Off to Rangiroa

We left the Moorea in the middle of the morning and flew to the airport on Tahiti, all of a 5 minutes flight. One thing we found throughout our trip was that the times the tour operator had set up our flights wasn't exactly the best. In some cases we were supposed to have long layovers between flights into and out of Tahiti. Luckily in almost every case we were able to get on an earlier flight. This was the case on our trip from Moorea to Rangiroa. Getting to the airport is so fast, especially being only a couple of miles away on Moorea when staying at the Sofitel, that we made it for the flight that left an hour before our scheduled flight. We were able to get on the flight and then also get on an earlier flight out of Tahiti to Rangiroa. The flight to Rangiroa wasn't too long, probably about an hour, and it was on a nicer plane. Flying into Rangiroa was amazing. Rangiroa is actually an atoll of little small islands that makes up what looks like a necklace. There is a giant lagoon in the middle. As we flew in you could see the small strips of land. There was even a tiny little motu out in the middle of the lagoon.

On Rangiroa we stayed 4 nights overall. We flew in and stayed the first night at the Kia Ora. This is almost the only true hotel to stay out. There were a few other small places picking up people, but you should definitely stay at the Kia Ora if you expect anything like a resort. Our plan was to stay the first night at the Kia Ora and then go to the sibling property Kia Ora Sauvage for two nights, then back to the Kia Ora for the last night.

We weren't considering going to Rangiroa when we first planned to go to French Polynesia. We were going to split our 12 days between Moorea and Bora Bora. Going to Rangiroa was our best decision and made the trip great. Four days on each island was definitely enough. Unless you really want to do absolutely nothing you will get bored after more than that. We learned about Rangiroa while searching Google. Unfortunately the site I found that led to us going to Rangiroa is no longer accessible on the web. You can still see a two great reviews of the Kia Ora and Kia Ora Sauvage though. Note that the Sauvage now has hot water so don't let that scare you way!

Farewell to Moorea

I thought this was a fitting picture for the end of the Moorea section of our trip. Note that it is actually a sunrise rather than a sunset. I guess if you really wanted to read a lot into this picture you could say it represents that our leaving Moorea is just really the beginning of the rest of our trip, but really it is just a nice picture that I like.

Moorea was a great place to start off our trip. We really enjoyed the island. The best thing we did was the biking around the island. I highly recommend it. The safari is also nice and a good way to see parts of the island you would otherwise miss. We would also recommend the Sofitel Ia Ora on Moorea. While there might be nicer hotels, the location can't be beat. You are away from most of the other touristy things and have one of the best beaches and lagoons on the whole island. One night we decided to eat away from our hotel so we caught the free ride to Alfredo's and it was great. A little strange to see a French guy running an Italian restaurant, but it was one of our favorite places of the trip. In all Moorea is a great place to visit. Personally I liked the other islands a little more, but I think this was A's favorite. They are all so great it is hard to choose.

Moorea: Sofitel Ia Ora grounds

This is a shot of the grounds of the Sofitel Ia Ora in Moorea. These are the garden bungalows. I think they were smaller than the beach bungalows, but not sure. They are a good option for those looking for something less expensive. You may not get the nice views of Tahiti and the ocean, but you could walk down to the water for those. I think the beach bungalow was well worth it though and wouldn't give up the view.

We were getting ready to leave to go to the airport when A took this. Next we are off to Rangiroa after switching planes in Papeete.

Moorea: Can't have too many sunrise pictures

Just another sunrise shot in Moorea.

Moorea: Another sunrise picture

Another sunrise picture. Note the small boat out near the reef of the lagoon.

Moorea: Another sunrise picture

Here is another picture of the same sunrise. You can see the edge of the island of Tahiti.

Moorea: The sun rising over Tahiti from our porch

Sunrise from the beach in front of our bungalow at the Sofitel on Moorea. You might think it was strange we were up in time for the sunrise, but everyday we got up before 6 am. Towards the end of the trip we were able to sleep in until almost 8. The time change really took some time to get used to in the first part of the trip. We would usually go eat breakfast right at 6:30 when the restaurant opened. We weren't even the first ones there some of the days.

I have quite a few of this sunrise and will post a few more.

Moorea: Looking out over the Sofitel and lagoon

Here is a shot looking out over our hotel and the lagoon. This was from the only hill on the whole bike ride. You can really tell the difference in water color between the lagoon and the ocean. The lagoon is much shallower with crush coral on the bottom that gives it such a different color of blue. You can even see some of the coral colonies, the dark spots in the lagoon.

Moorea: A picture of the road around Moorea from the bike ride

This is looking back down the road we were riding on.

Moorea: Picture of church from bike ride

This is a little church on the southern part of the island of Moorea. Too bad we couldn't have gotten married here! We stopped and took a picture while we were on our bike trip around the island. The scenery behind the church was stunning. Unfortunatley you can't see all of the peaks because of the clouds and the angles..

Moorea: Panoramic of the southern end of Moorea

This is the same place we saw the spear fishermen near the southern tip of Moorea. This is a panoramic pic from about 5 pictures.

Moorea: Spear fishermen picture from bike ride

It looked like these guys were spear fishing.

Moorea: Another picture from the bike ride

As seen on the bike ride.

Moorea: Picture from our bike ride

Scenes from our bike ride. This was not too far from our hotel.

Moorea: The bikes

Here are our high tech bikes. They actually were pretty nice. The road is almost perfectly flat for the majority of the way around the island so it wasn't too hard.

Moorea: The bike ride

On our third day in Moorea we decided to try and bike around the island. We had read that it wasn't too hard of a ride and needed something to do other than just sit and relax. We started in the morning, sometime around 8:30, and ended up finishing around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. It was probably the best thing we did on the island. It was a great way to see the whole island, especially the areas that tourists don't normally visit. There wasn't too much traffic for about 3/4 of the way around the island. We made good time and stopped for lunch a little over half way at a pizza place. Then it started raining. We thought it was over by the time we were finished with lunch, but about 5 minutes after we started it was pouring. It wasn't really that bad, but it was definitely nice to get back to the bungalow and relax after 40 miles on the bike.

Moorea: Bali Hai picture

"Bali Hai" just had a magical pull to it. You can easily see why someone would want to put it in a movie.

Moorea: Looking out towards Oponohu Bay from the Belvedere

Shot from the Belvedere on Moorea.

A emerging from the jungle, well maybe just some trees.

Looking up to the peaks behind the Belvedere.

Moorea: Picture of J and A at the Belvedere

J and A at the Belvedere. Oponohu Bay in the background.

This was taken from the Belvedere, which basically means lookout or something like that. You can see the edge of Cook's Bay on the right and Oponohu bay on the left.

Moorea: Stray dogs

One thing you see a lot of in Tahiti is stray dogs and chickens. This guy came roaming through the fruit stand at the agricultural school while we were there on our safari.

Moorea: The agriculture school and fresh squeezed juice

Here we are at the Agricultural School on Moorea. A is enjoying fresh squeezed Tahitian Pineapple Juice. This was our third day on Moorea.

Moorea: Pineapple fields

We stopped at this pineapple field on the safari. There is a Tahitian variety of pineapple which makes Hawaiian pineapple seem bad. If you look hard you can see some banana trees at the back of the pineapple field.

Ginger is one of the big crops at the agricultural school. They use it for many things, including making alcohol. We had never seen a ginger flower before the trip. It was almost plastic looking.

Can't get enough of those papayas!

Moorea: More papaya pictures from our safari

More papayas!

After Magic Mountain we headed towards the Belvedere lookout. On the way we passed the agricultural school. Here is a field of papaya trees with "Bali Hai" in the bacground.

Another shot taken during our Jeep Safari on Moorea. This peak is actually Moua Roa, but is better known as Bali Hai from the film South Pacific.

View from Magic Mountain looking back into the interior of the island.

Moorea: Oponohu Bay

Oponohu Bay from Magic Mountain.

Moorea: Our "Jeep" safari which was really a truck

Here is our "Jeep" safari truck. Bubba was our driver and quite funny. This is the stop on top of Magic Mountain.

A walking up to the top of Magic Mountain on Moorea. The truck got us almost all the way to the top and then we walked up a bit to an overlook that provides a view of Oponohu Bay and the peaks in the interior.

Moorea: On top of Magic Mountain during the Jeep Safari

J and A standing on top of Magic Mountain looking out over Oponohu Bay in Moorea. You can see the reef behind us that circles the island and how it stops at the entrance to the bay.

Another shot from the safari around Moorea.

Moorea: Zooming along on the safari

One of the peaks surrounding Cook's Bay in Moorea. On the safari we learned the Cook didn't really land in Cook's Bay. He landed in the other large bay, Oponohu Bay, but that bay was already named and had a legend associated with it. This pic was snapped as we were going down the road on the safari.

Moorea: The "Jeep" Safari

Looking out of the back of the truck we took for the Jeep safari. No it wasn't a Jeep. You will see a pic of it soon.

Moorea: Waiting to go on our safari

A waiting in the lobby of our hotel in Moorea before we catch the Jeep safari.

Moorea: The moon

A shot of the moon out over the ocean. We woke up at 2 in the morning the first night in Moorea because of the time difference. It is 5 hours different from central time. We got up for a while and I snapped this picture from our porch.

Moorea: Row, row, row your kayak

Here A is kayking in the lagoon around our hotel. The water is crystal clear and there aren't many waves because of the reef that protects the lagoon.

Moorea: Our first sunrise in Moorea

Sun rising behind Tahiti on our first morning in Moorea.

Moorea: Sunrise and the OVW bungalows

Another view of the OVW bungalows in Moorea at sunrise on our first full day.

Moorea: The Sofitel Ia Ora over-the-water bungalows at night

These are the over-the-water bungalows at our hotel in Moorea. They were quite nice and we could often see people diving off of their decks into the lagoon.

Looking across the ocean from our bungalow's porch to Tahiti. It was almost always cloudy over Tahiti so we rarely got to the outline of the whole island.

Moorea: No mosquito netting necessary

Most of the hotels we stayed in had mosquito netting around the bed, but it really wasn't necessary. We only had a couple of mosquito bites the whole trip.

Moorea: Our beach bungalow at the Sofitel Ia Ora

Our home for 4 days on Moorea.

Moorea: Another Sofitel panoramic of the over-the-water bungalows

Another panoramic at the Sofitel Ia Ora.

Moorea: Sofitel Ia Ora panoramic

Panoramic shot at the Sofitel Ia Ora on Moorea. Our bungalow is on the right and you can see the over-the-water bungalows on the left. In the middle you can see part of the island of Tahiti.

Moorea

We landed in Moorea in the afternoon and went to our hotel which was only a couple of minutes away. We stayed at the Sofitel Ia Ora in a beach bungalow. We were the next to last bungalow on the beach and had a great view of Tahiti which was directly across the ocean. The side of the island where we stayed was much less developed the area around the large bays on Moorea. We were here for 4 days. We kayaked in the lagoon by our hotel, snorkeled, and rode our bikes around the entire island (about 40 miles). We also took a Jeep Safari which takes you up into the mountainous areas, to the Belvedere lookout, and to the agricultural school.

We have tons of pictures from this island. Enjoy.

Flying to Moorea from Tahiti

Not a great picture, but this is a view from the plane on the trip from Tahiti to Moorea. The plane was tiny and really hot inside, but it was only a 10 minutes flight to Moorea. Our hotel on Moorea was in the light blue colored lagoon you see in the picture.

Tahiti: Downtown Papeete

This is a view of the main street looking from the edge of the water back towards the interior of the island.

Tahiti: Downtown Papeete and the $6 Coke

J at a little cafe along the main street in Papeete. I was thoroughly enjoying a $6 coca-cola here!