room in the morning
We get to know the landscape and culture through the driver
who also serves as a local guide.
Islands of the Pacific
November 2003
Los Angeles - Tahiti - Cook Islands - New Zealand - Fiji - London
Tahiti
After another lengthy flight, we arrive at French Polynesia, its main island Tahiti. A change of climate is evident the same moment you step out of the plane. As the hour is late already, we just clear the customs and go straight to our hotel, Sofitel Maeva Beach.
|
|
|
|
|
| A view from the hotel room in the morning |
Maeva Beach by the hotel | After breakfast, a bus is waiting to take us around the Tahiti island. We get to know the landscape and culture through the driver who also serves as a local guide. |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Point Venus Lighthouse, Tahiti This is where Captain Cook first made landfall in Tahiti, and is the Northern-most point on the island of Tahiti |
A nearby bay | A breadplant | ||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| We were fascinated with all the flowers in the graveyard | Tahiti beach, with a famous blowhole nearby | |||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| An interesting place for a tree to grow |
The next stop was a botanical garden... | Where were those French nuclear tests being done again? |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
| These don't grow as big back home |
Turtles | We visited the Paul Gauguin Museum, and had a lunch before turning back to Papettee |
Tahiti has a nice waterfall, too |
The rest of the afternoon and evening was free for swimming and sunbathing.
The next day was reserved for a trip to Moorea, an island that is an hour away from Tahiti with a ferry.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| A ferry leaving Papettee port for Moorea |
Clouds in the mountains over Papettee city |
Arriving to Moorea. That was one windy trip, hang on to your hair... |
First glimpses of Moorea beaches |
There are some very nice resorts on Moorea, coral reef visible at the back |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Moorea Sofitel Ia Ora | For the rest of the day on Moorea, we went on a boat trip around Moorea island |
First stop - shark feeding! Get your snorkeling gear and in the water, behind the rope line. |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Black-tip reef sharks are coming for lunch. |
Next stop, stingray feeding |
These graceful, gentle creatures love to play and cuddle | ||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Stingray hoping for a treat. We have stopped on an island for a lunch picnic ourselves, and learned how to peel and break a coconut. |
Sheraton Moorea Lagoon Resort, on a way back. |
Before returning to Tahiti island, there was a short trip to the inland, showing landscape and annanas plantations. |
||
We returned to Tahiti late in the afternoon, and went for a dinner to the Papettee city center to conclude the day. Tomorrow, we are going to see Bora Bora.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| On Tahiti Airport once again, boarding a local flight to Bora Bora |
Arriving to Bora Bora, this was our guide, and we had yet another boat trip. |
Big cruisers are coming to Bora Bora |
Bora Bora landscape from a passing boat | |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Bora Bora has nice resorts, too. | Following the boat | More landscape, crystal blue-green waters... |
On-boat entertainment | |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The rest of the Bora Bora trip consisted of a visit to
the lagoonarium, more swimming with the fishes, sharks included, and a lunch. The roundtrip concluded back at the airport in the afternoon. |
Leaving Bora Bora on a plane back to Papettee, I made some snapshots from the air |
|||
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Entry to the Bora Bora port | High above the clouds... | A Tahiti sunset | |
 |
 |
 |
| A goodbye dinner and a show in a neighboring resort. | ||
The plane for Rarotonga was leaving at 3 am in the morning, and we were homeless already, so most of us spent the last night on Tahiti drowsing in comfy chairs in the hotel lobby.
Next page: Cook Islands