Polynesie | Moorea

There were a number of flower necklaces to deal with. This one was particularly pungent.

Toatea lookout and the overwater bungalows at the Sofitel Mo

In the background: Mouaputa, the pierced mountain

Visiting the lycee agricole, Opunohu valley

This thorny flowery thingy will be a pineapple someday.&lt;br/&gt; The Tahitian word for pineapple is

Still at the lycee agricole

Opunohu valley marae. Polynesian culture in general is the coolest thing, but the architecture component is pretty basic. The raised platform in the background was reserved for the gods.

The Belvedere - view of Mt. Rotui and Baie de Cook

Opunohu on the left, Baie de Cook on the right.

Still at the Belvedere, looking west to Mouaroa

There were frequent visits to Champion, the island

Fe

We

Another magic sunset

The abandoned Club Med site, Hauru point. Once one of the island

The former Club Med.

The abandoned Club Med

First taste of Tahiti

Walking to Three Coconut Trees pass. Hiking in the tropics is sweaty business

We passed a patch of bamboo along the way

As vandalism goes, this is relatively benign - bamboo can grow up to a meter in 24 hours.

Looking toward Baie de Cook from the trail

Made it to Three Coconut Trees pass. View of Rotui and Opunohu

Mouaroa up close, still pretty imposing

Mt. Toheia

Mouaroa

Lunch in the islands usually involved nice cheese (Tomme in this case) and fresh baguette.

Chickens roam everywhere on the islands -

Mcuh time was spent gaping at jagged peaks

At the Mo

The ever popular traveller palm

Artisan ice cream at the tropical garden. Coconut flavour is meh. Tiare flavour (made with the petals of the national flower) is amazing.

Hotel Hibiscus, our digs on Mo

The beach at the Hotel Hibiscus, low tide

Evening entertainment, Mo

Sunset gazing, Hotel Hibiscus

Watching the sun race down to the water. View from the restaurant at the Hotel Hibiscus. The fish in the pond behind kept jumping out of the water.

Extracting our dinner from the underground oven at the Tiki Village.

Dance show at the Tiki Village

Dance show at the Tiki Village

The fire dancing was pretty cool

Enormous French Polynesian bills that don

sup foo!

Ron maybe not so excited to have the ray in his personal space

Arriving at Temae beach

Temae beach and the Sofitel. Although the entire coastline is public and free to access, Mo

View of Tahiti from Temae beach

Temae beach

Afternoon at Temae beach

Salade exotique @ Le Sunset

Shallow water off the motu

Harassing the local population

On our last day in Mo

It looked like it might rain, so we left the car on the coast road and walked up the steep path to the tropical garden. It was sweaty work.