Magical Moorea. Part I. 17:28:00S 149:48:00W

Well we finally escaped from the clutches of (Cr)Api
Yachting and have now departed Tahiti and are on Passage for Huahine, which is
another of the However, less of this whinging and techno drivel, and more
of the meat and three Veg' (more of which shortly). On April 26th we
departed the Papeete Town Qui and headed on north or Cook’s Bay in
Moorea. Moorea, in common with all of the We spent a pleasant, if not rather exciting night in this
anchorage, with various boats dragging anchors or swinging around in an
unpredictable manner. So we ended up with Anahi tied up to us for the night,
whilst we rode on our anchor and some 40 metres of chain. The next
morning we set off for the main anchorage in the bay, which is opposite the
Bali Hai Resort Club, near the
The Bali Hai was to be the base for Blue Water Rally
control, and it was here that we were joined by Peter and Annette Seymour. AKA ”Rally
Control”. It was also about this time that we received information that
Tony Diment, Peters partner in BWR was not well and was about to go for a very
major operation. Our thoughts were with him and his wife Christine.
This resort hotel is rather tired and a bit whacky, but the
staff were friendly and it was a good base for lunch and breakfast. This was
because the restaurant is closed from 1500 hours, except on Wednesdays, when
there is Tahitian dancing and so the restaurant stays open…but you have
to order your meal 24 hours in advance.
The other whacky thing organised by the hotel one evening a
week (but no meal this time) was Crab racing. This uses a portable U shaped track that is around 12 feet
long and has corrugated tin at one end, the “bend”, and then wooden
cheeks and base. There are four crabs in each race, and the crabs have numbers
painted on their shells. These are land crabs, about 4 inches across their
shells, with vicious pincers. You are allowed to bet on a winner by paying
100cfp, and this gets you a number. The crabs are released at one end of the track
then much encouragement, and discouragement is given to the racing crabs. This
in the form of banging on the track by the assembled “racer goers”
with flash photography which sends the crabs into reverse!. It is pandemonium.
But the best part is that if your crab wins. You get back you bet. If you
loose, you loose your bet. So what ever happens, the hotel wins on a 4 to 1
basis. Brilliant! It has to be said this is a bit cruel, as the crabs tend to
attack each other and a couple of them lost claws during the three race event. Moorea is about 60km around its triangular shape. So we
decided to rent a scooter, and with the two Anahi’s joined the “biker
set” for a clockwise tour of the island.
Our timing could not have been worse, from a weather
perspective. So instead of being intrepid “born again bikers” we
spent a chunk of the time being “Soggy Bikers” We did not let the weather dampen our enthusiasm for the
tour. To begin with we wobbled along, as I had not driven a scooter for 20
years, so it took a while to gain my confidence, and to get the “crew”
to lean into the bends rather than out! Moorea is a dormant volcano…for 8000 years, with the
highest peak at some 1200 metres. There are some exquisite beaches as
well as challenging mountain hair pin bends. With Harriets persistence, we did
find a beautiful beach restaurant, run by a very exocentric Frenchman. We
arrived there a few minutes after the crew and family of Heidenskip who had
rented a car. Mind you we nearly got thrown out before we started, as we rode
right into the restaurant……..
The food was just wonderful. Light, wholesome and very
different. Mostly based on raw fish. But Paul did manage to find some Chicken……….. Oops, just realized I have used far too
many pictures for the Satphone. But I will give it a go……more bankruptcy!
To be continued in Part II, with the Birthday…………… |