to see that she is doing so well. The rest of the pier market was busy with many passengers checking out the treasures. There was a little bit of everything including fun jewelry, t-shirts, and also higher-priced pearl creations. Making our way through the crowd of taxi drivers and tour operators, we went up the street to the main drive and turned right. It was the start of a very hot and long hike about one hour to the Holy Steak House, a proper fine restaurant located above the now closed Intercontinental Hotel and Resort.
There was a problem, however, when we saw two of the restaurant workers getting into their car and motorcycle. They told us the restaurant only opens at 5:30pm on weekdays, something we had not considered before coming here. We must have been here on the weekend last November, because we had lunch at this place. Oh well, it was a bit further up the main road (about half hour all downhill) to reach another nice venue at Taoahere Beach House. A couple of years ago, we found this spot located right on the water's edge quite by accident. If it was not for all of the parked cars and motorbikes outside the walled property, we may have overlooked it.
Anyway, we lucked out in the fact it was opened for lunch Wednesday through Sunday. We had to laugh because we were not sure what day of the week it actually was. We had forgotten to study the elevator carpet before leaving the ship – ha-ha! It was close to 12pm, and there were only a few guests sitting on the patio with a killer view of the lagoon. But within minutes the entire railing was occupied with families that were probably staying here at the lodge.
We have to mention again that the walk here was very hot with only a hint of a breeze. Once we were down on the lagoon's edge, the winds were almost powerful. You had to secure your napkins and glasses so they would not blow away. On the other hand, it felt wonderful. We ordered large draft Hinano beers, starting with the Amber variety. We had seen pizza advertised on their road sign, but when we inquired about it, we were informed they only cook it on weekends. Go figure…. Our second best bet was sharing a cheeseburger with fries. Always a safe back-up. Many of the other guests had ordered the same thing. We added a dessert made with a waffle covered with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and drizzled with chocolate sauce. We really enjoyed watching the tropical fish which swam right up to the decking. Obviously, people feed them from the patio tables.
It was well worth the hike to get here, but we did have a long walk back taking many pictures of course. Now some rain showers would have been welcomed, but it never happened. Thanks for the palm trees, breadfruit trees, and tropical mangoes and banana plants, we had enough shady spots to cool down for a few seconds. And we had thought to buy a bottle of water for the hike back. In most every port, we have been forbidden to take off food and drinks, except for water. We don't like the aluminum bottles they sell on the ship because they tend to leak. All-in-all, we estimate our walk took over 3 hours.
The tender landing pier at Papetoai was not as crowded as earlier. Most of the tour groups were coming back, and there were two boats waiting to load the folks. Our sweet lady vendor was still selling her treasures and we said our final goodbye, capturing a photo with her. We were back onboard by 3:30pm and most happy to cool off until sail away time at 5pm. We are headed for the next and last port of Polynesia at Raiatea tomorrow.
Dinner time found the entrance to the dining room decorated for Lunar New Year with Chinese lanterns and the waiters wearing red bowties. It was a casual night for the rest of us, thank goodness. The Lido had been turned into a China Town for dinner tonight. We did have a special menu for the Year of the Snake with some Asian items for a change. We tried one spring roll, a beef soup, a BBQ pork rib, and one Caesar salad for starters. Mains were spicy duck and Asian-style chicken called General Tso. One dessert was shared of a strawberry/chocolate tart. Totally full…again.
Bill & Mary Ann
