Moorea Camping

... wollten wir auch mal beim lokalen Kitesurfspot vorbeischauen, denn hier soll es ausnahmsweise auch mal Leihmaterial geben, aber leider ist zur Zeit fast kein Wind, so dass sich dieses Unterfangen erledigt hat. Aber was des Kitesurfers Leid, ist des Tauchers Freud, denn so war es nach dem Tauchgang nicht ganz so kalt. Nicht ganz unwichtig, denn nach 40-50 Minuten im eigentlich nicht sonderlich kalten Wasser kann es doch recht frisch werden.

... at sunset. There's a pool and a dolphin pool where you can swim with the boyos - I refuse - it just isn't right to keep them penned in. There's a gym, room service, late evening turn downs of your room, big buffet breakfast and a **** load of french and american families and honey mooners. None of whom are any fun and have late night drinking sessions at the bar! Boo Hiss.

I decide to walk to the nearest restaurant which is a lot further than it ...

... As we returned back to the boat we were circled by 4 lemon sharks, this was a little scary as they had mean looking faces and large teeth, but they never made any attempt to come too close of attack us in anyway so that was a bit of luck. We exited the water and waited on the boat for everybody else to finish before heading back to shore. We completed our log books and then thought we would hang around the Hilton and try and use their facilities. We headed to the pool ...

... especially since we hadn't seen the sun in Tahiti yet. The next full day we decided to rent a Kayak for the day. It was a nice two person flotation device that we wheeled out to the water on a homemade trailer. We launched the Kayak and headed along the coast of the island for Painapo Beach. It was a beautiful setting as we floated over super-clear water where would could see live coral and tons of fish. The island is ...

... We saw rays and sharks, we even fed them and could swim amongst them, Brigitte really liked it I was busy thinking if I should cook the rays with lemon or some herbs.....I could not cook any unfortunately :-) For the rest of the island we were a bit disappointed, there was nothing to do apart than activities related with the lagoon, for us was OK because that is what we were looking for, but if you don't like the water, you will have a problem there! After the five days in ...

... continued on down remote offshoots of the main road exploring farming areas, climbing twisty roads to view the islands volcanoes from up high, tasting delicious fruits from local farms, visiting a black pearl farm and just taking in the gorgeous coastal scenery around us. The black pearl farm was mostly closed due to a private function that day, but we were still able to see many of their locally grown pearls and learn about how it's done. They start ...

... greatest idea. The next morning (Valentines Day) we had to clear out of the luxury pad and take the ferry back to Papeete. Good tip - do not get badly sunburnt especially when you have to travel the next day and don a 20kg rucksack, pure agony !! Though there was a moment at the ferry terminal to take my mind off the pain when Maud spotted no other than Christopher Biggins (latest "I'm a Celeb get me out of here" winner - we think) trying to find a cab to get to his hotel ...

... Somewhere in southeast Asia - Cambodia? Thailand? Singapore? - were the others from TSS. Our guide was an islander, barefoot and all, and spoke great English. Pretty soon we were all piled in the back of the jeep and off into the hills. I was excited to see the interior of the island, after all there's got to be more to Tahiti than white sand and blue water. The first place we stopped was an overlook of the harbor, where our guide said the island was first discovered by ...

... know that. We are keeping it a secret from others as the gossip and rumor mill on a cruiseship is infamous. It could be that Princess will not go there which would be just terrible. Stay tuned... This is a nostalgic trip for Gwen who left Sydney 50 yrs. ago to go to America. She left on Oct. 2nd, the same date we will arrive in Sydney. My mother and father also followed this very same ...