Day One: Today we arrived in Bora Bora around 1 PM. The plane ride was short, but scenic. Flying over the island before landing was beautiful! From the airport, we had to take a long ride on a boat taxi to our hotel, the Sofitel Motu. (A motu is like a tiny island separated from the coast of an island by a narrow channel of water) One thing that struck me right away was how hot and humid Bora Bora was compared to Moorea! We splurged on an overwater bungalow. It was great! Spacious, pretty, and private. Plus, from our [View Full Entry]

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Day One: We began our trip to paradise when we arrived in Papeete, Tahiti, at 4:30 AM. We spent a long time waiting in lines to clear customs. While waiting, though, we saw a crab walking around the airport floor. How funny! From the airport in Tahiti, we had to take a 10 minute plane ride to the island of Moorea. I knew we were going to have a wonderful trip because as we were boarding the little propeller plane, we saw a huge rainbow in the sky! :) We arrived at our hotel, the Intercontinental Beachcomber, about 8 AM....however, our [View Full Entry]

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Huahine Forever, a inscription carved on the docks at the port town of fare on Huahine is what it feels like to be on this gorgeous isle. Having survived the ardous 9 hour freighter to the Island, I was met with beautiful mountain vistas along with crystal clear blue waters teeming with tropical fish practically swimming around your ankles. This island is truly inspirational. I can see how anyone can simple fall in love with its lagoons and peaceful atmosphere. It is simple timeless, nothing changes, nothing probably ever will nor should it. Camping out at edge of the beach [View Full Entry]

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Having escaped the cold of New Zealand, I threw out my jackets and jumpers for the shorts and t-shirt on the island of Tahiti. Being fowarned that French Polynesia can be quite expensive, I was out to find a place to camp on these magnificent islands to avoid breaking the budget. Tahiti isnt really what you would imagine, Its urban sprawl along the coast brings loud trucks, pollution and noise and not really what I would expect from a tropical paradise. About a half hour cruise to neighbouring Moorea, is much more like it! Amazingly coloured lagoons, the mountains inspiring [View Full Entry]

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Dick says for me to warn you that it takes a long time for us to upload pictures to the Blog, so if you go to our latest entry and find no pics, try again later and see if some are there. They may not show up right away. We have rejoined our ship today in Papeete on the big island of Tahiti, after spending the last two days on Bora Bora. I know we've said this before, but Bora Bora and its sister islands must surely be the most beautiful place on earth. Each one a green tropical paradise surrounded [View Full Entry]

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We docked this morning (Wednesday) at Raiatea, the first of the French Polyneasian islands we'll visit. Tomorrow is a stop at Bora Bora (think "South Pacific") where we will stay overnight at one of their famous resorts with thatch roofed huts over the water where the room service breakfast arrives on a canoe. This is something we heard about last year when we were here, and we wanted to try it out this time. These little islands are fabulously beautiful, each one surrounded by coral reefs so ugly things like tsunamis can't get through. The French own these islands, and they [View Full Entry]

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It well become more dificult to write these Blogs when we have sea days. We have lots to do but few new pictures. This is our second sea day out of four before we get to Tahiti. There are 44 ports in 101 days. Some of the ports we stay in more than one day. We are signed up for six overland tours which last from one to four days (leave ship in one port and rejoin ship in some cases three to four days latter in another port. The whole Trip can be seen at www.crystalcruses.com. Dick [View Full Entry]

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I've got it all wrong... I was pretty cocky in planning this trip.. the timing of things, the exotic locations I had selected..they were all perfect... but I have got it wrong. In allowing a year to explore the world, and 2 weeks for the South Pacific, I have got things the wrong way round... a year here would be just fine... this place is simply the place that daydreams are made of. Tahiti.. the name conjours up images in your mind, I bet, of reef fringed lagoons of baby blue water, swaying palm trees, pretty polynesian girls wearing floral patterns [View Full Entry]

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We're in Tahiti now. We left Easter Island on Sunday evening and had a 6 hour journey to Papeete, where we were greeted at the airport by a band playing Polynesian music and women in traditional dress giving out flowers to wear behind our ears (and yes, Graeme did wear his for a while!). We stayed in a really nice hotel near the airport for the night, and the view in the morning was amazing - across the ocean to Moorea, a neighbouring island which rises spectacularly from the ocean. Photo will appear here soon! The next morning we took the [View Full Entry]

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It's always been a dream destination of mine...to see Tahiti. Her beautiful Islands lived up to the gorgeous brochures we have all seen and drooled over. But, the sparkling jewel was defintely....Bora Bora. The beauty of this island took my breath away! I visited Papette, Huahine, Moorea....which were all beautiful, but Bora Bora just stands out with it's amazing view. As I landed, and saw the almost black mountains{Mount Otemanu and Mount Pahia}, with the lush emerald greenery and the stunningly gorgeous blue lagoons...no words can describe the beauty. If, I appear to be 'gushing' it's bec [View Full Entry]

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