#75541 - 08/10/08 05:05 PM
Summer 2008 in FP: Part 2 Moorea-Raiatea
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vaitape
Expert Advisor
Registered: 02/09/02
Posts: 1387
Loc: socal
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Part 2: Moorea-Raiatea
First, some additional comments on Moorea:
We met Jacques, caretaker at Fare Hamara and he took us on a tour of the property. Jacques lives in a smaller fare on the property but his fare is not visible from the main house. He is available for questions and assistance and he is one great guy in our books!
The house is just beautiful and perfectly maintained with all the modern conveniences imaginable including a free-standing ice machine! Loved the decks with their commanding views of Opunohu Bay and the sea beyond, the clever bbq, and the sunshades.
There is a large capacity Maytag washer available but now that I think of it, I can’t remember if there is a dryer. The kitchen is well equipped with every cook’s tool. There is a TV, and also a CD/DVD player. The living room furniture is very comfortable and again, the views of Opunohu Bay are awesome.
The bedrooms are large (have to confess, I sat on the beds to do a quick test and they are very comfortable in my opinion; they are not soft,saggy mattresses). Pareos, linens, towels are found in a well-ordered closet and beach gear is provided too. The bathhouse is something to be experienced in person!
All in all, Fare Hamara is a terrific home. Probably you would benefit by having a car there but even with the car rental cost factored in, Fare Hamara makes for a reasonably priced Moorea vacation. We were bummed that the house was rented during the time we were on Moorea but that’s what next time is for.
Another comment before we leave Moorea:
There are some good musicians on Moorea to enjoy. Scurvy Jack plays at the Sheraton Beach Bar and also Aito’s. Romy, a guitar player, is featured some nights at the larger hotels and also at Alfredo’s in Cook’s Bay.
We spent a really fun evening at the Moorea Sheraton’s main bar listening to a group that featured Dorielle, a popular female singer. She is very good and drew a large crowd of locals to the Sheraton that night. Besides her incredible voice and singing style, we enjoyed watching the locals dance; those hips do sway! A local couple sitting near us asked us to dance……GADS, what fun. We usually aren’t dancers but we sure were that night. Our compliments go to the Moorea Sheraton for their entertainment venues. PS/I couldn’t remember Dorielle’s name so I emailed the hotel to ask. I received a response from Miki in Guest Relations within 10 minutes. Now that is good customer service, eh?
OK, on to Raiatea:
15 June: We flew to Raiatea directly from Moorea. We were certain that we would be charged for our loaded bags but we escaped without a fee. The woman behind the counter said that they are a bit lenient up to 25 kilos; however, just figure you are lucky if you aren’t charged for excess weight. The wind was really strong and I wasn’t exactly relaxed on the flight. Several folks were airsick. The landing was a white-knuckle experience for me and I was glad to be on terra firma. We were able to catch a ride to our hotel with the owner who was at the airport to pick up another guest....worked out great.
We stayed at the Hotel Raiatea Lodge for 7 nights. This hotel has changed hands several times, most recently in February when Carine and Olivier took over. They are an enterprising young French couple who were working in Reunion before coming to FP. They have a beautiful baby girl who is so comfortable in her position as Hotel Baby. They are funny, serious about making a success of their hotel, and we enjoyed our stay with them very much.
The hotel, located at pk 10 in Miri Miri, has a lovely swimming pool and a pontoon across the road. We sat there for our sunset viewing most evenings (terrific with Bora Bora just over there!) and husband also snorkeled off there. 2 2-person kayaks are available for guests and there is access to the motu across the lagoon. Several yachting couples came for a night or 2 ashore while we were there. Made for good conversation during happy hour and in the dining room.
Accoms: The 16 rooms are upstairs from the open air front desk, lobby area, bar, and resto. They are a comfortable size and have air-conditioning, tv, fridge, and French doors opening onto a balcony terrace that overlooks the hotel grounds and the lagoon across the road. Bed is good. Ice available downstairs. Funny shower but no problems with hot water or water pressure.
Food: The hotel resto serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Olivier cooks most evenings. Entrees are generous and most are between 1700 and 1900 xpf. On the menu is Osso Bucco, pasta with shrimp, and several fish selections cooked to perfection with just the right sauce. Olivier is a very good innovative chef who will prepare a meal that is not on the menu with just a bit of advance notice. Sharing an entrée is not a problem here either. I loved the baked mashed pumpkin au gratin! On our last night, they served us carpaccio of shrimp (in a passion fruit sauce, WOW) and crayfish. That was the night Poehere and Jean-Michel joined us for dinner. We aren’t breakfast eaters and for lunch we would often buy a baguette and some cheese and ham at the magasin for a picnic on the pontoon. The magasin is less than a kilometer from the hotel and is well stocked.
We had 2 dinners at Le Napoli on the Uturoa side of the airport. The first was pizza au feu du bois………excellent. The next meal was the steak au feu du bois (2850 but a HUGE serving). We shared and could not finish all of it. The resto owner is nice and quite family oriented. Kids head for the bar in front of the wood-burning oven where he provides small rolling pins, dough, and toppings to create their own mini pizzas. Makes for a nice evening. Wines are cheap starting at 900 xpf for a carafe of house red.
We discovered Brasserie Maraamu in Uturoa that serves good, cheap Chinese food. Shared a huge plate of special chow mein for 1100 xpf for lunch one day. It is on the water side of the street at Gare Maritime and across from the marche. There is a Chinese resto there at the Quay called the Sea Dragon. Looks very nice and has an extensive, fairly priced menu but we did not eat there...ran out of time when we had the car.
On one of our around-the-island drives, we stopped at Hotel Atiapiti and had lunch. Expensive expensive expensive 3100 xpf for a small green salad and a small plate of fish carpaccio. Never mind, the setting was lovely (as I justified it anyway).
Snorkeling, Weather, Shopping,etc: Windy, windy, windy, and some more very strong wind. Again, cool water but current ok where husband snorkeled. Some rain at night, some showers during the day but no all-day rain. Some nights were long-sleeve nights but very comfortable day time temps.
We rented a car for 3 days from EuropCar; picked up and then delivered back to the hotel when we returned the car. We received a special rate through Raiatea Lodge hotel. We drove around the island each day and saw different things every time. We walked through the famous Marae de Taputapuatea which is adjacent to Hotel Atiapiti. We’d already visited Le Vanillere but do recommend it to you who haven’t. There is a pearl farm that offer tours. We didn’t do the river or lagoon excursions but Bruno’s comes very highly recommended. We were content just to drive and stop at various look-outs, churches, and schools around this very lush agricultural island. There are no real beaches to speak of other than at the Sunset Beach Motel and at Hotel Atiapiti. Beach goers can also find their way to the motus via water taxi from the main quay in Uturoa.
Snorkeling is great at Hotel Atiapiti. Husband swam out from the pontoon about 75-100 meters to where the light and dark water meet. He saw lots of fish of many different varieties, small moray eels, but not the sea turtles known to be found there. Snorkeling off the pontoon at the Raiatea Lodge hotel is good too but not like at the Atiapiti.
Good shopping in Uturoa for curios and pearls. We weren’t in the market for either so made no purchases. There are 3 grocery stores in Uturoa. Our favorite was Supermarche Liaut on the street behind the Champion. This store is very clean, has helpful staff, and a wide variety of foods including TORTILLAS! We found it interesting that all 3 stores had scanners in some aisles so you could check on prices if the items weren’t marked. This is the store where Olivier and also Brigette, the owner of the pensione on Tahaa, do their shopping. Prices were less than Moorea for most things in the supermarches by as much as 15%. Go figure. Baguettes were 51 xpf which is the price set by the government, if I understand correctly.
We drove through Sunset Beach Motel which wasn’t far from our hotel. The grounds are beautiful and well kept. The bungalows look large and comfortable and there is some beach in front. This is where Poehere stayed. We had such a terrific time with them! They are genuinely nice people and have many tales of the South Pacific to tell. And you should see her lovely HUGE pearl……never seen one like that before. Poehere and Jean-Michel have wonderful senses of humor and we certainly hope that our paths cross again. We saw the Sunset Beach Motel van in front of Champion and wonder if they take their guests to do food shopping in Uturoa. We also saw the van with some kite boarders. Man, those guys sailed high and far!
Olivier took us into town in the morning of our last day and waited while we shopped for pasta, meat, and other staples for our stay on Tahaa. It was a very quick week.
Stay tuned for Tahaa and then our return to Raiatea.
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#75542 - 08/10/08 05:59 PM
Re: Summer 2008 in FP: Part 2 Moorea-Raiatea
[Re: vaitape]
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holte
Expert Advisor
Registered: 11/19/04
Posts: 2417
Loc: Duluth, Minnesota
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Once again an excellent report that reads like it is written by an accomplished author!
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#75543 - 08/10/08 06:09 PM
Re: Summer 2008 in FP: Part 2 Moorea-Raiatea
[Re: holte]
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Submarine
Expert Advisor
Registered: 01/03/03
Posts: 1033
Loc: Gilbert, Arizona, USA
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What nights does Dorielle perform at the Sheraton?
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#75544 - 08/10/08 07:16 PM
Re: Summer 2008 in FP: Part 2 Moorea-Raiatea
[Re: Submarine]
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hamara
Expert Advisor
Registered: 01/07/02
Posts: 2319
Loc: Washington/Moorea
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Great report. Thanks for the kind remarks about our home
Fare Hamara. Yes we have a Maytag gas dryer converted to local propane.
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#75560 - 08/11/08 08:25 PM
Re: Summer 2008 in FP: Part 2 Moorea-Raiatea
[Re: hamara]
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vaitape
Expert Advisor
Registered: 02/09/02
Posts: 1387
Loc: socal
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Submarine: How's it going? Are you returning to FP soon? I think Dorielle performed on Friday night but here is an email address for Miki at Sheraton Moorea Guest Relations: info.moorea@sheraton.pf
She can tell you if Dorielle performs routinely or what her future schedule is.
hamara: You are welcome for sure but really, I just called it as I saw it regarding your lovely Moorea home. You and Mary have done a wonderful job there and we wish we had been as forward thinking as you 2 were "back in the day" when it was easier to get property over there in paradise.
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#75563 - 08/12/08 03:07 AM
Re: Summer 2008 in FP: Part 2 Moorea-Raiatea
[Re: vaitape]
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loveners
Junior Member
Registered: 06/24/08
Posts: 13
Loc: new Zealand
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Am loving reading about the trip, thanks for the write-up
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#75568 - 08/12/08 09:28 AM
Re: Summer 2008 in FP: Part 2 Moorea-Raiatea
[Re: loveners]
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vaitape
Expert Advisor
Registered: 02/09/02
Posts: 1387
Loc: socal
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Thanks loveners. Will hopefully get to Tahaa and the rest of Raiatea today. Am concerned that I'm being too wordy though.....
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#75575 - 08/12/08 01:48 PM
Re: Summer 2008 in FP: Part 2 Moorea-Raiatea
[Re: vaitape]
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islandboyatheart
Expert Advisor
Registered: 07/19/05
Posts: 1376
Loc: Florida
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Nice report Vai - pretty much to the point in my opinion - not too wordy. Did you drive around the entire island of Raiatea or just certain parts? I was thinking of driving around the entire island and was curious what you thought.
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#75598 - 08/13/08 10:28 AM
Re: Summer 2008 in FP: Part 2 Moorea-Raiatea
[Re: islandboyatheart]
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BarbiJKM
Supreme Advisor
Registered: 02/14/07
Posts: 6150
Loc: Mesa, AZ
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Great report, Vaitape! Keep it coming...
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#75612 - 08/13/08 05:44 PM
Re: Summer 2008 in FP: Part 2 Moorea-Raiatea
[Re: BarbiJKM]
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Suki (689)
Senior Advisor
Registered: 10/29/07
Posts: 920
Loc: ELA US of A
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SIMPLY HEAVAN dont wake me !!!FP4LIFE!!!
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