Before You Go:
We never managed to get either of our bank cards to work. We have both Cirrus and Plus bank cards and they have worked faithfully all over the world. We tried to withdraw money using both cards in several banks in Papeete, several more in Vaitape, Bora Bora, and yet more in Moorea. They never worked. We finally did succeed in getting money out using a credit card (Visa). Of course this means we're stuck paying hefty cash advance fees. If you live in a oountry other than the US, you should consider establishing a positive balance on your credit card, and maybe more than one. We met many other people from other countries who had the same trouble we had. Make sure you know the PIN number for your cards and bring extra US dollars or Euros just in case. Many cheaper hotels and stores will not take credit cards.
Getting to Tahiti from California
My wife and I took a 3 week trip to the South Pacific in July of 2006. We visited the islands of Bora Bora, Moorea and Tahiti in French Polynesia, followed by Easter Island (Chile) and finally Rarotonga and Aitutaki of the Cook Islands.
The flight from San Francisco to Papeete is not a very long one. There are basically two ways to get there: either via LA or via Honolulu. LA was cheaper for us. The flight from LA took only 8 hours - a mere nothing, especially when compared to our last marathon flight to Delhi.
We flew Air New Zealand from LA. It was a comfortable flight with acceptable airline food - the seat configuration of the 767 was nice, in a 2 - 3 - 2 format, which guaranteed a 2 seat row for my wife and me.
Getting from Papeete to Bora Bora
Our first stop was Club Med Bora Bora. It might seem like an unusual destination for us, given our usual choices of Pensions and cheap backpacker hotels. Well, believe it or not, Club Med is the "cheap" option on Bora Bora. It is recommended by Lonely Planet as being the best deal/most affordable way to see Bora Bora. When we priced out staying at a cheaper hotel, then adding the price for meals, drinks, activities like sailing and snorkeling (all included at Club Med) it was far more expensive.
Papeete, where all the international flights arrive, is on the island of Tahiti. It is technically possible to take a ferry to go from Papeete to Bora Bora, but it takes something like 16 hours and it didn’t sound like the most comfortable boat. So, like everyone else, we opted for the very expensive Air Tahiti Nui option. It cost $400 per person for a 45 minute flight.
Upon arrival in Papeete, we had to pick up our bags and re-check in to our Air Tahiti Nui flight to Bora Bora. Check in was unbelievably slow. Although there were only about 5 of us in line, it took the checkin gate agent about 5 to 10 minutes for each person.
The Papeete airport (Faa) is a hot, open air building but has the conveniences of an internet café, a bank (which didn't work with any of our bank cards!) and some basic dining and shopping options. The flight to Bora Bora only takes 45 minutes, and the flight attendant announced the various islands as we passed them. Of course, all the good views were from the opposite side of the plane to the side we were on. (It is much better to be on the left side of the plane when going from Papeete to Bora Bora!)
The airport in Bora Bora is not on the main land. It is on a motu, a 20 minute boat ride from the main city of Vaitape. Some of the more expensive hotels pick up their guests directly from the airport. For the rest of us, the boat ride gives you a good introduction to the island - a free sightseeing trip covering most of the western side of the island.
In Vaitape, representatives from the various hotels and resorts meet their guests off the boat. We wanted to try to get cash out using the bank machines in town, so we asked the Club Med rep to hold on while we tried the 3 machines right next to the pier. No luck at any of them. ("Your bank has instructed us to return your card") During this time, our Club Med rep took off on us. Of course, we can hardly complain, as he wasn't even supposed to be giving us a ride - since our transfer wasn't technically included.
While we were waiting for the Club Med rep to come back, we watched outrigger canoe races, part of the Heiva Festival, which is an annual cultural festival celebrated throughout French Polynesia.
The shuttle to Club Med took about 10 minutes, on a pleasant ring road around the island.
Club Med Bora Bora
Overview and Checkin
Checkin was quick - just confirmation of our voucher, and we were off to our room for a well deserved shower. The Club is small, only 150 rooms. Most are of "Superior" class. The difference between Superior class and Oceanview is minimal - The ocean views are maybe 30 feet closer to the beach than the (better) superior rooms. I had called ahead to request a better room, and I think it was worth calling - we had one of the best superior class rooms, a stone's throw from the beach.
The path around the village is well lit, and lush with vegetation. Even the farthest rooms are only about a maximum of a 10 minute walk from the center of the hotel (where the restaurant, pier, reception etc. are). The oceanview rooms often have no shade provided on the balcony - as compared to the superiors which are in the shade of the palms.
The Superior Room
The room is very smartly built. It's very big, with amenities like TV, A/C, and fridge (they call it a mini-bar, but it’s empty). The king-size bed is actually two singles stuck together, which don’t stay together. They would have done better to have a king-size feather mattress covering to lessen the gap. Or just gotten king size beds to begin with!
The bathroom is big, with a separate enclosed toilet. The shutters in the bathroom unfortunately don't close completely, which allows the mosquitoes in. The big screen door doesn't have netting either, so it's hard to sit with the door open without filling the room with mosquitoes. In addition, and more annoyingly, every time they fumigated the village (daily just after sunset), the smoke would pour in to our room - even with all the blinds and windows shut. Being on the beach didn't bring much relief either - the cloud of smoke inevitably billowed on to the beach and gassed anyone still there.
Other smart features of the room are a huge window/ledge in the shower for the shampoo/soap, more cabinet space than you could possibly need, two safes, and modern uplights embedded into the floor providing light for the room. (the room was still too dim for us at night though). There are lots of hooks, a clothesline in the shower (although nothing really ever dries effectively there, it's too humid). There are umbrellas right outside the door - an unfortunate necessity, even in the 'dry' season (it rained 4 out of 7 days we were there).
There is no carpet - a feature we always appreciate about Club Med. Tile floors are so much easier to keep clean, especially at such a high humidity level right next to the sea.
The negatives for the room are that they haven't decorated it that well - there is only one painting on the all-white walls. They need a faux-finish, or more paintings, to spruce up the room. The other negative is that the rooms are beginning to look a little tired. The grout is dirty, and in general the floor needs to be scrubbed, hard.
The TV only has 9 channels - CNN included, and the only English channel - but who needs TV? There is a kettle in the room, and they rent out an espresso maker if the walk to the bar is just too far to get your caffeine fix.
The Beach
The beach is better than we expected. After having read so many stories on the web about it being so small, coral sand, unswimmable, we wondered if we'd ended up at the same resort! Immediately around the central pier, the sand is soft white sand. Elsewhere in the resort, it is a coral sand (as are a lot of the beaches in Bora Bora). The length of the beach is fairly good - it would take about 10 minutes to walk the entire length, going at a good clip. The sand is a little rough and sandals/flip flops are definitely useful, but once you're in the water, you don't need them - the sand is nice and soft, but there are bits of coral you have to look out for.
Of course, that also means there are good snorkeling opportunities right off the beach. There are even some stairs built onto the pier where there is some beautiful schools of fish and an underwater tiki statue to be discovered.
Restaurant and Bar
The buffet restaurant is typical Club Med. Great desserts, mediocre wine, hit-and-miss meat, fantastic bread, etc. The seafood is very good - lots of evenings with shrimp, and for Bastille Day (July 14th) they pulled out ALL the stops, with oysters, lobster, etc.
Breakfast was probably the most disappointing meal. The only consistently good hot food was crepes. The hash browns were cold every day we tried them. Bacon was only sometimes on offer, and more often that not cold. Omelettes, even made to order, were consistently undercooked and runny, despite how much we asked for them to be cooked. For non-hot food, the bread is always excellent (croissant, chocolate bread, etc. all made fresh daily). There was always a good selection of fruit, too.
Lunch was mostly the same every day, with cheeseburgers, not-very-good fish, bread, wonderful cheese, etc.
Dinner was very good. They would always have some special dishes, around the theme of the day - Tahitian, French, Italian, Japanese, etc. The raw fish and meats were all excellent - I tried everything and not a single upset stomach or hint of food poisoning. Everything was being kept at the right temperature, and flies were not a problem.
Despite what other people have said about chickens and dogs being a problem at Club Med, we found it to be the opposite. Apparently they have made an effort to reduce the numbers. They never came in to the restaurant area, and the couple of dogs we saw were always very docile. There was a family of cats as well, and the children staying at the Club loved playing with the kittens.
The bar is now almost fully included, with the exception of some top-shelf hard liquor, champagne, and more expensive bottles of wine. Some of the barstaff were clueless, however, and didn’t know how to make some of the most basic drinks - but they were always receptive to being told what to do. There is some snack food available at the bar as well. (bags of chips) Although there isn't anyone serving drinks on the beach, they never seemed to care when we took our glasses out of the bar area. It was very nice to share a drink at the end of the pier as the day ended.
Water Sports
We took out kayaks several times and it was very pleasant. Because the Club is inside the lagoon, the water is very calm.
The sailing is well set up, with 5 hobie cats meaning there are plenty of sailboats for the size of the club. There are beginner lessons twice a day (included) unless there is a special sailing event that day. Twice a week, there is a sailing armada to an area outside the normally allowable sailing area.
Unfortunately while we were there the wind wasn't too cooperative for beginners - it was either too soft or too hard. Since there is lots of shallow coral in the lagoon, you have to be pretty careful with the boats.
There is also windsurfing, but we didn't try that. There seemeed to be plenty of boards though, and again, beginner lessons are offered.
The snorkeling was a little disappointing. We were excited at the advertised twice daily trips, but it turns out that these trips were to the same place every day - and also the same place that all the surrounding hotels go to. Unfortunately, the other hotels do not properly instruct their guests on the fragility of the coral, so we often saw other snorkelers walking all over the coral with their fins on. As a result, the coral is in pretty bad shape. We really didn't see much, although other people reported seeing octopuses and rays. The good news (for the coral) is that since all the hotels send their guests to the same place,there is just the one section of coral that is sacrificed.
The reason the snorkeling boat is limited to the same site is that Club Med only has one boat, and that is the boat that ferries people back and forth to the motu. So the boat most go out and come back fast enough to pick up the people on the motu.
Evening Entertainment
The nightly shows are normal Club Med High School level, although the traditional Polynesian fire and dance show was a nice treat (I'm sure the same troupe performs at the Sofitel and every other hotel, but it was still nice to see that Club Med is paying for them to put on a performance on site, instead of asking guests to pay an excursion fee to see it in town).
Another night was a "casino" night, which as far as we could see was just a night off for the staff.
The GM's (the guests)
When we arrived, the Club was at about 40% capacity. By the time we left, it was running at about 75%. However, it never even began to approach feeling full. There is so much space - on the beach, at the bar, in the restaurant - that it never felt crowded.
The guests at Club Med fell into roughly two categories: honeymooning Americans, and Europeans. There were some families there, but there are no activities for children, and it's questionable whether children would find someone their age to play with.
One of our concerns was that because the Club has now gone 'all-inclusive', there would be rowdy behaviour, and drunks. This was never the case. In one week there, we never saw a single person who was drunk. Maybe the bartenders just don't let it happen by refusing to serve - but I tend to think that the kind of people who would travel all the way to French Polynesia just aren't interested in getting drunk out of their minds.
The Motu
The impression we got from the advertising was that Club Med has it's own private motu that it shuttles guests to, partly to make up for the fact that the beach at the Club isn't that great. So, we were expecting this small little island, covered with soft white sand, looking on to the famous Bora Bora lagoon. Well, only the last part is right. The reality is that the motu is huge - we couldn't even see the end of it - and the land is divided up in to many parcels. Club Med has but one of these parcels. The beach is worse than the Club's beach - lots of coral, very narrow strip of sand, and if you walk outside of Club Med's parcel, the beach is even worse. Inland on the motu, we saw garbage. Lots of dogs - and not behaved as well as the dogs at the club. It wasn't even clear where Club Med's parcel ended and the other hotels' parcels began.
There are a couple of shelters on the Club Med part of the motu - but no access to water, bathrooms, etc. They run a picnic trip to the motu twice a week - which was nice, with a great BBQ - but the rest of the time - nothing. The motu generally has better weather then the main club, as the clouds tend to gather and get stuck around the mountain on Bora Bora, but the motu is far enough away not to be affected by this. In addition, since the motu is not in the shade of the mountain, it was a good way to extend the sunlight of the day by catching the 4:00 ferry over and taking the 5:00 ferry back.
The lagoon's water around the motu is absolutely beautiful. This is the water you see in all the Bora Bora brochures - that beautiful turquoise blue we've never seen anywhere else in the word.
The Excursion
We took the full day lagoon tour excurusion. It was not cheap ($110 per person) but was a great tour of the lagoon and a very pleasant day.
It is probably possible to get the same type of tour by going with one of the local operators instead of Club Med's. However, we liked the fact that Club Med was taking care of cancelling excursions in bad weather and rescheduling people. In addition, the other excursions offered (quad bike, shark feeding, etc. ) were all comparable to the rates that were in our Lonely Planet guide.
Also, while we were there, the phones from the Club weren't working, so the only way to make an outside call was to go to the front desk and have them call for you. Then a phone in the lobby would ring and you would be connected. Having them call so we could check out the competition seemed awkward.
Basically, the excursion takes you around the island, stopping in a couple of places for snorkeling, stopping at a beautiful sandbar for photos and swimming, stopping to feed the rays, and eating lunch on a motu with your feet dangling in the water. The ray feeding was a lot of fun - the rays are not captive, but there's a group of them that have just been almost 'domesticated' by constant ray feeding excursions. The snorkeling was better than the snorkeling offered at the Club - but again, we were snorkeling in the same area as a lot of other boats. A moray eel is always hiding in the coral where they stop, and the tour operators take turns to feed the eel and get it to put on a nice show for their guests. After a while we were beginning to wonder if this thing was on a string.
Checkout
Checkout of the club wasn't exactly smooth. We followed our instructions dutifully, and left our baggage outside our door well in advance. After checking out, the chef du village and several GOs converged to wish us off, but there was no luggage to be found. It took about 10 minutes for them to track it down - with the Chef du Village getting visibly upset - and we almost missed our boat back to the airport. It turns out, the baggage handler is not used to mid-morning checkouts, because almost everyone checks out in the middle of the night, connecting to the Air France plane bound for LA. We were only going to Papeete.
Chez Myrna
Budget accomodations in Papeete are almost impossible to find. We were lucky enough to reserve 3 nights at a pension which was highly recommended in the new Lonely Planet. We paid $60 US per night - a steal in Paeete. The room was good - a little small, but very clean. The shower was shared (although he does offer private bathroom at a higher price). The German owner is a bit of a funny guy, but he was always prompt, picking us up at the airport always on time (transfer costs only $15 for a 10 minute drive, but this is a steal for Tahiti). As Papeete was our main transit point, we were often connecting at odd times of the night - and he was always there, even at 1am, to pick us up.
The hotel is about a 20 minute walk from the water, and about 40 miuntes from "Les Roulottes".
Papeete
Our two days in Papeete were unfortunately on a weekend. There is very, very little going on in Papeete on the weekend. Most stores are closed - in fact the whole city is closed on Sunday. There are some very pleasant walks by the port - lots of interesting sailboats to check out - and I'm sure that during the week, the shopping is interesting and quite good. Les Roulottes are mobile restaurants - vans that converge on the same square every evening and set up restaurants (plastic tables and chairs) around themselves. Prices are reasonable - esepcially for Papeete. Dinner for two with a drink will cost about $30 US.
Heiva
What saved us, and what made Papeete an interesting destination even on the weekend, was the Heiva. This cultural celebration happens every July and was a blast. On Saturday, we watched javelin throwing (dozens of guys in traditional dress throw javelins from far away trying to hit a coconut perched on a pole 30 feet high). We also watched stone lifting, with guys competing to see who can lift a 130kg stone (about 300 pounds) fastest on top of their shoulder. Impressive!
All the daytime sporting events are free and from what we saw, fillled with local spectators as well. This definitely isn't just for the tourists.
In addition, there is a 'cultural village' (aka souvenir market) where people from various islands all around French Polynesia sell their crafts, and display how they are made. This was open all day Sunday, and it's the only thing open - so we spent all day there. We actually had a great time.
In the evening, there are more organized shows at a stadium. We wanted to see two, but the finale was sold out. We had tried to book tickets online, but they haven't really caught on to the whole online thing yet - there was NO information online, ticket sales must be done in person, etc. This is definitely aimed at locals, not foreigners.
The one show we did see was amazing. We went for the historic dances competition. Which turned out to be two hour and a half long poerformances with approx. 75 dancers on stage, dancing to live music. The story they were telling was explained in English, French and Tahitian. Great dancing, lots of costume changes, props, etc. Very professinal show and very much not what we were expecting. In between the dances there was some traditional singing too! Highly recommended!
Easter Island
Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, is only accessible via Santiago, Chile or via Papeete. Since Chile has enough in and of itself to warrant a trip, we decided to interrupt our French Polynesian vacation with three days in Easter Island.
Easter Island is mainly known for its "moai", which are large stone statues with faces and bodies. They were left all over the island, mainly close to the sea. Tribal wars resulted in most of the moai being knocked over, but restoration projects are slowly erecting them on their original platforms.
From Papeete, there are only flights twice a week into Easter Island. So, either you go for 3 days, or you go for a whole week. We chose a couple of days, and it turned out that was more than enough time to see what we wanted to see and do a little bit of souvenir shopping.
Our hotel was the Mana Nui Inn. They met us at the airport. Watch out when you arrive: They make everyone x-ray their baggage as you exit the airport (?!) and the machines are not guaranteed to be film-safe. They will pass your film around without question however.
The Mana Nui Inn is located about a 10 minute walk from town (Hanga Roa), at a beautiful location overlooking the sea, with beautiful sunsets every night. The wind can get pretty strong, but we still had some nice walks along that stretch of the coast. The hotel owner or her daughter will pick you up at the airport, and greet you with a flower lei. It cost us $45US/night. The room is very clean, with its own bathroom and hot shower (run the hot water in the sink at the same time - then there's enough pressure and the gas stays on and the shower is great). The views are fabulous, and we were made to feel very at homme. We were greeted with fruit juice as soon as we arrived, and gave us a great map with pictures of the sites, and explained everything there was to do on the island. We had a great breakfast every morning. They also drove us back to the airport and gave us good bye necklaces they'd made themselves at the end of our stay! The daughter, Patricia, speaks great English as well.
The first day, we saw some of the moai that are located close to town - in fact, they are right in front of the Mana Nui Inn (we could see some from our balcony!). We saw Ahu Tahai, Ahu Akapu, and Ahu Tautira. It was a great introduction, and took only 2 hours at a leisurely pace.
With the help of a rental car the next day, we were able to see most of the moai. Although we saw some people walking the sites, or biking, we would recommend against it. The distances to get to the best sites are considerable. Unless you are planning to spend a week, we doubt you could fit everything in.
We arranged the rental car from Mana Nui Inn - it was a 4x4 jeep, in good condition. No A/C, but it's really not needed for Easter Island. Standard only, I'm not sure if there's any automatics on the island. It cost us $60 US/day. Apparently you can find $50/day in town, but it was more convenient to get it from our hotel.
Almost all the moai can be seen by driving around the ring road around the island, which is paved (except for a few km). We did a nice short hike up the volcano at Rano Raraku for a nice view of the eastern part of the island. Rano Raraku is the "Moai Nursery". It is thought that most of the moai were carved out of the volcanic rock here, and many can still be seen in place on the mountain, at various stages of construction. It was one of the highlights of all the sites we saw. Right next to it, Ahu Tongariki, is the most impressive display of moai.
The other must-see ahu for us was Ahu Akivi, which is the only ahu where the moai are facing the ocean, instead of towards the land.
The beach at Anakena is also well worth a visit. There is an impressive set of moai overlooking a beautiful, sheltered beach in a bay. It is the only place we saw outside of Hanga Roa selling drinks/refreshments.
We also visited the Orongo Ceremonial Village, which was a bit of a disappointment (we spent more time talking to the guy at the ticket booth than we did at the site.) However, the drive up to the village, as well as the views of the volcanic crater of Rano Kau, definitely made it worthwhile.
The museum Museo Anthropologico Sebastian Englert is a small two-room museum north of town. If it turns cloudy, it's a good thing to check out, with a good background on the history of the island. Make sure to ask for the Englilsh binder to provide translations of the signs.
Restaurants
We ate at two restaurants during our time on the island. Our first dinner was at Jardin del Mau on the seaside, which offered pasta, a great vegetarian option on the island. Wendy was very happy with her meal, but my mahi was not worth the price.
Our second meal was at Kai Mana in town, which was also quite good, with a very friendly owner.
We also snacked on empanadas, (like a pastry sandwich, which is fried).
We had a great time on Easter Island! Everyone we met was very friendly and kind. It made the stay a real pleasure.
Moorea
The next part of our trip took us back to Moorea (with an obligatory layover at Chez Myrna in Papeete again, since the flight arrives at midnight).
In the morning, we took the Moorea Express boat over to Moorea from Papeete. The ferries leave from the port in the middle of town. There's a couple of companies that run the ferries, but they leave at the same time, for the same price, and take the same amount of time for the trip. (?!)
Our arrival in Moorea was a bit of a rush. We had arranged a whale watching trip with Michael Poole, but we had to run from dropping off our bags at our hotel to the dock of the Sheraton where he picked us up (thankfully late!).
The Dr. Michael Poole Dolphin and Whale Watching Expedition tour was well run, though a little expensive ($55 US each for a 3 hour tour). We're a little spoiled with some of the whalewatching trips we've done at home with the fantastic Santctuary Cruises, so this didn't really measure up. The dolphin watching was great, however. Dr. Poole is extremely organized - ground rules were reasonable and ensured a good trip for everybody, even with a full boat. The cruise is mostly on the edge of the reef - he doesn't have time to go far outside - so the only whales he sees are humpbacks. We followed a couple for a while, but they did not get that close to the boat.
We finished the cruise, and walked leisurely back to our hotel.
Pension Motu Iti
This pension is one of the very few reasonably priced options ($90 US for a garden-view room) on Moorea. The hotel has about 6 bungalows, and an open-air dorm ($20 per person).
Our room was very spacious, and very pretty - lots of windows, room safe, clean, good bathroom and shower. Negatives for the room were the lack of screens on the windows - so if you want cooling, you risk the wrath of the mosquitoes. To make things worse, the overhead fan had no noticeable effect. The room was not bug free - we had small flying insects infest one of our packs, and I saw a roach scatter out of sight when I walked into the bathroom.
The facilities of the hotel aren't great. There is no beach. There is a jetty, with a ladder down into the water. There is some very nice snorkeling right off the jetty. However, the water often wasn't that clean - most of the time, broken off prickly sea plants would float by, but on the last day, it was quite windy, and there was a constant stream of these plants (mixed in with some garbage).
There are complementary kayaks for the guests to use, which is a very nice touch. The kayaks are in good shape, and we had a nice paddle into Cook's Bay next door.
The food at the restaurant is reasonably priced (for French Polynesia!). Cheeseburger for $12, fries $5, beer $5. The restaurant has fanastic views of the lagoon. The pizza is quite good as well, and large enough for 2 people to share.
Besides hanging out at the hotel kayaking, snorkeling, swimming, and talking to other guests, we drove around the island for a day, and also went horseback riding.
Driving around Moorea
Our Pension owner arranged a rental car with Avis for us. It cost $75 for the day. The pick-up was 25 minutes late, but they gave us a free upgrade to an A/C car. We drove up to Belvedere Point for a great view of the mountains of Moorea. We also stopped at the Agricultural College on the way down for some great ice cream (with interesting unique flavours) and some jars of jam as souvenirs. The Marae (traditional Polyneisan sacred site) called Marae Titiroa is also on the way to Belvedere.
Continuing our drive around the island, we stopped at Les Tipaniers for some swimming. This is the highest recommended 'budget' hotel on the island, and from what we saw, rightfully so. (It was full when I tried to book it 3 months in advance). The beach, while not huge, is definitely one of the better ones on Moorea. It faces some motus we tried to swim to (the Lonely Planet recommends this), but the current was really strong, and the water too deep to walk. However, the water is beautiful and clear, and the current immediately in front of the hotel is not strong. Thanks for letting us use your beach, Les Tipaniers!
We did a little bit of pearl shopping, and continued driving around the island, stopping for lots of photos and some grocery shopping at Champion close to the port.
Horseback Riding
We did a 2 hour horseback riding trip with Ranch Opunohu Valley. It cost $55 apiece, and was definitely worth it. Our guide picked us up from our hotel exactly on time, and 15 minutes later we were on horseback for a guided tour of the interior of the island. The views were incredible, and he stopped to take photos of us several times. We also stopped several times to take photos, and he always was happy to help. We were lucky enough to be the only ones on the trip! The horses were in good shape. No experience is necessary, and the trail is not very hard. Highly recommended! Unfortunately we threw out the number - check with your hotel - he's in the free guide to Moorea.
Restaurants
We struck out for restaurants on Moorea. Since there is no public transport in Moorea, and the island is farily big, independent travellers are at the mercy of the restaurants sometimes-included transfer services. We found only the restaurants in Cook's Bay were willing to pick us up. We tried Restaurant Chez Jean-Pierre, since Lonely Planet mentioned a veggie option. Wendy's tofu was at best bland. My fish was overcooked and tasteless. I don't even remember what kind of fish it was. Not a good sign! Of course dinner for two with no appetizer cost us $50 US to eat on plastic chairs...
Otherwise, we just ate pizza at Pension Motu Iti and self-catered.
The Cook Islands
The last country we visited on this trip was the Cook Islands. We backtracked once again to Papeete where we stayed with our by-now good friend at Chez Myrna, and then it's only a short 2 hour flight from Papeete to Rarotonga. Upon our arrival in Rarotonga we checked in to our ongoing flight to Aitutaki, but before boarding, we set out to find an ATM. We were still nervous after all the problems we had in French Polynesia. We had to walk about 10 minutes from the airport, but we found a convenience store - in went the card, out came the money, just like every other country in the world except French Polynesia!
The short flight to Aitutaki was comfortable on Air Rarotonga. Our stay on Aitutaki was unfortunately not very well timed. A lot of the lagoon was closed down due to the filiming of Survivor: Cook Islands. A couple of months before the trip I had spend several hours on the phone calling every hotel in Aitutaki desperately looking for any room, and we finally found Matriki Beach Huts. It's lower-end then what we're used to, but beggars can't be choosers.
The Beach Huts are rather basic. The toilet is in an outhouse (although it's a pretty swanky outhouse, with a flush toilet and sink). The showers are cold water only. There are two huts: One that has an upstairs and downstairs unit, and one 'beach hut' a little bit closer to the beach. The downstairs unit has the shower 'en-suite', a very nice feature, while the upstairs unit have to walk down the stairs outside to get to their shower. However, the upstairs unit has a nicer balcony with a better view of the ocean.
The hut itself was very well screened off from mosquitoes, so the lack of windows was not a real problem. However, the lack of screens in the shower meant that while we were cursing the cold water, we were also swatting at mosquitoes. A little rougher than we are used to, especially given that we started this vacation at Club Med.
The hut was fully furnished, with lots of space, a big kitchen with sink, fridge, portable stove (gas burners), toaster, and kettle. The appliances are all new and all worked very well. The huts are on a perfect location on the nicest stretch of Aitutaki beach. There is great snorkeling right off the beach, the water is warm and very, very clean. The beach goes on forever in either direction, and is soft white sand. Lots of interesting shells to find, too. The only downside, while we were there, was the enormous population of sea cucumbers - both the carcasses on land, and living ones everywhere on the ocean floor. Sports sandals are thus a must, just because of the cucumbers. They won't hurt, but when you step on them, their insides squish out and make quite a mess. (However, the stone fish that are also hiding in the sand will hurt you, so if you don't wear sports sandals for the cukes, you will want to wear them for the stone fish!)
Since every hotel was full of the crew for Survivor, we pretty much had the beach to ourselves. We toured the island by bicycle - and saw no other tourists. There isn't many sights to see around the island, but it was a pleasant way to spend an overcast day. We tried to eat at the Spider Chinese Restaurant and it was absolutely terrible, awful, disgusting. Simply put, it was the worst chinese food that we had ever, EVER eaten. Fortunately, it was takeaway, so we could dispose of it in the privacy of our hut after a couple of bites.
The next day was our day to kayak on Ootu beach. The weather had other ideas however, and it rained almost all day. We sat and played Scrabble. I won.
The day wasn't a total washout, however. For dinner, we went out for our best meal of the trip at Tupuna Café, which was the highest recommended restaurant on Aitutaki, according to our guidebook. The hotel picked us up for $10 NZD each. (it was way too far to walk, especially at night). I had the catch of the day (snapper) and it was perfectly cooked, nicely spiced, and melted in my mouth. I was lucky, as I got the last piece they had - there was two other large tables at the restaurant full of Survivor production crew, and they had taken most of the fresh fish (a common problem while we there, in addition to a lack of Diet Coke on the island, all taken by the crew!). Wendy had the vegetarian option, which was a delicious eggplant stuffed with vegetables and cheese.
The following day, our last chance for sun in Aitutaki, didn't pan out much better than the previous days, unfortunately. Grey and overcast. However, we were fortunate that the lagoon cruise we had arranged ( Glass Bottom Boat Cruise) turned out to be a private cruise around the lagoon: all other guests had cancelled last minute, bu the owner decided to run the cruise anyways. Given the cost of gas, we're sure he didn't make any money ferrying the two of us around, but it was a great treat for us anyways, and hopefully we'll drive a little business his way with this review. The cruise cost us $65 US per person.
The tour comprised several parts. Turtle and ray viewing outside the lagoon, 2 snorkeling stops, a BBQ lunch of fresh fish on the boat, and a stop on Honeymoon Island for swimming and photos. Usually, his cruitse stops at One Foot Island, but it (and several other motus) had been taken over by the production of Survivor: Cook Islands.
We started out with a 1 hour cruise outside the lagoon. A word of warning: The sea can get pretty rough, and I was glad I'd bbrought dramamine (motion sickness tablets). I wish I'd taken them farther in advance however.
The glass bottom was very clean, and we saw several turtles underwater, as well as surfacing next to the boat. He said that such sightings are a regular feature of his trips - he'd even named one of the turtles - but he never feeds them (neither did he feed anything on the trip, except for some bread to the fish at the snorkelling stop). We also saw some manta rays cruising along the bottom of the sea bed.
Back inide the lagoon, we headed to the giant clam farm, and he explained the difference between the local and imported giant clams. Next we stopped at the first snorkelling spot, moored just off Honeymoon Island. He provided us with fins, but we had to have our own snorkel and mask. A word of warning: the current was pretty strong here. He didn't come in the water with us, and I didn't get the feeling he was watching to make sure we were ok (as they always did at Club Med). The schools of fish were beautiful, and some very nice coral formations. We also had the chance to see a giant clam on this trip.
Next, we stopped at the motu just beside Honeymoon Island. We wandered around the island (a 45 minute walk) and checked out the bird, while he prepared lunch. The motu had nice soft sand, although it was only a narrow strip, and coral dominated the rest of the island. Lunch was on the boat (unlike a lot of other tours, which have it on land under overhangs- I'm not sure if this was because we were on Honeymoon and not One Foot and so he didn't have access to his normal spot). Lunch was fresh reef fish that we had picked up from a fisherman - turned out to be the same guy who provided the snapper for Tupuna Cafe). In addition to the fish, there was lots of chicken, fruit, bread, salad, etc. A very nice feast!
Next we stopped on Honeymoon Island and wandered around the sand spit. The sun teased us by almost breaking through, but didn't quite manage. But at least it wasn't raining. There isn't much to do on the island - just swimming, shell collecting, and walking. Lots of photo opportunities - this (and One Foot Island) is where so many Aitutaki postcard photos are taken.
Back on the boat, we headed to our last snorkeling spot, which had some even nicer schools of fish, a wreck to explore, and fortunately, no current.
He dropped us off at the dock at 4:00, where our transfer took us back to the boat. Transfers were included.
We didn't have much time before our flight., so we just hung out with our hut-neighbours at Are Tamanu bar next door ($2 US beers, wonderful considering it was a high end hotell/restaurant!).
Back on Rarotonga, we were picked up by our accomodation for the last 2 nights of our trip, Rarotonga Backpackers. We were staying at the beachside (they also have a hillside location) and the waterfront bungalow ($80 US per night) was beautiful. The bungalows are up on stilts, with an unobstructed view of the ocean, framd by palms. The sound of the surf could easily be heard through the window, as the reef is so close in (as compared to Aitutaki, where the reef is far out from shore). There is a small swimming pool outside the common area.
Inside the recently built unit, there was a hot water shower, complete furnished kitchen (but oddly enough missing a microwave). Outside on the balcony there was a gas grill. This would have been a beautiful setup had we been there for longer, or had it been sunny. The only negatvies for the room were the fierce presence of ants at the smallest bit of left food, and the lack of privacy in some of the room because of a missing curtain in the kitchen area looking straight out towards the pool. (all the bungalows were missing this curtain, I guess they just forgot to order enough curtains!)
It rained both days we were in Rarotonga. Not a light rain, either - more of a torrent downpour interrupted by brief periods of lighter rain.
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