Position 17 30.28 S  149 49.31

Moorea – 19^th May to 22^nd May

Left Papeete at 0900 for Moorea about 20 nm away. 

Entered via the Avaroa Pass and anchored in Cooks Bay.  Apparently Cook never visited this Bay but hey. 

Luckily we anchored just outside of the outrigger race track.

Stephen took us on what he described as a short walk to Belvedere viewing point in the midday sun.   2.2 km and about 0.5 uphill later, Keith and I rebelled and refused to go any further. 

 Hired a car the next day and Belvedere viewing point was 14km and seriously uphill.  The previous day we had bought a roasted chicken from a van before we started walk.  The lady had looked a bit askance when we said we walking to viewing point.  Motto take note of local facial expressions, establish with Stephen how far, how high and how long the walk will take then quadruple it! The views were spectacular though.  You could see both Cooks Bay and Oponohu Bay where South Pacific was filmed.  We ate lunch at hotel beach side restaurant and evening meal at Rudy’s where three of us had rack of lamb with a port sauce, dauphinoise potatoes, ratatouille and green beans.  One of nicest meals had in a long time.

Cooks Bay to the right.

Lots of pineapple plantations on the island.

Plantations in the background.

One of the beach resorts observed from high.  Fringing reef in the background.

Fringing reef and coral heads.