November 24, 2013 – Moorea
I can tell when I have been too long in Polynesia – whether it is Hawaii or Tahiti – because I find I start pronouncing their words correctly. For example, yesterday I called this island mo – ray – ah. Today I pronounced it correctly, sounding out ALL the vowels, mo – oh – ray – ah, putting the extra “oh” in the middle.
While this island is just a few miles from Papeete, it is worlds away in natural beauty.
Moorea does not have nearly as much commercial activity as Papeete – it has just enough hotel space to make it a destination, but not so much that it distracts from the tall rugged peaks and the bright blue coves.
Unlike Papeete, there is no pier for us to tie up to, so we anchor in the bay and prepare to go ashore by tender for what has become our daily snorkel trip. The first part of this trip, for the most part, was big cities and touring – the second part has been beaches and swimming – a nice division of activities.
A tender headed in to the tender pier.
A variation on the greeting party!
Our excursion today, like the one in Bora Bora, will take us first to a shallow area to swim with the rays and sharks. These are Black Tip Reef sharks – supposedly not dangerous, but me in the water with any kind of shark reeks of danger.
A different version of the family afternoon “drive” in the country.
Our next stop was at a small island for more snorkeling.
We began to make our way back to the pier, and to the ship.
Moorea, like Bora Bora, has some spectacular over the water hotels.
I know you are probably tired of pictures of the ship in scenic locations, but I can’t resist.
We spent the afternoon dozing and reading on the deck – tomorrow a new island.