Today's port of call was another lovely French Polynesian island of Moorea. Usually this stop comes after spending a day and an overnight in Papeete, Tahiti. But this time, we are moving from island to island in a different pattern. As long as we can stop here, we are happy no matter which direction we come from.
The Zaandam arrived to the opening of the reef early this morning and entered Opunohu Bay where Captain Cook sailed back in 1777. The funny thing is that the other bay, Cook's Bay, was named after the captain instead. Tahiti's little sister, Moorea is charming with breath-taking beaches, lagoons, and reefs. Tall peaks greet you when you come into the two bays, and nature is literally at your feet. Only a 25 minute ferry ride from Papeete, Moorea is nothing like it's sister city. You will not find any high rises or malls here. There is virtually little traffic on this island with a circumference of 37 miles. There are views of the stunning lagoons and underwater scenery round every turn. We suppose it is best described as the bedroom community of Tahiti where you can see plantations of pineapples, bananas, mangoes, and vanilla. The island has 18,323 inhabitants in 134 square kilometers. The highest point is Mt. Tohiea at 3959 feet in elevation. The name Moo'rea means yellow lizard although the island itself is in the shape of a butterfly.
Of course there were some tours here today beginning with one we have done more than once. That was discover Moorea for 2 ½ hours for $80. A refreshment was offered at a juice facility. A scenic lagoon cruise of both bays for 1 ½ hours was also $80. Three excursions costing $100 and 3 – 3 ½ hours were Aito Safari adventure, island drive and Belvedere Point lookout, and a snorkel safari with refreshments. Moorea highlights was 3 ¾ hours for $120 and included a drink of island juice. Ohana catamaran escapade was 3 hours and $160 with a drink while a dolphin watch was 3 hours for $170 (no guarantees of seeing them). Two tours both $180 were a photography expedition for 3 ½ hours or a motu beach picnic and ray feeding for 5 hours with a buffet lunch. We have also done the snorkeling in the coral beds years ago, recalling how shallow the waters were. We had to pull ourselves over the sharp coral in a couple of feet of water back then, so we never repeated that one.
We have to say that the tendering process has been very good on this trip. The early excursion groups go off first, well before the ship has announced being cleared by the local authorities. Then the tender tickets are called for the folks that got them in the Ocean Bar. The 4 and 5 star Mariners, Neptunes and Club Orange folks assemble in the Wajang Theater and go down to a different platform as there were two opened again today. The announced process began by 8:45am. We could go anytime we wished since we did not need a tender ticket.
This all began while we were at breakfast, so we waited as always until right before the open tenders were announced. We left the ship before 10am and were the third and fourth guests on the next boat to shore. Once again, they were not over-loading the boats before heading to the tender drop-off point. Our destination was walking a long way to a restaurant like we always do. No doubt it was warm once again like 84 degrees F with a humidity of 70 %. The winds were 16.6 mph keeping is a tad bit cooler. The ride over was smooth and only took a few minutes.
We kept our fingers crossed that our special Moorea lady would be at her spot selling her seashell designs of necklaces and earrings. She may not be as old as we think, but she has been here for many years. The minute she saw us, her face lit up with a huge smile. Keep in mind, she does not speak English, and we do not know a lot of French, we seem to communicate anyway. Whether I need it or not, we always purchase one of her unique designs and she is quick to point out matching earrings for a necklace. We said our goodbye with a lot of merci's and marurus.
There is another display where we bought a green/yellow/orange turtle with a pearl necklace and matching earrings a few years ago. There were other designs that caught our eye, so today we stopped and purchased another set with the wave design in green/turquoise colors. The nice thing about the island jewelry is that is weighs very little and is easy to pack.
Continuing on up the road, we watched as many guests negotiated independent tours at the tender drop-off. Taxis and vans were available for those who wished to do their own thing. As for us…we always walk because we enjoy the local scenery and meeting with the locals along the way. Sometimes a homeowner will be trimming his flowering bushes and offer us some flowers. Many women vendors will be selling fresh fruit and veggies on tables along the roadside. They always greet us with smiles and a "bonjour". We have seen families having birthday parties for their little kids, as well as workers building more housing. Many people will be pruning the over-growth, and piling it for future burning. That is the smoke we always see early in the mornings arriving to several of these islands we have visited.
There are many places to stop and rest along the way and even a lot of mature trees for shade. Even though the forecast was for clear skies, Clare, the cruise director mentioned a possible chance of rain. Not wishing to pack the umbrellas, we left them behind and hoped for the best. Luckily, there was not one drop of rain where we walked today. Maybe up high in the mountain peaks, but not down low. Actually, light showers might have been nice.
We reached the area of the now closed Intercontinental Resort around 11:15am. This used to be one of the nicest places to have lunch sitting at one of their pools and watching the lagoon activity. After 2020, or perhaps before that, it closed for good. Their huts over the water remain empty these days, which is sad to see. Right across the road from here is the Holy Steak House, where we have enjoyed many a lunch. However it was closed for lunch today, and only opened for dinner. A few years ago, we discover the Taoahere Beach House and resort at Village Tiahura, which is a longer walk downhill from the Holy Steak House. Taking our sweet time, we made our way there just as they opened at noontime.
We were more than ready for the Hinano draft beers, 50cl of course. They seated us on their patio that overlooks the lagoon and has a wonderful breeze. Soon, the place about filled up with guests, either local or travelers like us. A group even arrived by a snorkel boat where they entered through another boat tied up along the railing. They took up the remainder of the seating. We ordered a cheeseburger because they do not cook pizza except on weekends. Figures, but their cheeseburger we shared was ample and served with a pile of crispy hot French fires. Then we finished the meal with another order of profiteroles which we have grown to really like.
We stayed until close to 1:30pm, then began our long hike back. Sometimes there are taxi drivers parked near this restaurant, but all we saw was a line of private cars today….all dining or staying here. So we took our time and went back to the main road. Once up and over the hill, it was downhill all of the way. We took advantage of the shade from the trees and a few of the bus stop benches on the roadside. For some reason, the hike back seems shorter although today the heat was more intense later in the day. We were within 45 minutes of reaching the pier at Papetoai , when either a local man or a taxi driver passed us for the third or fourth time this afternoon. He slowed and did a U-turn, and asked if we would like a ride back to the pier. One of us thought he said three dollars, when he really said" for free". Honestly? He must have noticed how slow one of us was getting up from the bus bench and figured he would be kind to offer a ride. Well it was nice and he insisted on driving us back. It did save about 45 minutes of hiking in the heat, and we thanked him when he returned to the pier. We were happy to pay him for his trouble, which he refused, but we insisted saying maybe he saved our lives today. These are the special things that stay in our minds like forever.
The tenders were running smoothly at this point, so we hopped on the next one and were back to the ship by 3pm. It had been a good day with a lot of exercise and a great lunch, so cooling off in our room was much appreciated. It took a few Coke Zeros to make us feel comfortable again.
We had expected the Captain to talk before the 5:30pm all aboard, but Clare came on the speakers after 4pm saying they did not wish to disturb anyone's dinner at 5pm. Her job was more about repeating the evening's events, but not where we were headed for tomorrow. That would be Huahine, a 109 mile sailing from Moorea. The tenders were loaded after the 5:30pm all aboard time, and we left Opunohu Bay by 6pm with the blowing of the ship's horn. The sun set was blocked by mountains, so we missed most of it.
Dinner was back in the dining room with starters of tomato soup, a pork meatball, and two different salads. Mains were lamb kebabs on skewers with a bed of seasoned rice, and one very minimal serving of sliced veal with spaetzle with gravy. I made a mistake of saying not too much, and our waiter asked for half-size which was close to an appetizer size. Not a big fan of rice, it was shared with me, which was just fine. Desserts were some watermelon slices and a piece of blueberry cheesecake that was more like "jello" cheesecake. It was plenty and lighter than regular cheesecake and more than enough.
There was no way we had any energy left to see a show of the singers and dancers with "Let's go to the Movies". The Sanctity of Space was the documentary shown in the Wajang at 8:30pm all about Alaska's most challenging peaks. Will look for that on TV.
Tomorrow we will be in Huahine, a different type of island we have only seen twice we think.
Bill & Mary Ann
