Enjoying Moorea (again)

This is our 3rd visit to the island of Moorea and we are loving it more each time. We keep finding more treasures as we expand our explorations.

Happy Birthday Doug - you look marvelous!

Moorea was a wonderful place to celebrate Doug's 58th birthday too. His present - kite surfing lessons. He might be the oldest one out there, but I am proud of him for trying!

Expert Kite Surfer!

As you can see, he has got some serious competition. I hope to post some good pictures of my surfer dude soon - we are waiting for some wind so that Doug can take his 2nd lesson. Too fun.

Moondance is the small boat!

We are anchored in the beautiful Opunohu bay again in 20 feet of water with an amazing view of the spire of Mt. Mouaroa behind us. Cruise ships show up once in awhile - they seem a bit big for our bay. Good thing they don't stay long.

What a bike ride!

We decided to unpack our bikes and tour some of the island. We had heard of a shortcut to Cook's bay over the ridge. It was not a short cut, mostly dirt road, and had a steep grade, but we made it and loved the view.

Church in Cook's Bay

We decided not to take the shortcut back (go figure), but continued along the main road. We had hope to find a place to watch some football, but there is nothing open on Sundays - nothing except Church! Oh well, we got some good exercise and enjoyed the ride.

Distillery - why not?

There is a pineapple (ananas) plantation along the shortcut - lots of pineapple. So, we were happy to find that there was also a distillery: Jus de Fruits de Moorea. Open every day and free tastings. We loved the coconut (coco) liqueur and just had to buy some.

Sailing school

These guys are so entertaining! There is a sailing school off the beach and most mornings you can see these boats racing around and the kids laughing (love those belly laughs) and screaming. Keeps the owner busy for sure!

Shrimp farming

Carol and Doug decided to check out the shrimp (crevettes) farm, which is open to the public on Wednesday from 10 - 2. It was quite a process to see them rounding up the shrimp. The shrimp were good, but not as good as the shrimp in Mazatlan. Miss those!

Moondance surrounded by palm trees

We are have finally figured out Moorea's public transportation. The buses only run when the ferry from Tahiti runs - you just have to know the ferry schedule. The bus is $300 francs and, as far as we can tell, it only goes part way around the island.

Hitchhiking also works well on Moorea and we have met some very nice folks - nice enough to take us past their destination just to please us. Love it.

Short cut?

We will be leaving Moorea in the next couple of days. We are waiting for a weather window to motor/sail to the Tuamotu islands. We "think" we will visit the island of Toau - all the cruisers tell us it is wonderful. We shall see!

Thanks for sharing your photos, Carol.