Tapu Lodge Moorea

... that spending time with those that live in a place gives amuch bigger insight. Granted I was only at their place one evening for dinner and I threw myself at them with such short notice - not that you'd have known. But I got an insight into the politics and what makes the whole place tick. So cheers Patricia and Richard. In fact Patricia and I hadn't seen each other since my sister and her brother got married - it turns out 16 years ago!!! God time flies ...

... and picked us up and then we rode it all the way to the final stop - Papeete. We got off and made our way to the Tourist Information Centre where we asked for directions to purchase our tickets for to ferry, we then made a base here whilst Daniel and Zoe went to get the tickets. Maybe French lessons would have been a good idea before coming to a French speaking country, but then both Daniel and Zoe did take French at school, how were we going to survive in Spanish ...

... this was what you would call an antique taxi. A van with polynesian style seat covers and adhesive print paper over the dash board. Windows down and the wind blowing in our hair as we took off. Papee was great, tried his best to act as tour guide showing us the local highlights (It's all good- we found was his favorite expression). Many pictures to follow to show the beautiful areas and lifestyles here on the ...

... cooked in the oven and were ready in no time. Both Pizzas were very gourmet and delicious, and we were impressed. Afterwards, the paddle home was a bit sketchy as the tide was very low and we were a bit stranded in shallow coral water. It took us about twice as long to navigate our way home, but we made it just before sunset. The following day we rented a scooter to really see the whole island. The roads on Moorea are ...

... Alltag zu sein. Wir hatten zum Glueck nur 2 Naechte hier gebucht, bevor wir zum wirklichen Traum Bora Bora fliegen wuerden. Und da es hier nicht viel zu sehen gab, vertrieben wir uns die Zeit mit Essen, schlafen und Shoppen. Nach den ersten 2 Tagen sagte Xose zu mir, er wuesse nicht was hier los ist, aber sein ganzes Geld, das er hier abgehoben hatte sei schon weg - wow - ja Tahiti sollte uns zeigen, dass es Orte gibt, die teurer als die Schweiz sind, aber wenigstens stimmt die ...

... pool for a small price. After viewing one of these bungalows, we couldn't resist such a tempting offer and before we knew it, we were unpacking our things in our new luxury bungalow. The rest of the week was spent pretty much relaxing, which after those months of backpacking, trekking and roughing it in hostels and campsites, was bliss to be chilling out in luxurious surroundings. We did lots of snorkelling ...

... amazing entrepreneurs were Asians. We were in!! We watched this place go from a deserted parking lot to a busy bustling environment, we saw entire pigs being lifted out from these vans and a make-shift rotisserie be set up, there were menu boards and full tables - it was great! We walked around looking for the most people and the most intense looking chefs and settled for a Chinese van in the corner. It was amazing!! And while it still cost $18 ...

... foot here. Sorry mum. Anyway, we've just come back from the Sofitel Hotel Beach Resort, where we have no chance of staying but were able to get through the (guarded) front gate by insisting that we were going there to eat at the fine restaurant. It's lucky I speak French, or my sister might have had to mime and it might not have had the same effect....anyway we wandered through the luxurious bungalows taking pictures until we all 3 stopped in a line with ...

... the valley on a rutted-out two-track road that made me even more nostalgic for my mountains and my dirt roads. It was beautiful! We arrived at another waterfall, this one with a pool at the bottom we could swim in. I was so thankful I'd brought my suit, and even more thankful that I'd put it on before I left because there was nowhere to change. I noticed immediately that I had way fewer qualms about being in a swimsuit in the first place, which was interesting ...

... and qlmost no humity. Gwen qnd I walked qround town qnd then I took q tour for 3 hours zhich took us to 5 plqces of interest. It zqs only 50dollqrs qnd I got q lot of greqt photos. We zill be in Mooreq tomorrow. Hopefully; I cqn find qn internet cqfe zith q keyboqrd I cqn reqd. Everything here is very expensive; One French feqnc eauqls 80 cents so it is no bqrgqin. Love to qll Lindq