Mo''orea

That's Mt. Mouaputa on the right - an iconic profile!

Looking back at our cruise ship  in Cook's Bay. 

We moved over to Mo'orea during the early morning. I woke up to a change in the engines and watched as we entered Cook's Bay. A large mego yacht was anchored just ahead of us. It was overcast and wisps of clouds obscured some of the mountains, but it was still gorgeous! We had booked through the cruise ship a 4 hour bus tour starting at noon, so no rush. This is the only tour through the ship we had planned and it turned out we could have easily done it on our own. We got to shore at 11 AM and not much to see, just a big shopping mart. The local band had just taken a break so I got a photo with a few of them.

We're sorry we missed hearing them play!

William was our driver and very funny. His grandparents came from Switzerland and their son married a Tahitian woman, as has William. But he has blond hair and looks western. He was an extra on Mutiny in the Bounty (Mel's version) as a soldier and drove their food bus. He had lots of stories. But the stops weren't anywhere as interesting and didn't have walks like yesterday. Just went out to take photos. The first site was up the Opunohu valley once owned by the Kellogg Family and sold back to the French for what they paid, as long as there was no development and an agricultural college only. That was William's story but I found no collaboration on the web about the Kellogg connection. The second site overlooked the iconic hotel with bungalows over the water ($1,000 a night according to William). Then a shopping bathroom stop at a black pearl shop that I bet was owned by William's huge family. 

The road up Opunuhu Valley

The view from the top. The road up was steep with hairpin turns. William had to do 3 point turns around the corners. They must organize it so only one bus is up there at a time!

We saw a number of churches along the way, both Catholic and Protestant. The earliest one was right by the landing and built in 1822 over an existing sacred site, which forms the floor of the church. We did make a brief stop at one of these platform sacred sites that has been excavated. Another, the Church of the Holy Family was another quick photo stop on our tour. It was a short day and we were off for 5 sea days until we reach Hawaii. And for a blessed change we have had calm seas and sunshine! More on sea day time in my next post.

The Church of the Holy Family

The earliest Christian church on the island, built on the destroyed
native sacred place in 1822.

Sofitel Kia Ora Moorea

Tahiti across the bay.