#82132 - 08/26/09 02:48 PM
Two Months at Moorea Fare Miti!
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BarbiJKM
Supreme Advisor
Registered: 02/14/07
Posts: 6042
Loc: Mesa, AZ
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We are just back from two months on Moorea -- a wonderful trip!
To any Americans planning on staying in FP for more than 30 days, you should be aware of the necessity of going through the visa process with your nearest French Consulate. It is complicated and takes time, so plan accordingly; if you are going for less than 30 days, you don't need to worry about it!
It's true that after 15 years of travel to FP, we feel more like part-time residents than tourists now, but it's ALWAYS exciting to go, and we discover new things every time.
We started out on June 25 on the ATN 1 p.m. flight from LAX. We love this flight -- not a red-eye, and with arrival in Papeete right after sunset. Unfortunately, the Air Moorea night flights no longer fly on Thursdays, so we had to overnight in Papeete, at the Intercontinental Tahiti (on Priority Club points). The IC is now our favorite place to stay overnight on Tahiti, with its terrific service and great view of Moorea across the Sea of the Moon.
We flew Air Moorea the next morning, and were in our bungalow at Moorea Fare Miti by early afternoon. We are so fortunate to have good local friends who keep some of our "stuff" at their house; they had brought it over and also stocked our frig with our first round of Hinanos!
This was a very special trip for us, because we were not only celebrating our 40th anniversary, but our adult kids and grandchildren were joining us for two weeks at Fare Miti as well. Our kids and their children, aged 6 and 1, LOVED it there!
Fare Miti is a small pension on the beach on the northwest side of Moorea -- our favorite part of the island -- and is located at the north end of the old Moorea Village property, around PK 27,5. The bungalows are affordable, with equipped kitchen, bath, separate bedroom and living area with two daybeds, right on a lovely stretch of white sand beach with amazing sunsets. They are not fancy, but airy and comfortable -- no housekeeping, pool, restaurant, or room service, so the ambience is not for those looking for luxury.
Recently new proprietors, Celine and Laurent, have taken over the management, and they are doing a fabulous job! Not only are they in the process of renovating the bungalows, but they have added many nice amenities and services. There are now beach chairs on the beach, a new beach shower, a small "cafe" at reception, kayaks and bikes for rental, and a small mini-store inside reception with necessities like coffee, milk, kids' cereal, and a few snacks available for purchase. In addition, they inquire each evening if you want bread (baguettes) in the morning, and deliver them to your door! They have also made arrangements with a wonderful nearby roulotte, for takeout delivery of a nice assortment of lunches and dinner, including dessert and a beverage, at very affordable prices. You buy a ticket for your meal from reception, order whatever you want, and Celine will deliver it to your bungalow at the time you specify -- a very nice perk for a pension!
After our kids joined us, my son sprung a surprise on his girlfriend -- an engagement ring! Not only did he propose to her on Moorea, but they decided to have a small wedding ceremony on the beach at sunset about a week later, and it was magnificent! (They will complete the legal paperwork back at home, but in their hearts, they were "married" on Moorea!) That same week, we hosted a party for our anniversary, and had 45 local friends in attendance -- we hadn't realized we had made so many good friends over the years. It was a most special occasion!
We saw many other friends while there, and had many "happy hours" on our deck at sunset. We enjoyed our visits with Poehere, and with Tahitian Princess and her husband, and also the time we spent with our New Zealand friends (who sometimes post here as "FuzzyLogic"), and with our "lurker" friends, Judy and Greg, whom we have seen every single summer on Moorea for the past 10 years. We also had a very short visit with Joan K. during one of our last days on Moorea.
It is possible to live relatively frugally on Moorea when you stay in a kitchen bungalow. We borrowed a car and made semi-weekly trips to the large grocery store at Champion/Toa, and were within walking distance to two smaller grocery stores in between. We had brought several grocery boxed items and spices from home, knowing that they would be difficult to buy on Moorea, and were able to make quite a variety of tasty meals at a reasonable cost. (We firmly believe that even spaghetti tastes better on Moorea!) We ate out at restaurants only a few times, for special occasions, and probably spent, for two months of food, what most tourists spend in 10 days at resorts and restaurants. Our biggest expense was HINANO!
There are small indications on Moorea that the economy may be getting a tiny bit better. Some of the shops that had closed in the last year or so have reopened as different stores. New small snacks and roulottes are opening and seem to be quite busy. The new "Chickenman" is doing well too. The large resorts still seem to be suffering, and even though it was the high season, there was not yet normal holiday occupancy at the IC, Hilton, Pearl, or Sofitel. We saw no one on the golf course, although the bar/restaurant there seems to be doing okay.
The airport exchange rate was 79 CPF/$1 USD when we arrived in late June, and 76 when we left in late August. Slightly higher at the non-airport banks (81), there really is not a savings, because the exchange fee was higher there than at the airport. We still recommend exchanging dollars at the airport bank on arrival, and using your credit card whenever possible for the best exchange rate (we got betwen 83 and 85 on our Capitol One card).
Although we had heard rumors that Air Moorea was only flying full flights now, and that delays could be expected, we did not find this to be the case, at least at times and on days when the interisland flights were connecting with an international departure. On my son's return flight there were only 4 passengers, and they did not make them wait for the later flight, an hour later, which was also not full. For mid-day flights, however, you might experience a delay until they can fill a plane with passengers before departing.
The weather was mostly gorgeous! Temps were in the 70s, with a few windy and chilly days when the mara'amu winds arrived. We had only one day of all-day rain/cloud-cover, with most showers passing within 20 minutes at the most. June-July-August has awesome weather (much better than the heat and monsoons we left behind in Arizona)!
The trip home is hard! Not only does it involve a red-eye flight (and neither of us can sleep on planes), but the excitement and anticipation of the arrival in FP is no longer there. We were anxious and ready to return home this time, though, because our 11-year old dog was sick and was in distress when we returned. Thanks to the wonderful care of our excellent housesitters, though, and the expertise of our vet, he is now stable and doing much better. (For anyone looking for a reliable dogsitter to care for your pets and home while you are away, I HIGHLY recommend the services of www.housecarers.com to meet your needs.)
People always ask us: "What do you DO for two months on Moorea?" Well, the short answer is that we try to just LIVE there! We don't do a lot of tours and excursions anymore (though it was fun to relive some of them again when my kids arrived and did them for the first time), and we didn't island-hop this time time because of our kids' visit; we kayak, bike, sit on the beach, needlepoint, read, go fishing, visit with friends, cook, and just plain RELAX! We saw whales and dolphins, turtles, sharks, and rays. We saw NO television (though we did have available, but slow, internet access). For us, it is heaven, and we feel very blessed to be able to go for so long, and to have so many good kind friends there!
I'd be glad to answer any questions about Moorea -- just email me at BarbiJKM@aol.com (or post here)! Manuia!
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#82133 - 08/26/09 02:53 PM
Re: Two Months at Moorea Fare Miti!
[Re: BarbiJKM]
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Old Wife
Expert Advisor
Registered: 02/21/03
Posts: 2302
Loc: Burlington, Ontario, Canada
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Wow, Barbi, what a great time you had. I'm really impressed with the improvements to Fare Miti (especially the food issue--both buying stuff like cereal and baguettes as well as the 'whole meal' option). That's very smart of them!
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#82135 - 08/26/09 07:17 PM
Re: Two Months at Moorea Fare Miti!
[Re: Old Wife]
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BarbiJKM
Supreme Advisor
Registered: 02/14/07
Posts: 6042
Loc: Mesa, AZ
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Old Wife, Yes, these new proprietors are very smart (and very nice), and it was a pleasure to see their ideas for improvement!
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#82138 - 08/26/09 10:42 PM
Re: Two Months at Moorea Fare Miti!
[Re: BarbiJKM]
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holte
Expert Advisor
Registered: 11/19/04
Posts: 2365
Loc: Duluth, Minnesota
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Very excellent report!
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#82139 - 08/26/09 11:11 PM
Re: Two Months at Moorea Fare Miti!
[Re: holte]
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Finnano
Member
Registered: 12/25/05
Posts: 188
Loc: Novato, CA
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Great report! And those people who wonder what to do on Moorea for 2 months..they have obviously never been to Moorea or FP, lol!
_________________________
* Life is a beach *
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#82141 - 08/27/09 05:01 AM
Re: Two Months at Moorea Fare Miti!
[Re: Finnano]
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DenverJoe
Expert Advisor
Registered: 09/10/02
Posts: 1849
Loc: Denver, Co.
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Great report Barbi. Sounds like business as usual on Moorea.
_________________________
Nothing better than a Hinano in hand and toes in the sand.
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#82143 - 08/27/09 05:43 AM
Re: Two Months at Moorea Fare Miti!
[Re: DenverJoe]
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hamara
Expert Advisor
Registered: 01/07/02
Posts: 2296
Loc: Washington/Moorea
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Great trip report. I'm sure glad you helped the brewery stay in business. What would Tahiti be like without Hinano?
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#82144 - 08/27/09 07:56 AM
Re: Two Months at Moorea Fare Miti!
[Re: hamara]
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Andie
Member
Registered: 06/05/07
Posts: 403
Loc: Ottawa, Canada
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Now that's something to aspire to!! Our retirement plan to be able to do just that..A couple of months every year or even every 2 years would be great. You are living my dream! It's nice to know that one can actually live there without breaking the bank!
I'm not that far away from the dream(hopefully) so I hope to see you on the beach one of these days!
_________________________
*When we can picture ourselves there, living our dreams, we know it's time...*
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#82150 - 08/27/09 09:51 AM
Re: Two Months at Moorea Fare Miti!
[Re: Andie]
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islandboyatheart
Expert Advisor
Registered: 07/19/05
Posts: 1368
Loc: Florida
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Sounds like another great trip Barbi. I'm always envious of the people who get to spend so much time on the islands - my body left but my heart is still in Tahiti. It's good to hear about the improvements at Moorea Fare Miti and we will likely stay there when we go back with the little guy in tow. Congrats on your anniversary.
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#82153 - 08/27/09 10:05 AM
Re: Two Months at Moorea Fare Miti!
[Re: islandboyatheart]
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vaitape
Expert Advisor
Registered: 02/09/02
Posts: 1301
Loc: socal
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Super report Barbi! Fare Miti sounds ideal...the beach there is wonderful. Any recent photos?
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
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