Our Honeymoon
Pictures of our honeymoon - Moorea (part B)
Moorea really is a beautiful island. With hills, bays, trees, flowers, and the varying colors of the lagoon, beauty fills your vision every time you open your eyes. In many ways, we enjoyed our experience on Bora Bora more, but the we'd probably both agree that Moorea had more natural beauty.
One day, we had a sweet rental car (see below) - and took a drive around Moorea. The island of Moorea is developed only a few hundred yards from the shore -- after that, it rises to several rocky peaks (accessible through a lookout station or perhaps for dedicated hikers / climbers). Along the shore are two bays. Both mountains and bays provide spectacular images. I think these are images of Cook's Bay (I sometimes get the bays confused, though):
The opposite shore of Moorea is apparently great surfing territory - we didn't see much of that, but did catch some yachters and some kite surfers along our drive:
Our rental car made it up to Belvedere lookout point, and we were rewarded with these views:
Matt & Becky on an overlook where you can just make out the island of Tahiti in the back.
We drove to one of the small towns on Moorea, and found a fabric store! After some attempted & failed conversation in French, Becky pulled out her digital camera and found a picture of her most traditional looking quilt to show the shop staff -- they were impressed to think their fabric might make it into a quilt someday. In case you're wondering, the fabric is still sitting, waiting for the perfect project.
Near the fabric store, Matt was excited to see this sign... (some of you will probably get what's funny there, if not - move on...)
Ok, here's our totally sweet rental car - a Citroen! (it wasn't that bad, honestly -- but Becky would have preferred a "Firt"!)
Our tour package included dinner and a performance at a cultural center. There were a few parts of it that seemed like what you'd expect at a song-and-dance show in the Ozarks or the Wisconsin Dells or something, and the food was, um, ok I guess -- but parts of the show were quite amazing. This picture showcases some native fire dancers.
Another day, our tour package include boat ride to a nearby "motu" (tiny island in the lagoon of the big island). There, we tried snorkeling (Matt enjoyed it better than Becky, but I'll insist my gear was bad!).
Finally, before moving on to the Bora Bora pages, ponder these pictures of palm trees:
