Moorea Island Tour

October 16th, we woke up with the birds & neighbourhood dogs, 04:30 AM for our early flight to Moorea with Moorea Airlines - known as the shortest flight in the world @ only 7 whole minutes (every 30 minutes)!!! We completed the check-in process, quicker than expected, at 05:55 and they asked if we wanted to go on the 6AM flight instead of our 06:30 flight. It was a most-pleasant travel experience, like none other - hassle free. Cute plane -the DHC-6 Twin Otter which seats around 15 or 20 passengers - cozy!This is a picture before boarding for our return flight to Papette,Tahiti (we did not have time for a photo at 06:00). We arrived at the Moorea Airport & picked Avis out from all the rental car companies. We were greeted by a friendly man by the name of Pierre with a huge smile & a little French car that was perfect for our explorations of Moorea.As it was just before 06:30, we had time to take in the beauty & some photos of the Island waking up. Moorea is the locale for many motion pictures, including Mutiny on the Bounty and Love Affair.
After our Whale (NOT) Expedition, we explored the countless picturesque parts of the Island - thoroughly enjoying the peacefulness & freedom. Moorea is actually the remains of what was once the south rim of a volcano and is considerably older in geological terms than Tahiti, its sister island. Its landscape is punctuated by mountains and jagged volcanic peaks.

This is Arnie in front of the statue at the entrance of the Pearl Resort.
Another of Arnie - this time holding up a palm tree. Next we drove along the coast & off the main road ascending into higher elevations ... which caused our little French car to heat up from the exertion of the climb. :-)

Next on our day trip is the ancient Maraes (pronounced MAH - RISE) which were open air sanctuaries that were used as social, political, and commercial gathering points for the Polynesians. Although, when I read the signs (photos above) at the ruins, it mentioned the words "offerings" which is a word that really unsettles my imagination.

When a chief died a sacred war canoe was brought up from the coast and burned at the marae. The best time for burning was either the summer or the winter solstice as that was considered the gateway time to the stars.

We reached Belvedere Point which overlooks Mt. Rotui which reaches 2,600 feet - Moorea's trademark cathedral-like "Shark's Tooth" mountain. As you can see above, truly one of the most spectacular scenic views in all of Polynesia. The Belvedere viewpoint offers breathtaking shots of Moorea's twin bays , Cook’s and Opunohu’s Bays. Also the surrounding valleys consist of fertile lands where tropical fruits and coconuts thrive - paradise on earth. Here is a shot of one of the pineapple crops in the surrounding plantations of the valley - one of my favourite fruits!Among other things, Moorea is known as the "Pineapple Island" for its abundance of well established pineapple plantations. Above is the place where I got a bit tipsy (Arnie was driving) from sampling the Pineapple liqueurs and various other tasty flavours. We bought 2 bottles of the home-brewed stuff: pineapple & orange liqeurs & some miniatures which we polished off before leaving Tahiti :-)
Above is either Cook’s and Opunohu’s Bays (cannot remember which) - I have read in the travel books that many famous movies were filmed in Moorea & in these Bays: 1) Mutiny on the Bounty an excellent movie from 1962 starring Marlon Brando 2) The Bounty which is a remake in 1984 starring Mel Gibson with most of the location work in Cook's Bay. Both movies are based on real events/history & BOTH are owned by yours truly and are excellent films.