Chez Hiko Maharepa

... Moorea. The motu is amazing – it is cool to see the island
from a different perspective and the snorkeling is even more
incredible – we literally swam with all of Polynesia's fish that
are so brightly colored. It's like being in the movies: Little
Mermaid or Finding Nemo. We also saw the feeding of the stingrays
and the sharks – the ...

... Bay
for a few glorious minutes, we head west thumbs raised in the
international hitchhiking sign. After a dozen or so cars and trucks
whiz by, we begin to lose hope that we will make it back in time for
the show and start to rationalize it in a positive “oh well, we're
on vacation so no worries” attitude, though we both feel a tinge of
disappointment creeping upon us. All of a sudden a
honk-honk startles us and a ...

... People waving to each other, kids riding their bikes in the middle of
the street, families on the beach lounging, a bunch of guys kicking a
soccer ball around.
Mark's Place is great – the bedroom
bungalow is spacious and we have a separate bungalow with a
kitchen/bathroom area. The shower is pretty sweet – outside –
there's something very cool about taking a shower outside. And it's a
Haapiti, French Polynesia carlaandmike

... God) - then again for ice and then again for a cork screw. No doubt room 168 is somewhat infamous here.

After the wine I make my way to the restaurant and take the table for one - thankfully early enough not to cause a major commotion. I sit among the women in dresses (me in my t-shirt and shorts and barefoot - going commando of course for i really don't want ot crease my clean kyacks) and their tanned husbands who are all wearing white linen ...

... and energetic dances of Tahiti. It is such a hot and humid place with lay back people that do not seem to be in a big rush. But turn on the music and they perform some very energetic and athletic dances from their culture. This was a special sailing away for the ship as she had been stationed in the Tahitian area for the past 8 years. Thus here name the Tahitian Princess. This was the final sailing from Tahiti for the White Lady. She is not scheduled to return to the ...

... clouds and a sunset over Moorea as we left the harbour. At one point, it looked very like distant views of Mordor, with jagged dark mountains covered in grey cloud but with red light showing through the most obvious mountain pass. The sea then got rather lumpy, and I retreated for dinner once the spray started reaching me on the monkey island. (The monkey island is the highest deck, being the roof of ...

... and reef surrounding us. To cap it all off the glass window in the floor with lighting so we could check out the fish below, day or night. After settling in to what was going to be our pad for the next 4 days, we had a look around the entire complex itself. It was a very nice set up with infinity pool, bar, spa, 2 restaurants and a watersports centre on the beach. We picked our complimentary snorkel gear and headed back to the bungalow to check out the resident fish. After ...

Our South Pacific journey was a trip of a lifetime. We cruised on the Tahitian Princess for 10 days and visited many of her islands. Our favorites were Bora Bora & Moorea. After the cruise we spent an additional 2 days on Papeete in an over-the-water bungalow. Talk about romantic! Australia was incredible. We loved Sydney, Cairnes, Ayers Rock and Melbourne. We especially enjoyed snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef and The ...

... New Zealand is extremely lacking in the green lettuce department, a huge salad with loads of lettuce and veggies for the first time since June was quite a treat! After a few hours, we were able to get on a ferry to the closest island, Moorea. A cruise ship had just pulled into port so there were a bunch of older, wealthy Americans going to Moorea for a few days, with as much luggage as I have in NZ for six months. I now know why ...

... trip. The island, although beautiful, is essentially a support system for the resort communities that dot the coast and motus. The culture is not as vibrant as it is on other islands, and I plan on making short jaunts to huahine and maupiti to compensate. I will be here for the hawaiki nui canue race finish which is supposedly intense, and may perhaps redeem some of the apathy I feel towards this place in the moment.