Tahiti: Moorea

It was a 15 minute flight over to Moorea. We had been staring at it for 3 days and now we were there. We arrived at a tiny airport and started walking in the direction of our hotel in hopes of flagging down the local bus as it made its loop around the island. (there is no bus schedule- it just keeps driving in a circle) We hadn't been walking too long before a local stopped and motioned for us to get in and then took us to our hotel. It was quite hot and beyond humid, so we gladly jumped in.

We stayed in another Manava hotel and the mountains were equally as spectacular as the water. Moorea was a more dramatic Tahiti. We would just stare at the ever changing clouds hung up on the prehistoric rocks covered in brilliant green. It never got old.

The hotel grounds were lovely. This place was more of a resort than a hotel. There were individual bungalows scattered through out beautifully landscaped grounds. The pool overlooked a small inlet that led out into the ocean. 

There was a tiny town 5 minutes down the street (every town was tiny) where we would walk to the local market for our baguette and DC and some other tasty pastries. We only ate at a restaurant twice on our trip. The food was very expensive and not that great. Eating at the local market was cheaper and better.

A look back at the inlet from the end of the dock and the spectacular mountains.

Every night we would sit at the end of dock and watch the sun set behind the end of the island.

We took a kayak out all the way to the coral reef where the waves were breaking. From there we had an incredible view of the entire island and all the shades of blue in the water.

You could see all the way to the bottom until it got too deep and dark. It was literally crystal clear. No plant life. The bottom was just white sand with a few clumps of coral. 

We rented another car for the day and had looked up a hike to get a view of the interior of the island. Finding the hike was quite an adventure itself. These islands have no signs, nothing marked. I was going off what people had written on the internet, but we persevered. This was the "trail." The directions were literally: "turn at the banana tree," "take a right at the stack of rocks." etc. We took a few wrong turns, but we made it in the end.

This was part of the trail: a web of branches. Thank goodness for those stack of rocks to lead the way!

Pretty cool trees along the way. Ribbon roots.

Crossed a stream on our way.

and picked some bananas.

Then we turned the corner and saw this!!

So much lush vegetation, jagged peaks, and some pineapple fields below.

In the other direction was a view of the water and Tahiti in the distance.

We also stopped by a waterfall.

As we circled around the island, we got the view from below of where we had hiked. This is Capt Cook's Bay where he landed many years ago.

Then we drove up to a look out point of Mt. Rotui with its 2 bays on either side.

These banyan trees were huge!

There weren't very many beaches on Moorea. (mainly water right up to the rocks) This place was bustling, mainly with locals.

The shades of blue and green were breath taking. Clear water with clumps of coral.

On all the islands there were tons of chickens and roosters running all around. 

They were actually quite pretty.

More views of Mt. Rotui.

A different perspective of the inland landscape from the ground.

The way the sun, shadows, and clouds played on the mountains and trees were incredible.

Final sunset in Moorea.

We got on our little plane for the 45 minute plane ride to Bora Bora.

View of the coral reef barrier around Moorea.

These reef barriers are the reason the water is so clear and so blue and provides a safe harbor for the sea life.

Good bye Moorea. You did not disappoint.