#86912 - 09/16/10 12:24 PM
Two Months in the South Pacific - FP and the Cook Islands
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BarbiJKM
Supreme Advisor
Registered: 02/14/07
Posts: 6150
Loc: Mesa, AZ
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Trip Report: Two Months in French Polynesia
Warning: This is LONG!
Getting to Moorea
A year in the planning, our trip to the South Pacific began on 1 July 2010 with a painless early morning flight from Phoenix to LA on Southwest, arrival around 9:30 a.m., and retrieval of our luggage so we could trek it over to the international terminal for check-in on ATN around 10 a.m.
We LOVE ATN’s 1:00 p.m. departure from LAX, which gets us into Papeete in the early evening (6:30 or 7:30 p.m., depending on daylight savings in California), thus avoiding significant jetlag on the way there, and we are sad to see that it is now showing up on the fall/spring schedule as available only on Tuesdays. It’s a long enough trip without having to take a red-eye to get there, because neither of us sleeps well on planes.
New discovery about duty-free this time! After buying cigarettes for our friends in the LAX airport duty- free shop ($39 a carton for Marlboros), we found out that we could buy them on the plane, as part of ATN’s duty-free service, for $19 a carton (1700 CPF). Live and learn! (Caveat: ATN’s onboard supply is not very big and they don’t always have available everything in their duty-free pamphlet found in your seat pocket.)
The exchange rate at the Papeete airport was disappointing – 89 – when we knew that the xe.com bank-to-bank rate that day was between 95 and 96. The airport bank is handy, however, with short lines, and its flat-fee exchange fee is significantly cheaper (by about $10) than the banks in town. Our Capital One credit card, which carries NO currency exchange fee, is always the best rate, so we use it whenever a vendor accepts credit cards.
We spent the first night at the Tahiti Intercontinental, which is our favorite overnight place in Papeete. I am a Priority Club member, and through domestic overnight hotel stays and transfers on Membership Rewards from my American Express account, I am often able to book a “rewards” night here, with a free category upgrade. Their lagoon view rooms are comfortable and a pleasant way to relax that first night after a long travel day.
We had not prebooked our Air Moorea flights for the next day. On our previous trip, we had both applied for and obtained a “Carte Marama” discount card from Air Tahiti, which requires that we book interisland flights while physically present in FP in order to get the discount. So we called first thing in the morning, discovered that the Air Tahiti discount card does NOT work on Air Moorea, but we were still able to reserve the 10:00 a.m. flight at the “resident” rate, which is cheaper than the online booking. The disadvantage of doing this is (1) flights might not be available that day [see my later discussion of Air Moorea’s demise and the limited future flight schedule on Air Tahiti]; and (2) the luggage allowance drops from 44 pounds (international passengers) to 22 pounds (residents) per person. We had GROSSLY overweight luggage, packed for a two months stay and filled with gifts for local friends ( four 50-pound rolling duffles, two carry-on size rollaboards, and two large backpacks = the absolute MAX allowed for free on our international and Southwest flights), and Air Moorea charged us 2800f (about $30) for overweight luggage on our flight to Moorea (and charged us nothing on the return trip home). It was still cheaper than booking the online rate for nonresidents.
We arrived at our favorite bungalow at Moorea Fare Miti by 11:00 a.m., were greeted by friends, and spent the rest of the day unpacking, settling in, and discovering all the wonderful changes they have made since our last visit. Nice renovations were done to all the bungalows, the beach has been cleaned and replanted after the cyclones, and everything was simply beautiful! As you may know, we absolutely love this location, and the proprietors, Celine and Laurent, are wonderful.
Moorea is like a second home to us after sixteen years of traveling there. We have many good friends there, who are like family now, and we spend our days relaxing, visiting, just “living” there rather than doing tours and excursions. However, a few new things did stand out nicely:
We had lunch a few times at Le Mahogany, on our way back from shopping at the Champion/Toa supermarket. EXCELLENT food! I particularly liked the shrimp and avocado salad, and Randy loved the carpaccio.
Le Mayflower is as good as ever, and the lobster ravioli is to die for! Reservations at dinner are a must; drop-bys for lunch are usually okay.
We also had the pleasure of dining at the new restaurant on Motu Tiahuru. This location was formerly called “La Plage,” and had an expensive, heavily-French expensive menu. It has been purchased by one the owners of Moorea Dolphin Expedition, Harold Wright (Disclaimer: Harold is a personal friend!), and is now called “COCO BEACH.” It is a “snack restaurant” now, which means it also has lighter, less-expensive items like burgers, poisson cru, and carpaccio, as well as full meals. (Their crystal shrimp is absolutely YUMMY!) Coco Beach provides a shuttle from the Coco Beach pontoon on the main island (located near the Moorea Intercontinental) or from any other location by request, for 700f per adult, 500f per child. (They only charge for the hotel pickup; the lagoon shuttle is free.) Currently, they are open Friday morning to Sunday evening, 11:00 a.m. to sunset, but that schedule may expand during high season or busier times. Information and reservations can be obtained by locally calling 72-57-26. It is a WONDERFUL location with incredible views and snorkeling, and a casual atmosphere; you can go over for lunch in your swimsuit and a pareo, and spend the afternoon on the beautiful white beach. High recommend!
Another good lunch experience was at Snack Mahana. This is an informal little place around PK 26, on the sea side. From the road, it doesn’t look like much; however, behind the owner’s house is a large yard right on the lagoon, with many tables set up with Hinano umbrellas, and a delicious menu with many Tahitian, Chinese, and seafood selections, all at reasonable prices. They do not accept credit cards, so bring Tahitian cash!
The Solar Eclipse from Tahiti: July 11, 2010
THE ECLIPSE! We were fortunate to be in FP during the total solar eclipse on July 11, 2010. My niece Melanie was arriving from the USA on the afternoon of July 10 for a week’s visit with us, so I flew back to Papeete on Saturday early afternoon to meet her flight, which was scheduled to arrive at 5:35 p.m. We had reservations on the last Air Moorea flight back to Moorea at 6 p.m., but unfortunately, her flight was delayed and we missed that connection. Very luckily, I had previously made alternative arrangements to stay at the Radisson on Tahiti in case we were stranded for the night – I say “luckily” because there were virtually NO vacancies in Papeete hotels the night before or the day of the eclipse! More than 5,000 passengers arrived during those two days, and, while waiting at the Papeete airport for Melanie’s arrival, I saw them arriving and heading off for flights to the Tuamotus or Easter Island as well – the airport was VERY busy for a Saturday afternoon! Papeete was POPPING, and this was also a very popular Saturday night during the Heiva festival as well!
Melanie and I took a taxi to the Radisson (about $40 USD), which is pretty distant from the airport. This was my first stay at the Radisson, although I had previously visited the property several times before and had had dinner and drinks there on other occasions. We checked in and were taken to our room, which contained only a king bed, although we had requested two doubles. Reception immediately upgraded us to an incredible suite, with a large bedroom with two double beds, a living room, two magnificent bathrooms, and a gigantic balcony overlooking the black sand beach on Matavai Bay! When we eventually went looking for a snack at 10:00 p.m., the buffet was just closing up, but the server invited us to make a large plate of chocolate crepes to take back to our room (for free)! Everyone we dealt with at the Radisson gave us friendly and excellent customer service.
I had investigated beforehand where we should go to get a view of the eclipse, which was going to be visible in the east at around 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. the next morning. Several people told us to climb the hill behind the Radisson to be able to get an eastern exposure; however, the next morning as we looked out to the beach, we could see a patch of sunshine starting to grow at the far end of the black sand beach, to the left of the front of the Radisson. So we hiked down and found a place to sit, with a magnificent view of Moorea behind us, and the sun in front of us. I had previously purchased the special cardboard glasses necessary to view the eclipse without hurting our eyes, and we were awed and amazed to watch the moon shadow take over the sun over about an hour’s time. The light on the beach was very eery, with weird shadows, but we never had total darkness. As much as we tried to photograph the event, none of our images did it justice. It was a MAGNIFICENT experience! [Note: Randy, back on Moorea, took some video of the eclipse there; it was similar in magnificence, although Moorea received a 98.6% view and Tahiti received a 99.7% view.]
When the eclipse was just about over, we headed back to the Radisson outdoor beach restaurant for a Sunday buffet breakfast, which was certainly wonderful, but VERY pricey, with a bill of about $100 for the two of us (and no beverages except coffee and orange juice! We took the 11:00 a.m. Air Moorea flight back to Moorea, with no problems in changing our reservations from the missed flight the evening before.
The Cook Islands
As many of you know, we booked a side trip to the Cook Islands a year ago, planned half-way through our two-month stay on Moorea, as an attempt to avoid the necessity of obtaining a short-stay visa from the French Consulate in LA for a visit more than 30 days in FP. Since then, the immigration law has changed and Americans can now stay up to 90 days in a six-month period in FP, so this side-trip was no longer “necessary” but we were looking forward to visiting some new islands, and kept our reservations.
We took a morning Air Moorea flight to Papeete and arrived about 3 hours before our noon flight to the Cooks. SURPRISE – Poehere met us and spend some visiting time with us while we waited for our flight! It’s always nice to see such a good friend; wish we would have had more time with her!
We flew to Rarotonga from Papeete on Air Tahiti – this is the only international destination that Air Tahiti flies, and after check-in at the domestic desk (behind the snack bar), we went through security and immigration at the same place they process us when returning to the United States. The plane was wide and comfortable, with two-person seating on each side of the aisle and nice roomy seats. A wonderful lunch was served onboard (much to our surprise), and they had a beverage service as well. The flight took a little less than 3 hours.
On arrival in Rarotonga, there is a duty-free store open for shopping by incoming passengers even before you reach the immigration desk! This is something we’ve never seen before, and what a great idea! We purchased some Bounty Rum and some gin, and were processed through immigration and customs and baggage claim with no delays or problems. From there, we made a short visit to the Westpac Bank booth, to exchange some USD for NZD: the exchange rate was $.75 USD for $1.00 NZD – a very refreshing change from the gouging we receive on exchange for Tahitian francs!
We were met by a transport van carrying about six other passengers from Switzerland who had arrived on our plane, and we took a ten-minute drive to our hotel. We had reservations (we thought) at Castaway Beach Villas, while the other pax were let off at Manuia Beach Villas, close by. When we arrived at Castaway, we found the reception office all locked up (this was about 4 p.m. on a Saturday), so our driver called the owner, who said to take us back to Manuia. On arrival there, we were placed into a small, non-kitchen room (we had reserved a beachfront with kitchen), were given a $50 voucher for dinner, and were told that our bungalow at Castaway was not available our first night and we would be transported over there the next morning. What then transpired was a three-hour wait for someone to provide us a KEY to our room, so that we could (1) lock our belongings up and go for a sunset walk on the beach; and (2) because the room was sweltering, turn on the dang air conditioner, which did not operate without a key. Finally, after several frustrated requests, the manager appeared and handed us a “master key”! (What kind of security is THAT?) It was a very disappointing first impression.
The next morning, which was a Sunday, someone from Castaway showed up in their personal (very small) car, and transported us and our luggage to Castaway Beach Villas. The room was spacious and clean; one big room contained a queen bed, daybed, sitting area, and small kitchen, with gas stove, microwave, and half frig; separate bathroom. The room was better than at Manuia, but the outside deck was TINY and very far from the beach, with a picnic area and bar between us and the beach. HINT: In the Cooks, if you want to be close to the sea, you must request “ABSOLUTE BEACHFRONT” and not just “BEACHFRONT,” which only assures you of a view of the water.
A note about the Cooks on Sundays: EVERYTHING except the churches are closed. These people are serious about the Sabbath! (Even the flights scheduled on Sundays between Raro and Aitutaki have become very controversial!) If you are arriving on a Saturday, you’d better pick up your necessary food items before Sunday!
On the other hand, there is more nightlife available on Rarotonga than what is normal in FP. There are several “bar-hopping” tours on Friday nights, where a tourist bus takes you to different places in town to hear local bands, have a drink at each, try dancing with the locals, and then safely transports you back to your hotel in the wee hours!
It was a little strange for us, after a month on Moorea, to hear people speaking ENGLISH everywhere! Also very weird to be driving on the left side of the road. We liked it; it was different!
The long white sandy beach was wonderful, and we could walk for MILES in either directions. Except for a few larger resorts in the Muri Beach area, most of the resorts are smaller, and spread out. The lagoon is narrower than we are used to in Tahiti and Moorea; with the reef much closer to the shore. Randy found kayaking to be more difficult because of the current; he also noted that he did not see any kind of fish in the lagoon, not even the small bait fish that are usually everywhere. I found a (dead) bright blue giant starfish on the beach one day, and managed to dry it out in the sun and take it back home with me (it has now traveled on SIX airline flights!)
We were disappointed at the lack of foods available in the shops. Even in town at the larger supermarket, there was a shortage of fresh veggies, fruit, meat, and fish. We had brought some packaged items with us (“just in case”), and wound up using them all – other packaged items (canned goods, pasta, etc.) that we found on the shelves in the little local general stores were mostly expired items, with very little variety available. This may have been caused by two factors: Cyclone Pat did a lot of damage to the local vegetation in the Cooks last spring, and the cargo ship to the islands was overdue – in fact, it was just arriving on Aitutaki as we were leaving.
We also did not find the Cooks to be significantly cheaper than French Polynesia. Yes, the exchange rate was better, but both packaged food and restaurant meals were outrageously overpriced when compared to prices in FP. The same Doritos that I buy on Moorea for 495 f cost $9-$10 NZD on Rarotonga, and that differential was pretty comparable on everything else. A hamburger made with “mince” (ugh!) was $27 NZD. Given that and the lack of variety and selection, we were not impressed, food-wise. (I won’t even go into the story about the night we bought some take-away chicken curry dish that we later believed to actually be cooked DOG! Arggh!)
We found the Cook Islanders with whom we dealt to be friendly and hospitable, although more reserved and conservative than Tahitians. There is not as much laughing/singing/ happiness abounding – they are more serious! (Please remember these are first impressions over a limited stay of ten days on a first trip! Your own experience may vary!)
After 4 nights on Rarotonga, we took a one-hour flight on Air Rarotonga to Aitutaki. What a beautiful lagoon! This was truly comparable to Bora Bora, but without the high priced resorts and the hoopla, and with much friendlier local people. We stayed at Inano Beach Bungalows, in their one “ABSOLUTE beachfront” bungalow – at last! This was more like it! The bungalow was spacious and comfortable with a big deck overlooking the beach and a beautiful view of the lagoon. It contained one large room with a comfortable queen bed, a daybed, a fully-equipped kitchen, and separate bathroom. Our hosts, Veia and Moeau, were wonderful – welcoming, helpful, with just the right amount of attention without ever bothering us. Inano is within easy walking distance to 3 restaurants and a breakfast/lunch café (which also has Wifi), but requires a scooter or car rental to get to town for groceries. We rented a cute little convertible for $50 NZD for 24 hours, toured the whole island, and got our food supplies (again, very limited selections available).
There are NO dogs on Aitutaki! Instead, the locals raise goats and pigs, and of course the inevitable chickens are everywhere. Our hosts had a new litter of one-month old baby pigs whose mother had died, and I got my “doggie-fix” by bottle-feeding the runt little piggy of the litter.
We found the mosquitoes to be very prevalent on Aitutaki. Luckily, our bungalow was completely screened (including the door), and burning a coil at night worked wonders. We used our normal vanilla-scented “Buggspray” and when that ran out, we tried some of the locally-available AEROGARD (made in Australia), in both pump-spray and roll-on bottle. Great product ! (We also found Aerogard available on Moorea when we returned.)
We had a wonderful relaxing stay on Aitutaki, and would definitely go back in the future to Inano Beach Bungalows. It’s not as wonderful for us as Moorea, but definitely a nice get-away (a vacation within a vacation).
Back on Moorea
After ten days in the Cooks, we flew back to Papeete, and then back to Moorea to our bungalow at Moorea Fare Miti, which we had kept even while we were gone.. Ahhh, it felt good to be “home”! The first thing we did was to order double cheeseburgers from Coco d’Isle and drink some Hinanos! We had another 25 days on Moorea before leaving FP.
We noticed some sad trends this trip. Lots of restaurants and some small hotels are closing; tourism has been terrible during this past “high season,” and after several years of barely hanging on, some local businesses are being forced to close. In the Haapiti area, Bus Stop and PK0 have closed, as well as Dany Creations. Fare Vai Moana is closed. Moorea Camping has been sold and will close in late September; the new owner of the land does not intend to operate a camp ground there. Air Moorea has gone bankrupt and will cease operations at the end of October; Air Tahiti will still offer a few flights a day to and from Moorea, but likely at a higher price, and last-minute reservations will be harder to obtain. Moorea Express ferry has ceased operations, and while we were there, the Aremiti 5 and the slow ferry had reduced schedules. Still, during the school holidays, we noticed good occupancy rates at many of the small pensions, and the Hilton and Pearl claimed to be at full occupancy in July and most of August (we have local friends who work at both).
Sadly, our best friend’s little dog became very ill the last three weeks we were there. She had been exposed to the urine of an infected rat on something she ate (probably a coconut), and wound up with a fatal bacteria that shut down her kidneys. After 3 expensive weeks of vet visits, our friend had to have her euthanized. It was a sad time; we loved this little dog!
Going Home
Finally, it was time to leave, 63 days after we arrived. Our trip home was uneventful, with one exception. I had a terrible neck/backache when we arrived at the Papeete airport, and was not looking forward to a red-eye flight back to LAX. We inquired at the Air Tahiti Nui office near the check-in desk about the availability of upgrades to business class, and discovered that we could upgrade right there and then to business class using our Club Tiare points! This is ATN’s frequent flier program, which in the past, had seemed like it takes FOREVER to get any kind of award, and this was a very happy discovery!
I can’t say enough about the business class service on ATN. If I could afford to, I would book it for every future flight! For those of you who can afford it, or who have sufficient points on ATN (or American Airlines), I would definitely recommend giving yourself this little luxury, especially on the night flight home!
Nana until next time!
BarbiJKM
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#86917 - 09/16/10 01:48 PM
Re: Two Months in the South Pacific - FP and the Cook Islands
[Re: BarbiJKM]
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Poehere
Expert Advisor
Registered: 08/18/07
Posts: 2362
Loc: FP
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Wonderful report Barbi ! And yes, poor Poehere all over the place but will spend more time with you next visit !
Rarotonga sounds like a nice weekend get-away place for us and BTW the fisherman I told you about died last week in Tahiti and the Tonga princess flew in to say goodbye. His boat is still in Aitutaki to remember to day he crawled onto the beach of "one foot motu" after getting lost and spending 4 months drifting around the Pacific Ocean...
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* with sunshine *
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#86921 - 09/16/10 02:40 PM
Re: Two Months in the South Pacific - FP and the Cook Islands
[Re: Poehere]
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BarbiJKM
Supreme Advisor
Registered: 02/14/07
Posts: 6150
Loc: Mesa, AZ
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Poehere, Yes, I recently read about his death -- I think he was only 65 or 67 years old? That poor man endured so much! And we saw his boat on Aitutaki too. We're definitely going to try to see more of you (and J-M) in March!
Air Tahiti only had flights available from Papeete (on the "summer schedule" until October 31) on Tuesdays and Saturdays, so I guess a "long weekend" from Sat. to Tuesday would be do-able from PPT!
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#86922 - 09/16/10 03:06 PM
Re: Two Months in the South Pacific - FP and the Cook Islands
[Re: BarbiJKM]
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BarbiJKM
Supreme Advisor
Registered: 02/14/07
Posts: 6150
Loc: Mesa, AZ
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Tereva Heremiti has just scolded me for forgetting to report that SHE was on this journey as well! Tereva celebrated her second birthday on Moorea, and enjoyed her trip to the Cooks; she particularly loved Aitutaki! (She wasn't crazy about the mosquitoes, though...)
Tereva has asked me to post these photos for her.
1. Drinking the local Cooks beer (notice the bottles are empty!)
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#86923 - 09/16/10 03:07 PM
Re: Two Months in the South Pacific - FP and the Cook Islands
[Re: BarbiJKM]
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BarbiJKM
Supreme Advisor
Registered: 02/14/07
Posts: 6150
Loc: Mesa, AZ
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2. Tereva in town on Rarotonga:
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#86924 - 09/16/10 03:08 PM
Re: Two Months in the South Pacific - FP and the Cook Islands
[Re: BarbiJKM]
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BarbiJKM
Supreme Advisor
Registered: 02/14/07
Posts: 6150
Loc: Mesa, AZ
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3. Tereva stopping to say hello to the Cooks Police!
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#86925 - 09/16/10 03:09 PM
Re: Two Months in the South Pacific - FP and the Cook Islands
[Re: BarbiJKM]
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BarbiJKM
Supreme Advisor
Registered: 02/14/07
Posts: 6150
Loc: Mesa, AZ
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4. Tereva enjoying the Aitutaki sunset:
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#86926 - 09/16/10 03:11 PM
Re: Two Months in the South Pacific - FP and the Cook Islands
[Re: BarbiJKM]
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BarbiJKM
Supreme Advisor
Registered: 02/14/07
Posts: 6150
Loc: Mesa, AZ
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5. Saying goodbye to Aitutaki on her last night there:
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#86931 - 09/16/10 08:22 PM
Re: Two Months in the South Pacific - FP and the Cook Islands
[Re: BarbiJKM]
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holte
Expert Advisor
Registered: 11/19/04
Posts: 2417
Loc: Duluth, Minnesota
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Thanks for taking the time to write the report. It was excellent, as usual.
I am wondering about purchasing Air Tahiti tickets in Papeete. There is the senior discount. What age does it start, what is the price, and how long is the discount card good for?
Does Le Truck go right past Air Tahiti from the airport?
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#86935 - 09/16/10 11:12 PM
Re: Two Months in the South Pacific - FP and the Cook Islands
[Re: holte]
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Poehere
Expert Advisor
Registered: 08/18/07
Posts: 2362
Loc: FP
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Holte, you'd need to get la Carte Marama at an Air Tahiti agency, fill out the form show pic id and passport photo and pay 1000 cfp, starts at 60 -you'd need a local address...-
Le truck, from where? At the int'l airport there is an AT agency, next to the bookshop.
I think Tereva looks in real good shape!
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