Check out our slideshows. We have re-organized them, added some labels, and there is a new slideshow for Tahiti and Moorea. To see the labels hold your curser anywhere over the top 1/4 of each picture and the text will show up. Not all slides have labels.
We just got skyped by Robin Ringer and it was so great to hear her and see her! Too bad we don’t have internet access more often. We have been able to talk with Hannah everyday in Moorea using Skype.
Moorea is like a Polynesian Nantucket:
Most people come here by private sailboat or private plane.
Both islands have a renowned fruit juice factory (Rotui Juices: Nantucket Nectars)
All of the hotels are fancy and expensive
Lots of restaurants – all expensive
Great biking
Beautiful harbor (well there are two here and one in Nantucket)
It is like one big huge resort area. We dinghied from Bay D’Oponohu where we are anchored, over to Cook’s Bay a few days ago. It is about a 3 mile dinghy ride. There is a coral reef between us and the other bay that is too shallow to even take the dinghy over , but there is a little path through the reef marked by navigational poles that allows you to go back and forth between the two bays. It is really pretty. It takes you right through the crystal clear water and you can see the fish in the reef as you dinghy by. You also go by the very beautiful thatched roof huts of the Sheraton Hotel which is very picturesque. We found restaurants and two grocery stores in Cook’s Bay, and a few touristy t-shirt and black pearl shops.
Yesterday we rented a car and drove around the island. The rental car agency is very accomodating to boaters and they sent a car over to the beach by the anchorage to pick us up in the morning. We drove around the whole island in just a few hours. The highlights of the trip were a view from Belvedere – a high point which gives you an outstanding view of both bays with the peak of Mount Rotui jutting up between them – and a second view on the other side of the island that looks out over the aquamarine blue of the reef, past crashing surf, over the dark blue of the ocean, and then over to Tahiti. Other than that our drive around the island was kind of disappointing as the road winds around and passes nothing of interest except lots of touristy looking shops and restaurants. We had lunch at a nice Italian restaurant ( $40 pasta anyone?), and bought a few pieces of fruit from one of the grocery stores. Mark was thrilled to find a hardware store open at noon where he could buy a small tube of plumbing cement ($30!). Almost every store, including grocery stores, banks, etc. are closed everyday from noon until about 2:00 or 2:30. We noticed that the big grocery store in Cook’s Bay is open on Sundays, but only from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. Guess you have to shop before church starts. We found that the most beautiful part of the island is the part we are anchored in, and the most beautiful view is the one we have from our own boat. By the end of the day we were anxious to get back on board and watch the sunset from our deck. Rain showers came and went all evening and it was very gusty. Late this afernoon we will depart on an overnight sail to Huahine, the next island in the Societies.