On our way to Moorea

[Mercruiser]

The Party's Over (for the current PG cruise)

 

 

I'm watching the Paul Gauguin depart from Opunohu bay on the last night of their cruise. When my wife and I are packing our suitcases on the last night, one of us always starts singing The Party's Over.

 

The party's over
It's time to call it a day
They've burst your
Pretty balloon
And taken the moon away

It's time to wind up
The masquerade
Just make your mind up
The piper must be paid

The party's over
The candles flicker and dim
You danced and dreamed
Through the night
It seemed to be right
Just being with him

Now you must wake up
All dreams must end
Take off your makeup
The party's over
It's all over
My friend

My favorite recording of The Party's Over is by the late jazz singer, Blossom Dearie. If you want to listen, here is a recording. It perfectly captures my mood on the last night of the cruise.

 

 

 

[Verokaren]

Mer,

 

Thank you so much for your fabulous posts, pics and commentary!  We are on the March 25th Oceania cruise and will spend a day in Moorea. We spent several days at the Hilton there in 2020 when our cruise was cancelled. Your trip sounds idyllic, and makes me wonder if we are doing the right thing by cruising, although we are looking forward to seeing the other islands. 
 

We are looking into renting a scooter for the day. What would you recommend as an itinerary for a day to squeeze in beautiful beaches, SNORKELING, and the best food?  

[Petoonya]

Mercruiser,

 

What a great recording!

 

We also have a song that we sing on the last day of our vacations. "Trouble" by Cat Stevens.

 

 

Depressive Irishmen we are 😉

Edited February 19, 2022 by Petoonya

[Mercruiser]

I

7 hours ago, Verokaren said:

Mer,

 

Thank you so much for your fabulous posts, pics and commentary!  We are on the March 25th Oceania cruise and will spend a day in Moorea. We spent several days at the Hilton there in 2020 when our cruise was cancelled. Your trip sounds idyllic, and makes me wonder if we are doing the right thing by cruising, although we are looking forward to seeing the other islands. 
 

We are looking into renting a scooter for the day. What would you recommend as an itinerary for a day to squeeze in beautiful beaches, SNORKELING, and the best food?  

I looked up the itinerary. That looks like a great cruise. I believe Petoonya is going the same itinerary in 2023.

 

For an itinerary, I would suggest something like this:

• Go to the Belvedere early to get the best photo opportunity. The weather pattern seems to favor sun in the morning and then it gets cloudy over the mountains in the afternoon. YMMV
• Explore Cook's and Opunohu bays. There is a nice public beach in Opunohu bay with parking across the street (mountain side). There are sailboats moored offshore, including Taboo. Stop at one of the fruit stands and try the petite local bananas.
• Do some shopping in Maharepa (past Cook's bay). Stop at Caramélines for a coffee, pastry, or ice cream. They have traditional french pastries plus Tahitian inspired pastries with local fruits.
• Snack Manaha is my favorite place for lunch. See earlier posts. You might want to have lunch early if possible so that they don't run out of things like Poisson Cru. Cash only.
• For snorkeling, you can do it on your own or take a boat tour. I can only recommend things I've done personally. Other will have their recommendations. For a boat tour, you might contact Taboo at https://voilamoorea.com/en/snorkeling-tours/. They will undoubtedly be doing one or more tours for Oceania passengers that day. I like the Taboo owners and the fact that the boat only has 8 passengers with plenty of room. They will go to the shark and stingray area (all tours go here), and the very good snorkeling between the two big motus (Fareone and Tiahura). I've also gone an a Alberts snorkeling tour in 2013. It was a much bigger boat, but it went to the same snorkeling locations. If you want to snorkel on your own, I'd park at the Hilton and snorkel out past the over-water bungalows. The snorkeling here is very good. They have a guard shack at the parking lot, but the attendant only seems interested in getting the employees and vendors to sign in. They've never done anything to confirm that we are registered guests. There are probably lots of other DIY snorkeling locations. But I don't have any personal experience with them.

I've seen lots of Tahitians riding scooters. The ones they use seem very underpowered, they only go about 40 kph. The speed limit is 60 kph. Cars are passing them all the time. I'll guess that these scooters have 50 cc engines. I looked at one of the local scooter rental places. I'd spring for the 125 cc scooter, especially if your are sharing. I don't think a 50 cc scooter would make it up to the Belvedere with two people.

https://www.moorea-scooter.com/services-4-1

 

Have a great time.

[Mercruiser]

One more stop to add: Tropical Garden Moorea, as described in post #63. The access road is even steeper than Belevedere, so the 125 cc warning applies here.

[Mercruiser]

3 hours ago, Petoonya said:

Mercruiser,

 

What a great recording!

 

We also have a song that we sing on the last day of our vacations. "Trouble" by Cat Stevens.

 

 

Depressive Irishmen we are 😉

That brings back memories. I haven't though about Cat Steven in many years.

 

My grandparent's are from Isle of Man, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. I am Celtic through and through.

Edited February 19, 2022 by Mercruiser

[Petoonya]

Mer,

 My family names are Cronin and O'Dillon, husband's are McLaren and Callahan. My grandfather Cronin owned a racetrack in Listowel but was expelled from his home in County Kerry in 1898 for horse thievery.

 

When told by his priest he would suffer eternal damnation for his transgression, the story is that he replied, "Ye might as well be drunk as the way ye are now".

 

 

 

 

[Mercruiser]

Those all sound very Irish to me. That is a great story.

 

My plan for summer 2023 is to spend a month or two in the UK and Ireland. We will arrive on the QM2 transatlantic, go on a 17- night Norwegian cruise (the country, not the company), go on a photo safari in Southern Africa, and spend a few weeks in Ireland, Wales, and Isle of Man. (We went on two Scotland trips while living in Eindhoven).

 

This is from our Africa trip in 2014. 

More Africa photos here https://bhughes.smugmug.com/Travel/Best-of-Africa-2014

 

 

 

 

Edited February 20, 2022 by Mercruiser

[Petoonya]

.

Sounds like the end of the rainbow kind of dream trip.

 

Thank you for bringing us all to the sublime with such clarity. Loved every word.

[Mercruiser]

Nosy test proctors

 

We just took the emed.com Covid test, in preparation for our return flight to LAX. Our tests were both negative - which is the result you want.

 

The emed test is a proctored test, which means you take the test at home/hotel/cabin, while a proctor watches and instructs you by video chat. They verify your ID, watch you stick the swab in your nose, and interpret the test results. Once done, they send you an email within 15 minutes showing your test result. Additionally their NAVICA app shows the result/barcode on you phone.

 

I know this test is accepted because it is described on the Air Tahiti Nui covid web page.

 

Now we are off to breakfast, knowing that we don't have to quarantine. That's a relief.

[minidonuts85]

Mercruiser- Those eMED proctored tests are great! We’ve been going back and forth to our place in the BVI and they are a godsend to meet the BVI entry requirements and approved by the CDC to return to the states. 
 

Look forward to reading back and catching up on your journey 🙂 

[Worldsurfer]

Thank you for taking the time during your vacation to share your travels. I happened across this thread while planning an Italy/Switzerland cruise/drive vacation this summer. In considering a FP vacation to celebrate my husband's retirement in 2024, I was delighted to find so many helpful suggestions in this thread. Safe travels, and wishing you an early and warm spring in Spokane. 

[Mercruiser]

2 hours ago, Worldsurfer said:

Thank you for taking the time during your vacation to share your travels. I happened across this thread while planning an Italy/Switzerland cruise/drive vacation this summer. In considering a FP vacation to celebrate my husband's retirement in 2024, I was delighted to find so many helpful suggestions in this thread. Safe travels, and wishing you an early and warm spring in Spokane. 

The Italy/Swiss trip sounds great. My favorite place we visited in Switzerland was the mountain town of Mürren, near the Eiger. We stayed at the Hotel Alpenblick Mürren and liked it very well. You have to park your car in the valley and take an aerial tramway up to the town.

 

FP is a great idea for a retirement celebration. Glad you liked this thread. Thanks for commenting.

Edited February 20, 2022 by Mercruiser

[Mercruiser]

14 hours ago, Petoonya said:

.

Sounds like the end of the rainbow kind of dream trip.

 

Thank you for bringing us all to the sublime with such clarity. Loved every word.

It was a great trip. I'm glad you enjoyed reading about it.

[Mercruiser]

3 hours ago, minidonuts85 said:

Mercruiser- Those eMED proctored tests are great! We’ve been going back and forth to our place in the BVI and they are a godsend to meet the BVI entry requirements and approved by the CDC to return to the states. 
 

Look forward to reading back and catching up on your journey 🙂 

Unfortunately, FP has not endorsed the emed tests. Some people on Tripadvisor claim to have entered FP using the emed, but the warning against "home tests" makes most people not want to chance it.

 

Thanks for commenting.

[Mercruiser]

At Tahiti Airport (PPT)

 

We are on our last day in FP. It has been a great trip. I am writing this from the PPT airport, waiting for our 9:30 PM LAX flight to board.

 

We spent the last two days enjoying the Hilton resort: swimming, snorkeling, hanging out on the beach, one more meal at the creperie, and watching the sunsets. We also made another trip to the Belevedere and Carmalines for to-go desserts to eat on our deck.

 

Today, we left the Hilton at 10 am, and drove to the Moorea ferry terminal to return the Avis car and buy ferry tickets. We had a very enjoyable ferry trip on the top deck of the Aremiti 2 (the bigger of the two ships). 

 

We rented a one-way Avis rental car in Papeete and dropped it off at PPT. After picking up my wife and luggage at the ferry dock, we took our tiny little car back to Avis to use their free parking while we walked over to the Marche (market) for some shopping and ice cream.

 

We took our tiny little car out to Faarumai Waterfall, about a 30 minute drive. Once out of Papeete, the road follows the coastline. We saw several places we wanted to stop on the way back.

https://goo.gl/maps/8SQpk2SpKtSmg3bw8

 

The falls were very impressing, the mountains were very green. There are three waterfalls in this area, but only one is accessible right now, due to storm damage to the trails. The one that is accessible now is very nice and is just a short walk form the parking lot.

 

After the falls, we went to the nearby Arahoho Blowhole. Besides the Blowhole, this area has tidepools, with land crabs scurrying about, a black sand beach, nice views. It also has very clean restrooms, which are handy this far away from town.

 

On the way back to Papeete, we stopped at various overlooks, mostly where Tahitians were surfing. Norwegian children must learn skiing at a young age.  Dutch kids learn to ride a bike. Tahitian children must learn to surf. I was amazed at how many children (pre-teens) were surfing. It was fun to watch.

 

Our next stop was Point Venus. This is a very nice waterfront park that was full of Tahitian families enjoying their summer holidays. We then doubled back to the Tahiti Kitesurf Center at Hitimahana beach to watch the kite surfers. This was also fun to watch. Kitsurfing appears to be a rich man's sport, compared to regular surfing. 

 

We then headed back to Papeete to have dinner at Place Vai'ete, the site of the food trucks, next to the cruise ship pier. My wife and I shared a plate of grilled Mahi Mahi and fries. It was very good and plenty of food for the $20 dinner.

 

On the way back to the airport, we stopped at the new Tahiti Hilton to check it out. It is brand new and very nice. This would be a good alternative to the Tahiti Intercontinental for a resort hotel on Tahiti. It has a much more modern feel compared to the Intercontinental. I prefer the Intercontinental but I would be happy to stay at the Hilton.

 

Our check-in at the airport was uneventful. I'm sure our flight isn't very full because the airport was not crowded at all compared to prior trips.

 

That's all for now.

 

[canadianbear]

Thank you for taking us along on your trip!  Have a safe flight.  

[Travelexpert35]

Loved reading your posts. I was in Tahiti, Bora Bora and Moorea in 2012 on a travel agent familiarization trip and loved everything. It was a very hectic trip visiting over 17 hotels but we did overnight at the Hilton Moorea and took the ferry over to Papeete. I do remember taking a tour to the Belvedere…very steep climb with the small tour bus. Views were spectacular. Would love to go back some day. We usually head to Hawaii every year which is our favourite spot. You’ve got me thinking we should try Moorea. Really enjoyed your posts.

[Mercruiser]

On 2/22/2022 at 5:22 AM, canadianbear said:

Thank you for taking us along on your trip!  Have a safe flight.  

I enjoyed having you read along with our trip. I hope you have a great cruise, but if that doesn't work out, maybe you can spend some time in FP by breaking up the flight with a stopover in Hawaii. I'm also looking forward to our next international trip. In July, we will be visiting Glacier Park, MT, with a two night stay at the nearby Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta.

[Mercruiser]

On 2/22/2022 at 10:06 AM, Travelexpert35 said:

Loved reading your posts. I was in Tahiti, Bora Bora and Moorea in 2012 on a travel agent familiarization trip and loved everything. It was a very hectic trip visiting over 17 hotels but we did overnight at the Hilton Moorea and took the ferry over to Papeete. I do remember taking a tour to the Belvedere…very steep climb with the small tour bus. Views were spectacular. Would love to go back some day. We usually head to Hawaii every year which is our favourite spot. You’ve got me thinking we should try Moorea. Really enjoyed your posts.

We also enjoy visiting Hawaii very much. In the past, I've seen FP as very expensive compared to Hawaii. And in many ways it still is. But it feels like the gap in narrowing. For example, a rental car in Tahiti/Moorea is $90 per day. My backup plan to FP was a trip to Kauai. A rental car there is about $140 per day. Wow! Dinner for two at Coco d' Isle was $50. Double that if you eat at a resort. We easily spend $80 pp at Mama's Fish House in Maui (and love every bite).

 

I'd recommend giving Moorea a try. There are 3 very nice resorts. And there are over 100 airbnb's there. Moorea in the present is probably what Kauai was in the 1970s as far as development goes. 

[Mercruiser]

On 2/22/2022 at 10:28 AM, singinalot said:

I stumbled on your report as I've been researching a possible trip to Moorea this summer. We also have the Hilton card and do most of our trips on points. Thanks for a great, detailed review!

Glad you enjoyed it. Moorea Hilton is my favorite Hilton points redemption anywhere. Unfortunately, you have to book a year in advance to get the cheapest rate - a whopping 90,000 points per night.

[jkbec101]

We haven't been to Moorea since 2007 sadly.  We stayed at the Pearl for a week and then to the Pearl on Bora Bora.  I didn't see it, but did you make a stop at the juice factory? If it's still there.  We too rented a car, but spent much of the day getting tattoos from Moorea Tattoo and by the time we get to the Juice Factory it was closed.  

Thanks for posting!

[Mercruiser]

Yes, the juice factory is still open. We circled through their parking lot (looking for a pearl store that used to be on the same road). We did not stop at the juice factory, so I cannot tell you any more about it.

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

2 hours ago, Mercruiser said:

Yes, the juice factory is still open. We circled through their parking lot (looking for a pearl store that used to be on the same road). We did not stop at the juice factory, so I cannot tell you any more about it.

 

The pearl shop on the same road closed many years ago

[Coolcruise02]

Thank you for this detailed review.

We had to cancel our over the water bungalow at the Hilton Moorea in 2020 and now we are booked on a cruise that has an overnight stop at Moorea. I can't wait!