#78355 - 01/06/09 10:33 AM
Vahine/Moorea 08 trip report
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DenverJoe
Expert Advisor
Registered: 09/10/02
Posts: 1849
Loc: Denver, Co.
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Special thanks to my sister-in-law Janel for keeping the journal of our trip. I couldn't have remembered as much without it.
Trip report November 2nd through the 17th, 2008 to Vahine Island and Moorea. Warning - Very LONG
We left Denver at 0830 for our flight to LAX. Bought 2 R/T tickets from Denver to LAX and used miles to upgrade to First Class. Check-in was a breeze. We check our 2 bags all the way through to PPT. I made sure the luggage tags had the LAX/PPT tags on them and then never saw them again until we landed in Tahiti.
We arrived in LA at 10 AM and went straight to the ATN check-in counter. We splurged and purchased Business class tickets this time for the room and ability to sleep comfortably in a big seat. There was no line for business check-in so we went right to the counter and were checked in immediately. With business class, you get a pass to the ATN lounge for the 3 hour wait prior to departure. There is also a business class line to get through security which was really great as the economy lines went from one end of the terminal to the other. We went right to the head of the line and were through in no time flat. This is a real plus as is the lounge. In the lounge, they have food, drinks, internet and a comfy place to wait. We loaded our carry-on with snacks, V8, pop, and a few mini bottles of champagne and some beers. This really came in handy on Vahine as there was no place to buy this sort of thing once you arrived.
At about ½ hour before flight time, they announced they were ready to board. We left the lounge and made our way to the gate for boarding. Once again, business and first class boards first, another perk. We boarded the bus and were taken to the aircraft. As soon as we got settled in our seats, we were served a choice of champagne or juice. I immediately settled in and once airborne, took about a 5 hour nap. The rest of the flight was uneventful. The food was not as good as in the past, but still better than any US airline. The time flew by and soon we were landing in Papeete.
We were some of the first people off the aircraft and breezed through immigration to pick up our luggage. Customs was also quick. We stopped to use an ATM to get some cash for the trip, and then we jumped in a cab for the 2 minute trip to the Tahiti airport motel. Other people have reviewed this hotel and our experience was no different. This is more about convenience than comfort and luxury. It is a nice place to overnight before a morning flight. We awoke early the next morning and walked out the back way from the hotel, across the street, and into the airport.
The flight to Vahine was uneventful. We then took a 45-minute ride from the airport to Vahine, stopping first for boat gas. We took advantage of the stop and ran into the Champion store for beer, pop and bottled water. We arrived at Vahine Private Resort early afternoon. We were warmly welcomed by Sylvie at the dock. She is French and very hospitable. We all received the customary lei and fresh juice with a tiny umbrella and fresh slice of pineapple. Sylvie gave us an orientation of the resort and showed us to our bungalows. The resort consisted of 3 over-the-water bungalows and 6 beachside bungalows. Our bungalows were gorgeous spacious rooms with decks. We did a quick ocean swim at the resort to cool off—the weather was quite warm and humid, of course.
We went up to the restaurant for an early happy hour. Our first drink was a wonderful tropical rum beverage. The bartender brought us roasted coconut fries. We returned to our bungalows for a quick “cool-down” shower and dressed for dinner. Dinner was great. We all turned in early being a bit tired from the big trip from home
On Tuesday at 8:45 a.m., we met Bruno, L’excursion Bleu, for our all-day snorkeling trip. The “coral garden”, a drift snorkel trip, was beautiful. The trip was in a medium current with lots of twists and turns. There was lots of beautiful pink and purple brain coral. There were so many great fish. We fed the fish fresh banana supplied by Bruno.
We made another snorkel stop by a reef and attempted to see some sharks. We had no luck, however, there was lots of beautiful coral but few fish. The water was a bit rough and we headed back to the boat. The next stop was for lunch at the pension. We dined on poison cru, “fish donuts”, which was small deep-fried Marlin. We also had baked Marlin, chicken, rice, coconut bread and a delicious sauce of Sashimi and honey mustard. We enjoyed a homemade rum punch made by Bruno. We also enjoyed a couple of bottles of French wine. We walked around the little pension which was very quaint and basic. Bruno gave us a personal tour of the area by the beach where the fish were in separate, contained pens. We saw turtles, a stone fish and a puffer fish. The turtle was quite stressed and did not want to be picked up by Bruno.
We then took a board ride to the vanilla plantation on Tahaa. It was a short walk from the dock to a family owned plantation. The owner (a middle-aged French gentleman) gave us a detailed tour of the planting, pollination (which is done by hand) picking, drying, etc. His ex-wife (a Tahitian woman) assisted with the tour. We all bought vanilla beans, lotions, etc. We returned to the boat for an enjoyable ride to the resort.
At 6:30 we had “Happy Hour” on Don and Janel’s deck. There were lots of laughs and fun. Dinner again was delicious. A young Polynesian family played traditional music and danced. The bongo player was a three year old adorable boy. I snuck up between two women performers and asked if I could join them. I joined right in as if I’m part of the show. What a hoot! After several songs, they enticed all the women guests to join them in dance. They all received a headdress of beautiful flowers. The women danced beautifully. Then it was the guys’ turn. They each received a headdress of palm fronds. Bev then gave the young boy a glow stick which Bev made into a necklace. He was so excited. Bev also gave the other young children a glow stick and asked them to share with the other children on the island. Fabrice, the excellent restaurant chef, gave an outstanding fire dancing performance. We then returned to our bungalows for an after dinner drink.
On Wednesday, Bev and Joe went with a group of people at the resort, led by “beach boy” for a reef walk in front of our bungalows. They saw lots of fish and coral. Janel had the “best massage ever” from a Tahitian woman at the bungalow. We all had another delicious dinner at the restaurant. Bev and Joe visited briefly with the Colorado couple, the French couple and the Italian couple, whom they had met earlier in the day.
On Thursday, the four of us walked the perimeter of the island. What a beautifully serene walk, discovering the island. We all had a great time discovering a different little sea creature with a unique body shape. It was a fun lazy day at the island. Deck drinks before dinner is becoming part of the enjoyably relaxing island days!
Friday was a travel day to Moorea. It was sad to leave Vahine Resort, as it was so serene, pristine and private. The views of Bora Bora in different times of day and different weather conditions were breath-taking. The people were so friendly and warm and it felt like leaving family. So, after 4 nights we said goodbye to Sylvie and Thierry and all the staff and left for our flight to Papeete and then Moorea. But not to worry, as it was on to our next island in Tahiti—Robinson’s Cove beach house on Moorea.
I had forgotten how small the Air Moorea aircraft were. It was interesting to watch the pilots for our 5 minute flight through a non-existent cockpit door. After collecting our luggage, we headed for the Avis counter to pick up the rental car. We had 4 adults and 4 pieces of luggage. It was a tight fit with 1 small suitcase in with the front passenger, and one large piece between passengers in the back seat, the rest in the
‘trunk’. It took about 20 minutes to get to RCV. Warning, the sign and gate for the villa are rather hard to see. We almost missed it as the gate was closed. Opening the gate I drove in. On the right was the caretaker
Residence and the left was RCV, separated by a bamboo grove. We brought the luggage in, un-packed and started to explore the villa. We met Alix, our French-speaking caretaker. Then Jacques met us at the house too. Jacques spoke great English and helped us with the orientation of the beach house.
The villa is exactly as the picture at the end of this report shows. Bev and I took the master bedroom, while her brother and sister-in-law took the garden. The nice thing is the bedrooms have A/C. And it works well.
Bev and Janel made a quick trip to the nearest grocery store near “Snack Rotui” for some basic supplies; i.e., beer, wine, bottled water, cheese, breakfast items, etc. Not knowing that the store did not take US currency or credit cards, Janel and Bev pooled their French $$$ while in the store. Bev had $0 and Janel had $15,000 xpf, but neither knew if that was approximately $15.00 or $150.00 US. We dined that night at the Sunset restaurant at the Hibiscus hotel and crashed early.
On Saturday we met Barbie and her husband, Randy, at the old Moorea Village Resort in the evening. Jan Prince, the author of “Tahiti & the French Polynesian Guide” (5th Edition), Jacques, Cecile (celebrating her 65th birthday) and Ushi (a travel agent friend of Barbi’s) plus a couple of folks whose names I don’t remember. We walked around what used to be the Moorea Village Resort. It was very sad as we have such fond memories of the place and all the fun we had there. It is in sad shape and very overgrown. Although the place is in bad shape it is still beautiful in spirit. We had dinner at “Le Mayflower!” It was so delicious! We returned to our great beach bungalow for some after-dinner drinks.
On Sunday, Bev and Janel got up early and drove to the Champion store for big groceries! Don and I did the same load of laundry for about 2 hours trying to figure out the clothes washer, while they went grocery shopping. We had a late breakfast of delicious croissants, juice, and coffee at the house. We drove around the entire island today and drove up to the Belvedere. It was so beautiful! We ate lunch at Snack Rotui. That night, we dined at Aito’s Restaurant where we were royally waited on by Vincent, our waiter and Jean Baptiste, “the Corsican”. What a great evening. The people sitting next to us were a surgeon and his wife, Ellen, from Texas. A very friendly couple!
On Monday at about 9:00 am, Maluha and Patea (friends of ours from Fakarava) stopped by with their 3 month-old daughter, Ava-Iti. What a pretty family! Bev & Joe had many cute gifts for Ava-Iti .After they left, we jumped in the car and stopped by the Intercontinental Resort to see if Bernard (boat guy) was there—no such luck! Don & Joe went for a beer at the resort bar while Bev and Janel took a refreshing dip in their pool. We lunched at “Snack Mahana” which was recommended by Patea. We had great Sashimi, raw shrimp with coconut, cucumber and tomato, Tuna Tartar and Tuna Carpaccio, another great dish. Snack Mahana was located along the roadside. Their front yard was the dining area with plastic tables and chairs. When we first walked up to the table, there were 2 large rays by the water’s edge. Paradise is everywhere around us! …and the Hinano’s (local beer) taste extra special with a view. That night we dined on an assortment of cheeses and pate right on our own deck beachside at the villa.
Tuesday at 8:30 am we met Bernard for our Snorkel/Circle Island Tour from Intercontinental Resort. We saw Eagle rays, sea turtles (2), male and female whales and then a mother and baby whale a few minutes later. Joe, Bev and Janel dropped in by the boat, in the deep, deep ocean to try to spot the mother and baby whale. Unfortunately, Mom and Bambino headed off in a different direction. Comprehension of “the abyss” is all so real now. What a beautiful day. The ocean was exceptionally calm and Bernard was able to ride the waves outside the atoll as if we were surfing. We stopped to feed the rays and Black-tipped sharks.
We said good-bye to Bernard and stopped at Les Tipaniers for a great Sashimi lunch. There are lots of locals and French people at this large pension. We scoped out the place for a possible next vacation. The bungalows look nice. We ate dinner at Allo Pizza by the street. This place is so cutely decorated with lots of lights. It’s fun to sit roadside and watch the traffic go by. The fire oven-baked pizza is really good. We couldn’t leave without getting some of the “Legendary” Chocolate mouse’ “to go!” It was fun to enjoy this dessert on the deck back at the house. There are some amazing moon beams at night! The moon is so bright that it casts shadows and lights up Opunohu Bay beyond belief. A person just has to see this for himself—a photograph cannot capture the lighting! While enjoying our evening on the deck, Balto decides to start digging in the sand on the beach. All 4 of us are watching this crazy dog dig a hole about 10-12 inches deep. She finally captures a large crab and plays with it. After playing with the crab for awhile, Balto sat her butt in the hole as if to say, “it’s my hole now!” What a character! Balto was not really interested in the crab, just staking the territory for herself. We turned in early—the “kids” played hard today.
Wednesday I ran to the store for croissants and baguettes. We had breakfast on the deck this morning. It’s another beautiful day, with a little added wind. We headed to the local public beach and grabbed a picnic table under a tall palm tree. Bev and Janel snorkeled and Don and I read books under the shade tree. It was a fun snorkel tour and a little bit of an aerobic workout for the gals. We lunched at Snack Rotui on spring rolls, fried shrimp, and ham and cheese baguettes. We stopped along the roadside for some fresh pineapple and bananas for the next day. We headed home. Bev and Janel walked up the road to a local stand to purchase some cute necklaces for Christmas presents. All 4 of us took a cool-down swim at our villa. The water is delightful. We had a dinner reservation at 7:30 pm at a great over the water-side table at Hotel Kaveka. There was an outstanding dessert of mango and chocolate sorbets. Do the French know how to do food or what?
On Thursday, Bev and I ran to the store for croissants. We ate these and the fresh pineapple, bananas and toasted baguettes. Emma visited early this morning all dressed for school. She returned a few minutes later with a warm large apple torte—so good and especially thoughtful. She is a cutie. We took a drive around the island, clockwise this time and stopped along the way at all the little stores. We sampled liquors at the local juice factory. Another thing that the French do well. We met Jacques, Jan Prince, and Jan’s friends, Esther and Tricia for lunch at Aito’s. Barbie and Randy were feeling under the weather and weren’t able to join us. We had yet another great meal.
When leaving the restaurant, Jacques invited us up to Fare Mahana, up the hill from Robinson’s Cove. Jacques is caretaker for Fare Hamara. We stopped back at our place to grab a cooler and some drinks to take with us to Jacques. We headed up the hill to Jacques’ with the Ford Focus. It was a steep grade up the hill and we laughed all the way. Fare Hamara was an octagon-shaped home built by the Bob Hammar. It was not unlike a log cabin on the inside. It was very spacious and homey. The only bathroom, which was very large, was located in a separate building on the backside of the home. Fare Hamara had a breath-taking view of Opunohu Bay. The home was surrounded by beautiful foliage which was thick like a jungle. The grounds were very well kept. Jacques gave us a nice tour of the home and his small quarters which was located in a separate space adjacent to the garage. Jacques opened up his room to a live chicken running around his room—anything goes in the tropics! We joined Jacques for some “cool ones” on the deck. Since we had purchased spring rolls, crispy coconut shrimp and other goodies earlier in the day at Snack Rotui, we had these and leftovers for a late dinner with wonderful wine on our covered deck at our villa. There are no stars in the sky tonight as it was cloud-covered. I spoke with Barbie on the phone and made some plans to meet the next day in the late afternoon. Alix and Emma checked in on us to see if we needed anything. They are so sweet.
Friday morning we had coffee about 8:00 am and decided to check out the beach to snorkel at Les Tipaniers. Don and I read books at the restaurant at Les Tipaniers and Janel and Bev headed down the beach to check out the snorkeling. There were outstanding numbers of fish of every color, anemones, very large and colorful coral which was very much alive. They saw the prettiest parrot fish of pastel and neon colors. There also were 2 or 3 large long fish near the surface of the water. The tiny blue “prison” fish were everywhere—too many to count! Bev and Janel snorkeled for about 1 ½ hours, enjoying every minute! They headed back to the guys. Since the restaurant was not open, we headed back home to shower and dress for lunch at Snack Mahana—one of our favorite places for the best food! We sat under a large tree by the beach. The cook—a middle-aged Tahitian woman (resembling a Chinese woman more so than a Tahitian woman) remembered us from our previous visits. The sky behind a large Windjammer sailboat in the ocean was beginning to look a little dark. As we ordered our food and began sipping on our drinks, it was soon clear that a storm was moving in. We all had to leave the table to look at the fresh Mahi-Mahi which was just delivered to the snack shack. That fish must have been 3.5 to 4 feet long. It took awhile for our food to be served, but we were in no hurry. Shortly after our food came, the wind picked up and it was evident that the rain was coming too. We moved to the inside of the shack which had a couple of tables under roof. We joined 2 large Tahitian men dining in the same small area. They certainly seemed unaffected by the incoming rains and quickly closed the shudder-like boards to keep the rain out. Bev and I had arranged to meet Randy and Barbie at 1:00 pm. We dropped Don and Janel back at the beach villa. The large Windjammer boat had entered our bay possibly to escape stronger winds outside the atoll. The boat is huge. Don and Janel sat on the deck reading and journaling. Around 4:15 Maluha phoned the house to invite us to a Rainy Day Bar B-Q at their home. We phoned Barbie and Randy and left a message for Joe to call us at the house. Joe phoned Maluha and we met Patea along the beach by the Champion store after buying some beer and to follow him back to their home. Patea and Maluha’s home was located about ¼ mile up the road from the Champion store. The road to their home was across the street from the beautiful home with the white Gingerbread-looking woodwork for trim. Their cute home was the 2nd or 3rd home on the right-hand side of the narrow road up the hill. We had a delicious meal of grilled chicken, which was marinated in soy sauce and oyster sauce, grilled sausages, both regular and spicy, rice salad with tomatoes, roasted corn, hard-boiled eggs and green olives (no dressing), baguettes, wine, Hinano’s and a fresh fruit dessert of mangoes, pineapples and bananas picked fresh from their front and back yard. Wow—simply delicious! We had so much fun listening to Maluha’s stories of island happenings, and Patea’s experiences with sharks, rays, whales, and free-diving and the building of their future home on the hillside on his grandmother’s property. Their 3-month old daughter, Ava-Iti was adorable. Maluha showed us her photos of a professional photography shoot at the resort on Fakarava of herself and 5 professional models from Poland She also showed us Patea’s beautiful DVD of fish, whales, coral, etc. of French Polynesia. Bev is so right in that he needs to submit his work to National Geographic Magazine or the like. We said goodnight and goodbye to Maluha, Patea and Ava-Iti and thanked them for the wonderful meal and great company. Maluha placed traditional beads around each of our necks. It was so genuinely warm hospitality of the Polynesian people. And what’s a Friday night without driving home and trying to hit every land crab in the road. Those land crabs seem extra big this trip. As we round the bay, we see the large Windjammer boat in the bay with lights around the boat and up its masts. It was so beautiful and looked like a carnival ride at Disneyworld. We spent a little time on our villa deck taking in the beautiful sights in the bay and headed to bed! It’s our last night on the island and a bit sad, for sure.
Saturday and it’s a big travel day home. We decide to spend a lazy morning at the beach house. We breakfast on the fresh fruit from Patea and Maluha’s yard. We decide that our last meal on Moorea must be Pizza Daniel’s at the other end of the island for a late lunch. Jan Prince stated in her book that it is the best pizza on the island and we are excited to check out her recommendation to see if we concur. We find Chef Daniel in his small brick oven kitchen along the roadside. The “restaurant” is very small with 4-5 bar stools made out of tree trunks. Chef Daniel only speaks French and quickly points to a stream next to his oven and says, “Sacred eel!” We looked and in the stream is the largest eel that many of us had ever seen. We ordered pizza and quickly agreed that it was truly the best pizza on the island, and possibly the best that the 4 of us had ever had. We stopped at Pinapo Beach for a couple Hinano’s under a large sea grape tree. Many of the tourists were beachside enjoying playing and chasing a couple large rays in the water. We headed back to the villa to finish packing following our last little cool-down shower. We said a tearful goodbye to Alix, Balto and Emma. Emma was especially emotional with the good-bye.
Our flight to Papeete was around 6:45 p.m. We waited at the Papeete Airport for several hours for our connecting flight. Then it was on home. This was possibly our best trip to French Polynesia ever.
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Nothing better than a Hinano in hand and toes in the sand.
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#78362 - 01/06/09 11:36 AM
Re: Vahine/Moorea 08 trip report
[Re: DenverJoe]
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Patti.
Expert Advisor
Registered: 03/28/04
Posts: 2376
Loc: Las Vegas, NV
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Wow Joe! Are your fingers tired from all that typing?
Great report. Thanks!
I can't wait to get to Moorea and see Avi-iti. Maluha keeps sending the cutest pictures of her! By the time I get there, she'll be a year and a half old!
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#78370 - 01/06/09 12:40 PM
Re: Vahine/Moorea 08 trip report
[Re: Patti.]
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kirghizstan
Junior Member
Registered: 08/18/08
Posts: 37
Loc: USA
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Ok I need to ask this question, how do you all of you know so many people on the islands? I don't even know my neighbors.
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#78372 - 01/06/09 12:44 PM
Re: Vahine/Moorea 08 trip report
[Re: kirghizstan]
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DenverJoe
Expert Advisor
Registered: 09/10/02
Posts: 1849
Loc: Denver, Co.
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kirghizstan, it's a lot of trips and the people on this board.
_________________________
Nothing better than a Hinano in hand and toes in the sand.
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#78373 - 01/06/09 01:02 PM
Re: Vahine/Moorea 08 trip report
[Re: DenverJoe]
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Patti.
Expert Advisor
Registered: 03/28/04
Posts: 2376
Loc: Las Vegas, NV
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kirghizstan...it's partly from meeting the people on this board or meeting people who live in FP "through" people on this board. And from repeated trips to FP. And mostly from staying at smaller properties and pensions....you have a better chance of spending time with the people who "live" there.
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#78376 - 01/06/09 01:24 PM
Re: Vahine/Moorea 08 trip report
[Re: Patti.]
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kirghizstan
Junior Member
Registered: 08/18/08
Posts: 37
Loc: USA
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Ok well that leads to my followup question, when you go how much does the trip generally cost? it has to get expensive going so much doesn't it?
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#78381 - 01/06/09 03:24 PM
Re: Vahine/Moorea 08 trip report
[Re: kirghizstan]
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Patti.
Expert Advisor
Registered: 03/28/04
Posts: 2376
Loc: Las Vegas, NV
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Depends on what islands you go to and for how long. But....you can easily go for a week or 2 for around $5-6K for 2 people if you stay at pensions or guest houses and cook most of your meals in your room.
My feeling is I'd rather go every year for $5K and stay at inexpensive places than save up to go once every 3 years for $15K staying at nice places. It really depends a lot on what you want out of your vacations. Some people really want the 5 star expeience...some of us don't.
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#78392 - 01/07/09 12:14 PM
Re: Vahine/Moorea 08 trip report
[Re: Patti.]
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BarbiJKM
Supreme Advisor
Registered: 02/14/07
Posts: 6042
Loc: Mesa, AZ
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Great report, Joe! (And now Patti doesn't have to kick you in the shins!)
Randy and I enjoyed meeting you all on Moorea for our two happy hour parties at Fare Miti. I hope we can do it all over again next November!
Kirghizstan, the more times you go to FP, the more local people you meet (if you are open and friendly). It definitely helps to stay at local pensions and guest houses rather than the large resorts. But even if you stay in the more luxurious places, it's good to talk to the local people who are cleaning your room, making your drinks, cooking your meals, and driving your taxis! Tahitian hospitality is legendary -- once you make a friend, their whole family becomes your "family" too, and it's for life! We have about ten times more of a social life on Moorea than we have at home, and many very good local friends there after 15 years of visits.
I agree with Patti about the cost too. If you can be flexible about the time of year you go and watch for low airfares, stay at small pensions with kitchen facilities, and do a lot of your own cooking, you can actually "live" on Moorea for less than $5k for a MONTH! And the benefit is that, after several introductory trips, you can live like a local rather than like a tourist, much more often.
The island is just as beautiful and the water just as blue no matter where you stay!
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#78394 - 01/07/09 09:01 PM
Re: Vahine/Moorea 08 trip report
[Re: BarbiJKM]
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travelintom
Member
Registered: 05/06/04
Posts: 456
Loc: california
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AHMEN!!!!
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#78395 - 01/07/09 11:50 PM
Re: Vahine/Moorea 08 trip report
[Re: travelintom]
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vaitape
Expert Advisor
Registered: 02/09/02
Posts: 1301
Loc: socal
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Joe, glad to hear improvements were made and that your stay there was pleasant. Happy New Year!
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