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| jay, judith, Loraine, & moi |
We were joined by our eternal Kiwi friends, Jay and Judith. June is winter for them, so they were ready to get out of town. We met in the buzzling town of Papeete where we rented a car and took off to the White Beach on the coast of Paea, @20 miles southwest. There is one beautiful public park sandy beach in the area just north with quiet waters and a nice family place for snorkeling.
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| White Palm apts on beach |
This is where the French held the Olympic surfing competition in 2024 the waves were small then too. But I can just imagine what it would be like if the waves were breaking at its historic heights of 45 to 50+ feet ((15-18 meters).
Island Ring tour: We didn't know what to expect on the single lane drive around the island and was surprised by the different topography. The east side as it is called, offers many interior adventures such as the hike and swim through the Hitiaa's lava tubes, and the drive is flooded with dynamic views of ridges and valleys.
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| Topatari waterfall |
The windy road pirouettes around curves with drop offs into the sea. Along the way we stopped at the Topatari and Vaiharuru waterfalls for a short hike along the Papenoo river. This valley was the last stronghold to the faithful ancient Polynesian religion until 1846, and was the shelter for the Tahitian rebel forces that opposed the French takeover. You can also take a challenging 4WD tour from Papenoo all the way across to the south portion of the island to Mataiea township, and see Lake Vaihiria, the only natural interior lake of Tahiti.
Moby Dick's snorkeling: Time to take a coral garden boat trip. So we picked Moby Dick's run by French gal named Isabelle. She even provided wet suits which you really don't need, a rash guard works fine. The clarity of the water was truly mesmerizing, refracting the various shade of blue from teal to azure.
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| clarity for sure |
The temperature of the water is to die for between 81°F (27°C) to 83F (28°C). Isabelle was great, responded quickly to any inquires, and even snorkeled with us pointing out the various fish life. And back in the boat she broke the fish and coral guides to point out some more species. We even glided over some green sea turtles and stingrays.
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| Absorbing the moment |
Once in the water though I became quickly disillusioned...the coral for the most part was DEAD. Although there were many species of fish with stunning colors, the coral was drab, yucky brown color with the gnarly looking algae on top. The best thing is you could still see 100' (30.8m) through the water, but if you were not paying attention, like me, and in shallow water... you can back into some coral and gouge your leg, ouch! bleeding the whole time I kept thinking of course.. who likes blood?.... Sharks!
Afternoons: The days were full of action in the morning, but soon gave way to the heat. When we would all settle in for our naps, a good book or sitting and watching the waves break on the outer reef. Around 5pm things perked up and game time began and some fun times. Throw in some beer, gin, and martinis... and play the game "Five Crowns"..
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| Sunset off the deck with Moorea in the background |
Moorea: ( Muh-Ree-uh) The island often referred to as the Magical Island--and magic it is... when we first caught a glimpse from the short ride on the ferry with the car you see the iconic Mount Rotui and Mount Tohivea, breaching the sky. The rugged peaks when Captain Cook landed here in 1769, on the other side, must have filled him with awe.
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| Moorea, has it all. |
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| Belvedere point |
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| Challenging on rained soaked day.. |
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| Mape (Chestnut) tree surface roots |
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| You only live once! |
Sorry the teacher is coming out of me now: The equatorial coral reefs are a living metropolis submerged in liquid light, and they are endangered around the world for several reasons: 1. Climate change-the heating of the water, 2. Chemicals such as pesticides and industrial heavy metals, 3-The loss of predators like the Triton shell- (which eats the coral predator Crown of Thorns), collected by natives and sold to tourist for shell collections.
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| Hideous looking Crown of Thorns |
To give you a better picture of how they function you have to know the structure, there are 3 parts: for hard corals you have a Calcium Carbonate skeleton on the outside (cement like), with a coral fleshy polyp inside, (looks like a sea anemone-or a fleshy hand), and inside the polyp's fleshy tissue is the life sustaining algae-Zooxanthaellae which gives the coral it's color, and performs photosynthesis which provides the polyp with glucose
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| coral polyp- extended outside the CaC03 skeleton |
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| A healthy looking reef |
Coral reefs are often called the rainforests of the sea, and they are both only found in a narrow belt around the equator. They are systems in full balance, but even a slight upward change in water temperature a 1.8°F-3.6°F (1°-2°C) is enough for the coral polyp to eject the algae. Why, the heated photosynthetic processnow toxic materials that poisons the polyp, and it in turn exudes the algae making it look white in color (bleaching), and it starts to die. The other major culprit is an algae called REMU. Now with the coral polyp dying the remu algae floats in uses it as a substrate to grow on. Consequently, there is now no space for any future Coral polyps spores nearby to land on and start the next level of coral development. A chain reaction for sure!
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| Bad REMU algae growing dead coral |
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| Mt. Tohivea at 3,960' (1,207 m) |
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| Jay taking a break |
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| Local food truck |
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| The Big Kahuna |
Sofitel Kia Ora Beach Resort: If we were to come back to Moorea, this would be our first choice with this best snorkeling reef to the left of bungalows (go to the one which is furtherest out). Amazing staghorn live coral..tons of reef fish, sea turtles etc.
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| Sofitel Kir Ora Beach Resort |
We parked at the public beach next to it and then walked along the beach to the bungalows, swimming out you notice the difference right off the bat, coral heads are beaming with fish, once out there the water is not deep on a medium tide, so floating over the arborescent (antler-like) coral which forms dense groups of underwater "thickets" or "forests". So many fish of all sizes from the Bluefin Trevally, Trigger Fish etc. but my personal favorite is the irridescent Blue -Green Damselfish darting in and out of the coral like a symphony underwater. We had purchased a laminated polynesian reef guide on Amazon and marked the spp. seen each day. Over the course of the trip we ID about 50 spp. of fish-etc
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| copyright:www.frankosmaps.com |
Quad Ride: Time for some action... I had never rode a quad before, and decided since I wasn't getting any younger I would give it a try. I suggested to Loraine, she could sit on the back and I would drive us... well, that didn't go over so well since she is an experienced quadder... so I got my own. We joined a tour and they gave us a 10 second preview of what to do.. all set. Off we went, or off the others went -while I rode it like a bucking bronco. Due to a previous thumb injury I couldn't quite get the throttle right, so thank goodness no one was on back or they would have been thrown off on the pavement right from the start. We headed out on the main road at about 25-30 mph and then low and behold back to Belvedere pt. Another head bobbing view and back on the road heading down, hmmm this was now getting fun zooming around the corners at nearly record speed- in my head anyway.
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| Quad Master |
We soon turned off on this side rainforest service road which led us to the pineapple groves for a quick overview. Seems Captain Cook introduced the pineapple back on one of his trips.. the guide joking said he traded with the natives: 1 pineapple according to legend was worth 1 woman.. Seems like... I am going to stop right there.
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| Pineapple grove |
Next we went to the site where they filmed Mutiny on the Bounty with Mel Gibson and then headed to a river crossing and stopped for a break.
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| Mutiny on the Bounty Location shoot |
Well it was a planned stop because our guide took us over to the river and started throwing pieces of tuna in the water and kind of splashing around.. All of a sudden these giant river eels showed up. Some were 6' (2m) in length and as he petted them told us they were considered sacred on this island, and in history was only eaten by the chiefs, not anymore thought.
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| Guide with sacred eels |
After the eels we headed up to the true test of quadmanship. A quick turn off the main road and up, up, up we went to the top of Magic Mountain. Sections of it had cement like paths with 2 feet spread and 3 inch drops in the middle, so you had to stay on them or over the edge you went.
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| J and J on top of Magic mtn. |
Windy, wild turns on every corner, and after about 20 min. or so made it to the top around 600' (209m) ---and the top it was, with resplendent views spanning the island in every direction... of course all I could think about was the road back down....turns out it wasn't so bad and we all made it back in one piece after a stop for a another tasty smoothie.
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| Fare Makana |
Our time with our Kiwi friends was coming to an end. We had 10 days of total fun with them. We enjoyed our stay on Moorea at the Fare Makana residence with its coral inlay floor, and now Jay can rest on his laurels of being Five Crowns Champ- until we meet again old friends.
Bora Bora:
Recommendations:
* Humpback whales-if you want to snorkel with the famous Humpback Whales, come between mid-July and October. One of the few places you can jump in the water with the gentle giants.
*The Haivea, is the famous Cultural Tradition dances all through the month of July. Each island has several competitive groups and the winner is sent to Papeete for the Grand Final.
