Pearl Resort & Spa Maharepa

... of the ancient Polynesians<br>and the lizards. And the smell of vanilla was so strong &#8211; we could<br>smell it at the top of the mountain where you can see both bays:<br>Cook's Bay and Oponuhu Bay. It's always so quiet on top of mountains &#8211;<br>almost eerie. But on the way down and at hour 4 we were beginning to<br>feel like: are we there yet?? Our goal was to reach the Agriculture<br>School where we could have smoothies and ice ...

... so<br>next time the machine in New Zealand. We decide to rent a scooter<br>for a couple of days so that we can explore the island. A scooter is<br>perfect for island life &#8211; we were able to stop quickly to see<br>whatever we wanted. Mike is a great scooter driver! Mark describes<br>Moorea as paradise and we have to agree with him it's the most<br>beautiful island we have ever been. The pics speak for ...

... pizza. My credit card is worryingly not accepted - but I have enough cash.<br><br>Yesterday I get up early and decide to go for a snorkel around the lagoon - it's beautiful - best snorkelling yet - largely because the water is so calm and clear and the fish are amazing. I then go back to the room for a snooze and then off to the gym again waiting to kill time until dinner. I also decide to do my laundry. The hotel website advertised there being a self ...

... ask the price, you can't afford it" - it's where husbands take their new brides when their father-in-law is picking up the bill. So we decided to stay on in Tahiti. We tried to extend our stay but the hotel's "special low price" was higher than the original price, so we moved on to the Radisson who were doing a "4 days for 3" promotion. The Radisson was on a black sandy beach which we didn't like the sound of, but was actually very nice. Our room had a two ...

... black fish in the pond, and chickens walking thru the park. The park is fronted by the main boulevard in town and by a secondary street in the rear. It is a nice place to sit in the shade and look across the main boulevard to the ocean beyond. That allows for a cooling sea breeze to flow gently thru the park. At the front of the park is a small monument to the Admiral Louis Antoine de Bougainville, France's first discoverer of Tahiti in 1768, just 10 months after ...

... and realised we couldn't use the fast ferry and so would be beyond our deadline. I called the ship to check (sailing time hadn't been certain when we left her in the morning) but the captain said we couldn't be any later. So we abandoned the ferry and took a taxi up the mountain to the Belvedere instead. We had a chatty driver, who told me a lot of very interesting things about the mountain, local ...

... you can see across the 17km stretch of water from Papeete. One thing that does strike you is how mountainous and green these islands are, which was a big contrast to the dusty, dryness of Easter Island. Another is how expensive they are - a cab fare anywhere starts from CPF 1,500 (US$20). We docked in Moorea about 11.30am and finally managed to find a taxi to take us to our hotel - another $20 for a 3km journey. Maud was now back in her "5 star" element though, as we were ...

... Tahiti was expensive but it makes Dublin look cheap.. Even the supermarket prices are crazy so food choices pretty much means you cook for yourself here...lol.. however the best part is if you are hungry during the day you can pretty much pick up a coconut off the ground anywhere and eat and drink that and in the garden of the guesthouse you just helped yourself to the papaya and grapefruit growing on the trees... dam papaya ...

... were so far from it! I found them friendlier than my experience with Central Americans and maybe even kiwis. Our hostel was pretty nice (if you don't mind showering with lizards) but there was no kitchen so we ate crackers and granola bars for 3 days. On the 2nd night, we broke down and used my toothbrush handle to spread peanut butter on bread. There was pretty much no one else around and we were far away from activities like hiking to the ...