Moorea

---

Today was the reason that our budget had been tight all week - we'd booked to do a whale and dolphin watching tour.

Unfortunately the day didn’t start off great as I’d had really bad earache all night (I think I got some water trapped in it when snorkelling) and Matt was in pain with his leg as he’d hurt it yesterday. Luckily the trip wasn’t until lunchtime so we both took pain killers and lay on the beach reading our books until we felt a bit better.

We were surprised to see that the trip was full of Australians and Americans. We’d been thinking that most tourists here were French, but actually it’s just that our hotel is French and many of the other (expensive big resort) hotels seem to be full of English speaking guests. It was a novelty to actually get to speak to people again (for the past week we’ve not even been able to have a conversation with bar or reception staff as they couldn’t understand us and our French only stretches as far as ordering food or asking for directions!)

We’d followed the advice of our guide book and opted to do the trip offered by Dr Michael Poole. He has been based in French Polynesia for 18 years studying dolphins and whales and much of his work has focussed around Moorea (he is responsible for making French Pol a whale sanctuary and has been involved with lots of high profile documentaries like The Blue Planet). When I’d gone to book the trip at reception they initially ignored my request to go on Dr Poole’s trip and they booked us on to another trip (one they probably got more commission for). The guide book had warned that the hotels tend to do this and eventually I managed to get them to cancel the first trip and book us (very reluctantly) on to this one.

There were about 25 people on the trip in total and we all got into Dr Poole’s boat. He wasn’t what we were expecting at all - he was in his late forties, wore wrap around shades and was American. As the tour was mixed with half English and half French he said everything in both languages. He alternated which language he started off in and it was amazing to watch him as he never seemed to lose track of what he’d said in what language.

As the boat went out to the ocean through a gap in the reef he came and spoke to each of us in turn and then walked up and down the boat answering questions.

Matt asked him about what we’d witnessed a few days ago from the beach when we’d seen a whale whacking it’s tail into the water repeatedly and we thought it was to kill something it wanted to eat. Michael said that it may have been trying to kill something or might just have been trying to shed some skin. Either way it wasn't trying to kill to eat as at the moment whales are fasting. They eat when they are at the poles where there are more nutrients in the water for four or five months of the year, and the rest of the year when they head to tropical waters they fast. He said that the birds we’d seen circling afterwards may have been because they were eating whatever it had killed, or it could have been because they were eating the whale skin that was lost when the tail smacked into the water.

Sitting across from us was a couple from Manchester and it was fun chatting to them about life back home while the boat went further along the reef edge. The water was really choppy and some of the waves that hit the boat were huge. Matt seemed ok with the rough water and as he had the outside seat he kept getting drenched as spray came over the top.

After a while I was beginning to think that we wouldn’t get to see anything but I was enjoying the boat trip anyway. Michael had warned us that there was a 95% chance we’d see a dolphin and an 80% chance we’d see a whale. While the odds were in our favour they were by no means guaranteed.

About two hours into the trip someone shouted that they’d seen something. Everyone stood up and stared with their cameras poised. It was only a speedboat in the distance but because of the size of the waves it was bobbing up and down across them like a dolphin. We all laughed and sat down again.

It wasn’t too much later that we actually did see something. Initially in front were two humpback whales spraying. We all got very excited. The boat got in closer and we saw lots of dolphins jumping out of the water around the boat. Matt tried to take some pictures and I tried my best with the video camera but it was near impossible as the boat had stopped but was being battered around by the wave meaning we were going up and down and from side to side. We saw a whale come to the surface and dive back down again turning so that we got a glimse of it’s white underbelly. I even managed to get it on camera twice which was a miracle given how difficult it was to stand up let alone hold the camera steady! There were lots of dolphins everywhere but it was difficult to keep up with them - you’d see them jump and then they’d go under and you were constantly searching for them.

I looked at Matt, pleased that we’d finally seen something spectacular but he didn’t look so happy. “If we don’t move in a minute I’m going to be sick” was all he could manage to say and he started to turn greener by the second. As if he’d read his mind, Michael shouted out, “Is anyone feeling seasick? If so move to the back of the boat as it moves less there.” Matt jumped up and took a seat at the back followed by three other people so at least he wasn‘t alone. The chap from Manchester actually looked even worse than Matt and by this point he was laying across the seat with his head in a towel looking like he wanted to die.

The boat was showing no signs of leaving at this point and I was starting to worry for Matt as he was yawning constantly which usually preceeds him being seasick. I was glad that there were some other people feeling ill with him for a change.

After another ten minutes, and after watching the man from Manchester lean over to be sick a couple of times, Michael decided it was time to get moving. The water was still rough so it didn’t really help them much, but I think Matt appreciated the fact we were moving at last.

Everyone had to go back to their seats as the boat needed to be balanced and as Matt came back to our seat he was sick over the side. A crazy French girl pointed at him being sick as excitedly as if he was a dolphin but luckily he was oblivious!

After twenty minutes or so we were back at a reef and went into the lagoon which was calm and flat. All of a sudden it was like someone had turned a switch and Matt was fine again. The poor man from Manchester still looked pretty terrible though.

We hunted for some more dolphins but none showed up so we went back out to the ocean (close to the reef this time) for a while and again didn’t see any. Had we been there any longer than we were Matt would have turned green again but we went back into the lagoon quickly and he was fine. His hands were still shaking and he was desperate to get back on dry ground again and I made a mental note never to book a trip like this again with him. When I mentioned this to him later he agreed that this was the last boat trip out to sea he was ever going to attempt. Shame we’ve got to go on the ferry back to the mainland tomorrow…

When we got back we started on our packing which is always a effort. By 7pm we decided to head for food and walked to a restaurant we’d seen about five minutes along the road. The food was terrible and the wine was really expensive so we were annoyed that we’d wasted our last night there instead of our hotel’s restaurant which we know is really good food and good value. On the plus side we got to see the owners cute little while curly haired dog who was just adorable and loved all the attention.

When we got back we had to try to clear out our fridge so it meant lots of chocolate biscuits and lager. Not a bad way to finish off the evening!

Bora Bora here we come!

---

Photos

This was a view from the boat of the light patches on the mountains
Moorea is such a lush, green island. All of the mountains are crawling with tress and vegetation.

This is a shot of the mountains with the massive three masted boat.
This gives you an idea of the scale of the mountains - they are high!