- Tahiti Part 1
- Chasing the elusive total solar eclipse!
- Moorea, disaster, return to Tahiti, and a trip cut short!
After our exciting nine day voyage to see the total eclipse, we disembarked in Moorea. This was to be the start of a two week trip traveling around the islands of French Polynesia. Moorea itself was absolutely gorgeous with lush jungle and gardens and many reef-protected lagoons. We were staying at the Hilton resort in one of the overwater bungalows. Everything about the place shouted beauty and romance.
You may remember from the Eclipse post, I was under the weather for part of the trip and was taking antibiotics that the ship’s doctor had provided me. Unfortunately, I wasn’t getting better; I was getting worse. But, ever the intrepid traveler, I vowed to march on. We were scheduled for a half-day 4×4 Jeep tour through the center of the island. After the first stop at the Tropical Garden, I asked to return to the hotel to rest while Deb continued the tour.
The tour itself was very exciting with few paved roads and lots of 4×4 action. The Tropical Garden itself s privately owned by a woman who makes juices and marmalade from different fruits including pineapple, mango, noni, and passion fruit. She also grows vanilla, but it is a difficult plant to grow. It needs to be in shady areas, so she has it growing in a mesh-covered shed where the flowers are pollinized by hand. The gardens are a work in progress, made possible by the sale of her wares.
From there, they went to the village of Pao Pao, where they met a couple of fishermen. These fine gentlemen had just come in with a haul of Red Tuna. The fish will go to the families of these two men; any leftovers will be sold on the road the same day. Fresh, fresh, fresh! In French Polynesia, they don’t do sushi or sashimi; rather, they have something called “Poisson Cru” which is very similar to ceviche using lime or other citrus juice.
They next climbed high into the mountains and into the caldera to visit the Pineapple Plantation. Obviously, the soil is very rich up here due to volcanic activity in the past. The hundreds of acres of pineapples are privately owned and/or leased to other individuals. Moorea keeps most of the fruit for local consumption, although some is sold to France and New Zealand. They are small, sweet pineapples about the size of a baby’s head. The exported ones are called “Queen Pineapple,” and are larger and more like the ones we see here in the US. If you look at the photos below, the mountain in the center of the photo is “Bali Hai,” and was used as a backdrop for the musical, “South Pacific.”
The next stop was the Belvedere. This is an overlook which is part of a park where you can hike and take in the beauty. The main peak in the background is where legend says a chief from another island wanted to take it for himself. He hired a warrior to canoe over to Moorea with a “magic” lasso to drag it back to their island. The warrior was nearly at the water’s edge when the Moorean chief noticed his mountain was moving! He sent all his warriors to stop the thief who then escaped with his life, leaving the mountain where it is now, between Cook’s Bay and Opunohu Bay.
The final stop was at Magic Mountain. Deb had hoped to take photos of the harrowing ascent to the top, but that was not to be. Only part of the road was “paved” with what appeared to be concrete which had seen better days. At times, all of the tour group were holding on for dear life heading up at 45-50 degree angles and hairpin turns. It was truly a kidney-busting experience! However, once reaching the top, it was an easy hike to the top of Magic Mountain where you could see both sides of the island at once. The reef could be clearly seen, as well as the beautiful blues of the lagoon and deeper water. There were also small villages dotted all over the hillsides.
Meanwhile, back at the resort, I was beginning to fail badly. After getting lost twice and finally finding our bungalow, I realized I didn’t have a key — I promptly collapsed. Luckily, some housekeeping ladies found me, got me into our bungalow and put ice on me. They wanted to call an ambulance at that point, but I told them I would take a nap and wait for Deb’s return. That turned out not to be a great idea and, by the time Deb got back, the hotel manager called an ambulance and I had my first ever ride to the Clinic in Moorea. The biggest problem was my 104F (40C) temperature. Then there was the matter of all the swelling, rashes, joint/bone pain, etc. Anyway, they got my temperature down and when we returned to hotel around midnight with plates of food and travel plans to get me to the hospital the next day in Tahiti. After seven hours in the Emergency Room with two doctors, lots of bloodwork, X-rays, EKGs, they finally realized that I was having a severe reaction to a medication I had started three weeks earlier. The “prescription” was to immediately stop taking the medication and every day from that point my symptoms started to ease. I should note that the emergency room bill was $136USD! Thank you French medicine! Anyway, my US doctor told me to return ASAP to the US, which turned out a little more difficult than I thought. Anyway, we were able to spend another few days between Moorea and Tahiti before heading back to the US.
In the former case, we took a four hour tour with a local, recently retired schoolteacher from the island. Mostly we drove around and saw some of the local sights, including the Papetoai Temple which was a church built by Protestant missionaries during the 1820s — right on the site of one of the former marae (temple) sites. That’s the way they brought that “good ole’ time religion” to many parts of the South Pacific. The best part of the tour was a stop at the guide’s house and plantation and met her husband (who was soon retiring from his job as a SeaDoo impressario). We enjoyed meeting both of them and learning about life on the island. Later that day, I finally jumped in the water to “explore” the reef below our bungalow. The great news is that they are trying to repopulate the reef, seeding small concrete piers by the bungalows. That night we ate at the resort and watched the sharks and rays cavort.
In the latter case, we returned to where we began — in Tahiti. While we had toured the circumference of the island when we first arrived, we had time to take a tour into the interior of the island this time. We saw lots of lush jungle and cascading waterfalls but, since we were getting ready to leave, probably didn’t enjoy it as much as we could have.
We were really sad that we didn’t get to stay on for the rest of the trip to Bora Bora, Taha’a, and Huahine. Each of them represents some unique natural beauty and history. But despite the medical emergency, we really enjoyed our trip and hope to get back there someday!
This entry was posted in French Polynesia, Travel
I am a traveler and sometimes clay sculptor, following a long career working in consulting. My work allowed me to travel the world extensively and I was hooked. Today, I travel with my wife/best friend to explore new places, meet new people, and learn new things.
