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.

Paradise Found

 

The black beach at Venus Point

Posing in front of the twin falls

We certainly now understand why Fletcher Christian and his fellow mutineers wanted to stay in Tahiti! What a beautiful island.  I woke early and watched for awhile as we entered Papeete. Happily the weather report was wrong and we had sunshine all day! Scott and I had not booked any cruise ship trips (except for Moorea where we understood little local activity and a short stay meant it was safer to go officially.). So we exited the ship and found a local tour company right away with a four hour round the island bus trip. It was a hoot as our guide was a singer and the whole bus joined in. The trip lasted 5.5 hours but no one complained (we had until 2:15 AM to reboard so no worries on that account). 

You can see the height of the 3 sisters
Waterfall here.

The twin falls surrounded by flowers

The Water Park

We visited Venus Point (beach & park), 2 sets of waterfalls, a Water Garden, and a Grotto. We took lots of photos as you can see. Now we're in Moorea and going on a official trip around the island by bus a little later this morning. More on that in my next post - which may be 6 days from now in Hawaii. 

This lighthouse was a Memorial to Robert 
Louis Stevenson.

Flowers everywhere

Scott at the Grotto

This family group was enjoying the water just off the road.

The sacred ruins of the palace of the last King of Tahiti. King Pomare V until his forced abdication. The monarchy was abolished by France when they annexed Tahiti in 1880.