Blogs from French Polynesia, Oceania - page 35

After we left NZ we wanted to chill on a good beach in the Pacific for a few days and as the flight to Easter Island (our next stop) goes via Tahiti it made sense to stop there....and we were not going to argue. We arrived to Polynesian music and flower garlands but as it is a French island they had an EU channel believe it or not so we didn´t even get a stamp in our passport!!! How disappointing. As we had now crossed the date line we managed to have two March 10th´s, the 1st one was spent in Auckland and the 2nd time around we got to sit on the beach and swim in the sea. Not a bad repeat of the day, it was like groundhog day, shame that it doesn´t happen ... read more

Auf nach Bora Bora ??? Nach einem halben Jahr Backpacking in den billigsten Unterkuenften und Zelten, haben wir uns gedacht - wenn man schon in der Gegend ist - muss man auch mal in der Suedsee vorbei schauen. Mein Traum war es immer mal nach Bora Bora zu fliegen - wieso weiss ich auch nicht ganz genau, es muss wohl der magische Namen sein! Einen Flug hatten wir schon seid geraumer Zeit. Als wir uns dann den Lonely Planet gekauft haben, um genaueres zu Planen, wurde uns aber erst mal schlecht: die Preise sind einfach jenseits von Gut und Boese. Und Bora Bora ist auch noch die teuerste der teuren Inseln - na so ein Zufall. So einfach mal hinfliegen und dann schaun geht wohl nicht.... also haben wir uns in Neuseeland nach Pauschalangeboten umgeschaut. Pauschalurlaub ... read more

This is the second largest of the Society Islands (after Tahiti) and one that was added to our voyage when the scheduled stop at Niue was cancelled again because of inadequate landing facilities. Ra'iatea means 'bright sky' in Tahitian. The island is located about 25 kilometers short of Bora Bora when travelling from Tahiti. The island is regarded as the 'centre' of the ancient eastern Polynesian Islands. The traditional name for the island is Havai'i and it is regarded as the homeland of the Mãori people. However, this island was in no way a serious tourist centre - or at least not for beach lovers. The approach should have been interesting for those who attended the navigation class earlier in the trip. MSVG had a difficult negotiation through the reef, which is well short of Uturoa, ... read more

Not a lot to say really; paradise is paradise and can become quite boring second time around. We repeated our mile and a half walk from the tender jetty, this time to find no towels as our fellow travellers were taking three and four apiece. So we had to wait 40 minutes - having deliberately delayed our departure because of the long day and little to do - before we could ensconce ourselves on the beach. Usual excellent bbq but this time we elected to take a direct boat ride back to the ship rather than walk. So as not to appear too disgruntled, nay churlish, this would have been a good day for the SCUBA brigade or those minded to pay an arm and a leg to visit the neighbouring Kia Ora Hotel Resort. An ... read more

Moorea, Society Islands January 22nd brings us to Moorea, the most beautiful island thus far. A local priest changed the name from Pao Pao to Moorea after a yellow lizard appeared in a dream he had. This is where South Pacific was filmed, and it is indeed breathtakingly beautiful here. The 1984 version of The Bounty with Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins was filmed here, not Tahiti as I may have said before. We took a tour around the whole island and up to Belvedere Lookout for a stunning view. I can’t wait to get to a place where I can add more than two pictures! We stopped at some ruins where ancient sacrificial offerings were practiced. The pineapple plantation we visited gave us samples of various pineapple liquors, flavored with combinations of mango, papaya, and ... read more