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Published: February 15th 2013
When I saw all the cruise shippers loading into mini vans heading for the ferry to Moorea I realised i had best get moving if I was going to avoid spending another expensive night on Tahiti. The Armenti ferrys are huge, cargo and cars go across to Moorea fully loaded on a lovely 30 minute trip across the Sea of the Moon. Everything that cant be grown or caught on Moorea must be ferried across and the Armentis are excellent ferrys....on days when there are not 8000 cruise shippers headed there. I missed the first ferry when I got to the dock, sold out and about to leave, but another would go in an hour so I grabbed a ticket and a cold drink while i was waiting. The system is pretty straight forward, you throw your luggage in great big crates and hope that it comes off at the other end..which it usually does. The crossing itself was lovely other than the ferry being full of locals squeezed between cruise shippers. The catamarans have snack bars, a bar and a top deck which is the best place to get a view..if you can find a spot. As I was boarding
the ferry I noticed two pitbulls with muzzles on sitting peacefully beside their owners who were not allowed inside but according to FP law as long as the dog is muzzled as the breed has been declared dangerous, it can go on public transport.
I spent the short ferry ride chatting to a nice lady from Canada doing her bucketlist trip on one of the ships who had decided to stay an overnighter on Moorea with her group of 20 friends before the amazing jurassic scenery of Moorea slipped into view through the misty rains and low clouds. The unloading process at the other end while chaotic just seems to work so in a few minutes i had my bags and walked towards the road to start hitching. Id noticed a young guy with a board on the ferry and another guy with a guitar and we had exchanged smiles..maybe travellers have a kindred vibe we detect subliminally, a solo person pursuiing their dream, be it surfing the big waves or diving the depths. The two young guys headed up the road and stuck their thumbs out so I dumped my bag under a shady tree beside a ladys
stall selling fresh fruits and stuck my thumb out. A car zoomed past me and stopped for the guy with the guitar. The next car went straight past me too and picked up the guy with the surfboard..what? arent I..a middle aged woman on my own struggling under the weight of dive gear supposed to get a lift first?....nope, not on Moorea, its he or she who has walked the farthest gets the first lift. A fair system i have to admit.
My lift was a lovely lady Tiena who had a tiny little car crammed full of everything from brooms to books to bananas..she smiled and said..cram your bags in, theres still room until we hit the roof. A bit of pushing and shoving I got my bags in and opened the passenger door to find a box down on the floor taped shut but moving...Tiena explained she was moving house and her rooster was in the box but if i put one leg either side of him I would fit. I did. I had to pull my dress up to be able to spread my legs far enough apart to not squash the box..very dignified but we
both laughed. We were chatting about kids and she was very impressed with my tour of FP by myself and had just said "You have a brave soul" when the bloody roosters head popped out of the gap between the folds on the box shortly followed by 3/4 of an angry cockrel - it wouldve been an entire rooster if i hadnt panicked and quickly shut my legs which effectively trapped the rest of the rooster inside the box.
I am shit scared of roosters and chickens. I dont like the way they move their heads. I was very afraid..she was trying to find somewhere to pull over, i was trying to not let the rooster out of the box anymore than he was and speaking an obscure aussie dialect particular to the chickenshit tribe..gethimthefuckoffmeyelpeekfuckk....which translated perfectly in polynesian to peapea..Problem. She started cracking up laughing when i did this full back arch exorcist style leap off the seat when its feathers brushed against my thigh - IT TOUCHED ME GET ME HOME MUMM HELP!
She managed to pull over laughing her head off saying..is only chicken why you so scared as she casually grabbed it by the
neck (which i wanted to do but not so gently) and stuffed it back inside the box holding the box closed with one hand and fishing around in the little hatchback and magically pulling out a pareo which she tied around the box while i stood outside the car trying to regain some dignity but finally laughing. Welcome to Moorea.
We exchanged FB and emails as she dropped me off at the Pearl where I was back into luxury and scented facial towels on arrival and a welcome cocktail and all those lovely things like room service and housekeeping. Staff were fantastic and explained the location of the local marche so I walked up there once id checked into the beautiful garden bungalow and had a quick dip in the amazing infinity pool to freshen up and just sat for a while taking it all in, beautiful place. I bought the customary cheese and baguettes and some pringles from the marche, had a fresh juice and a crepe at the awesome beautiful sinfully fattening Caramelline and went back to see if i could find the dive guy.
The concierge gave me directions to the dive centre on the
Pearls property and I headed down there only to find it closed. I had to dive as soon as possible after Rangis incident. Ok, well i had the opening hours and would be down there in the morning. A bunch of guys pulled in a local fishing boat and were unloading their catch sitting around joking and laughing so I looked over and smiled and walked up when one waved me over to check out their catch.
When i was on Bora Bora Taaroa had warned me about bad guys on Moorea. In Rangi, I had been told the same thing. Id read reports of women being raped at that hotel and others as Moorea is a pretty dark place when the sun goes down. And what did I do? I walked straight up and introduced myself to the local bad guys..the moorea mafia...Go me!
For someone with an education and a few experiences under my belt I can be pretty fucking stupid at times. I was wearing a tanktop and shorts. I was chatting away to them happily, took a few pics of their tattoos on my Ipad and was showing them pics on my Ipad when
one who was obviously only a little polynesian spotted the skywalk app and asked what it was. I said at night it showed the stars over where I was. I noticed one toothless old drunk ogling me so I said goodbye and walked back to my room, not liking the feeling of them at all. These were the guys everyone had warned me about.
Just after dark I had just had a shower and was about to order up room service when I heard a knock at the door....the old drunk guy. They had watched me walk back to my room and he knew which room I was in. I stepped outside and asked him what he wanted, pulling the door closed behind me but not locking it as i stupidly hadnt grabbed the swipekey. He said he wanted to see the stars...fuck. I told him to wait there and pulled the door tight shut behind me which is when i shouldve called security but for some dumb reason, probably because everyone had been so nice and kind before, i thought if i can get him off this deck and into a brightly lit area then people will see
him. I quickly walked down to the brightest light i could find, and there are not many at the pearl and showed him the stars quickly then said I had to go. He spoke no english and no french. He reeked of alcohol. Even though the hotel was full my bungalow was at the rear of the property and very isolated. I said again that I had to go and he lurched forward and grabbed my bum and started groping me. NO FUCKING WAY IS THIS GOING TO HAPPEN. I shoved his shoulders and lifted up my knee and delivered a spot on knee to the groin....dirty old bastard get the hell off me. He let go off course as soon as I Kneed himin the nuts and I ran back and basically baricaded myself in the bungalow. I couldnt believe this had nearly happened to me.
I thought i was streetwise..I thought i was cool..I thought i was all grown up and middle aged and this stuff happened to young dumb backpackers...I handled the situation so wrong..I was just too trusting and friendly and assumed everyone is a peaceful mungbean like me. It was a BIG
wake up call. I spoke to security the next morning and they went and tracked him down and had a chat. Even the girls on reception told me to be careful as there were bad guys around here..I know first hand.
Moorea, I hope you are kinder to me the next few days...
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Top marks for TB's most risque title :)
Just come back from Bangkok and been toying with the blog title: 'Bangkok: She will if you pay her enough' that said, I don't think the Admins will approve. Anyway, love the blogs Cindy, keep 'em coming :)