April 9 Day 53
We landed at 2 am in Tahiti (Papeete) and were greeted by two musicians and a dancer on a small stage. Customs was quick and we were amongst the last to get our bags off the carousel. We were staying at a motel just across from the airport but online some people said it wasn't accessible. We saw it and it was less than a 10 minute walk but it was 2:30am and the groups of guys hanging out were pretty creepy. The traveler ahead of us at the desk had taken a cab and the 5 minute ride was $20. He then was told that there was a problem with his credit card and his reservation was cancelled. He was using their wifi to try to book another place.
After so many hostels, our room felt like pure luxury. Lots of space, soft toilet paper, AC and drinkable tapwater! What more could you want?
We slept until 7 or so (noon to our jetlagged bodies) had an excellent breakfast (2 croissants! Real coffee!) and did some shopping. The neighbourhood was less creepy during the day.
We then got a taxi to the ferry terminal. French Polynesia was like Montreal: I'd try to get things done with my French but they would switch to English as soon as they heard my accent. We were both tired and stayed inside during the ferry ride. A local guy and his son sat next to us. He was Kai, a high school teacher who live don the island and spent half an hour giving us suggestions as to what we could do in Moorea. Many were far out there (8 hour jungle hikes in dripping humidity? Not again!) but many sounded good.
After the ferry ride we found the local bus and Meg took a honeymooning Korean couple under her wing when they were overcharged by the bus driver. She offered to walk them to their resort but they insisted they were okay.
We were staying at Camping Nelson, pretty well the only place in the area that charged less than $300 a night. Our room was basic but clean, with a mosquito net and a ceiling fan. There were shared facilities in outdoor buildings with the tenters that were in pretty good shape. The area was right on a white sand beach lined with palm trees and blue water, very much eye candy.
Moorea is surrounded by a reef so you can hear the rumble of the open Pacific waves all of the time and see them break on the reef far out to sea. The water close to shore is calm and protected, warm and easy to swim in. In front of our place was a rock breakwater parallel to the shore, with a few gaps to allow people to escape it. Past the breakwater there were a few clear paths for swimming but most of it had coral mounds that you had to watch out for. This meant that you could snorkel straight from the shore but you had to watch yourself if you were swimming.
We enjoyed the beach anyway and then went strolling to find 3 shops within a 10 minute walk that stocked most of the food we were interested in. We settled down to cook dinner and met our fellow campers. There was Giovanni, a likable but flaky Italian guy who was always looking for bargains, a French family and an Australian
couple who were just starting their travels and were doing much of our trip going the other way.
After a good dinner it was dark by 7 and most people were asleep by 8. I managed to stay up until 9 but then succumbed to the sound of the fan.
We landed at 2 am in Tahiti (Papeete) and were greeted by two musicians and a dancer on a small stage. Customs was quick and we were amongst the last to get our bags off the carousel. We were staying at a motel just across from the airport but online some people said it wasn't accessible. We saw it and it was less than a 10 minute walk but it was 2:30am and the groups of guys hanging out were pretty creepy. The traveler ahead of us at the desk had taken a cab and the 5 minute ride was $20. He then was told that there was a problem with his credit card and his reservation was cancelled. He was using their wifi to try to book another place.
After so many hostels, our room felt like pure luxury. Lots of space, soft toilet paper, AC and drinkable tapwater! What more could you want?
We slept until 7 or so (noon to our jetlagged bodies) had an excellent breakfast (2 croissants! Real coffee!) and did some shopping. The neighbourhood was less creepy during the day.
We then got a taxi to the ferry terminal. French Polynesia was like Montreal: I'd try to get things done with my French but they would switch to English as soon as they heard my accent. We were both tired and stayed inside during the ferry ride. A local guy and his son sat next to us. He was Kai, a high school teacher who live don the island and spent half an hour giving us suggestions as to what we could do in Moorea. Many were far out there (8 hour jungle hikes in dripping humidity? Not again!) but many sounded good.
After the ferry ride we found the local bus and Meg took a honeymooning Korean couple under her wing when they were overcharged by the bus driver. She offered to walk them to their resort but they insisted they were okay.
We were staying at Camping Nelson, pretty well the only place in the area that charged less than $300 a night. Our room was basic but clean, with a mosquito net and a ceiling fan. There were shared facilities in outdoor buildings with the tenters that were in pretty good shape. The area was right on a white sand beach lined with palm trees and blue water, very much eye candy.
Moorea is surrounded by a reef so you can hear the rumble of the open Pacific waves all of the time and see them break on the reef far out to sea. The water close to shore is calm and protected, warm and easy to swim in. In front of our place was a rock breakwater parallel to the shore, with a few gaps to allow people to escape it. Past the breakwater there were a few clear paths for swimming but most of it had coral mounds that you had to watch out for. This meant that you could snorkel straight from the shore but you had to watch yourself if you were swimming.
We enjoyed the beach anyway and then went strolling to find 3 shops within a 10 minute walk that stocked most of the food we were interested in. We settled down to cook dinner and met our fellow campers. There was Giovanni, a likable but flaky Italian guy who was always looking for bargains, a French family and an Australian
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| Our beach in Moorea. |
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| Our campground. |
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| Sunset on our beach. |
After a good dinner it was dark by 7 and most people were asleep by 8. I managed to stay up until 9 but then succumbed to the sound of the fan.
Oh, that looks SO beautiful!
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