Scooters in Moorea
Jackamy
Paul & Derry Harper
Wed 19 May 2010 23:37
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Thursday 20th May
 Still in paradise
 After Pauls successful dive just
outside the pass of Opunohu Bay, the next bay along, everyone
decided they'd like to do another dive except this time we planned to take
Miss Tippy. Amy was designated child minder and entertained the kids on shore
whilst we went diving on the North West corner of Moorea. The dive site was a
couple of hours away and it wasn't that brilliant, I think the men were very
lucky when they went the other day. We saw lots of fish and one grey tip shark!
It was worth the trip for the party on Miss Tippy on the way back though, they
have a great dance floor!
 Lots of coral and
fish
 A grupa fish
 And a sunken Tiki
statue
That evening a BBQ had been
arranged by a bar/restaurant on the shore called the 'Blue Pineapple',
Tahitian dancing and a band were put on for us. The food was exceptional as were
the waitresses whom we have become very friendly with. They call us 'Mama',
'Papa' and 'Baby' or sometimes 'Honey' - they've been superb with us! The
bands performance was extended by about an hour as we were all having such
a good time dancing the night away. But we weren't too late getting to bed as we
were hiring scooters the next day.
We booked to hire scooters for
the Tuesday but when we woke to torrential rain it was rescheduled for Thursday
as Bill, now known as 'Michael Fish', looked at the weather and believed that
this would be the only dry day. Tuesday actually ended up clearing up and
Wednesday was an absolute scorcher. And would you believe it on Thursday it
rained and rained all day long! But when we picked up the bikes at 08.30 the sun
was shining so we set off thinking we were in for a good day. There ended up
being 8 scooters, with 15 people altogether. There was us, Blue Magic, Camomile,
Lucy Alice, Bali Blue, Enchantress, Bob from Chsalonina and Pete from Fai
Tira.
 The gang
 Amy and Pete
Sue from Camomile was designated
leader as she was the only one with a map and directions as to where the sites
were. Although it wasn't too difficult as one road runs around the coast and two
roads run into the interior; they meet and climb to the Belvedere lookout.
Located between Cook's Bay and Opunohu Bay, the Belvedere lookout
is said to be one of the most spectacular panoramas anywhere in the
world.
 
 Opunohu Bay and Cook's
Bay
 The boats anchored in Cooks
Bay
Now, I'm sure you'll be thinking
that this doesn't look too spectacular so I'll try and justify it. Firstly, the
pictures don't do it any justice and secondly, it was torrential rain and we
were almost in the clouds so on a sunny day I think it would be quite something.
We were informed that picture taking is best before 10.00, while the sun is not
directly in your eyes - we had no problem with this!
 One scenic photo before the
rain kicked in
In the pre-European era the
Opunohu Valley was dotted with marae, which are tiki sites, the largest
number in French Polynesia - some of which have been restored and maintained. So
on the way down the winding interior road we stopped off at Marae
Afareaito which had an archery platform adjacent to it.
The architectural style of
archery platforms is very special. It is characterised by a concave
shape at the front and a somewhat closed angle at the back formed by
the sides. In the valleys, such platforms were always facing a cleared hillside
and on the coastline were oriented in the axis of the shore. There are at least
three platforms of this type in Opunohu Valley on Moorea, and five in Papenoo
Valley on Tahiti. A number of archery platforms were found in Tahiti's Peninsula
and in various islands of the Society Archipelago. No similar platforms were
discovered elsewhere in Polynesia and the practice of archery was apparently
restricted to this archipelago, with the exception of Mangareva where there was
a warrior tradition of using bows and arrows.
 Archery as it was practised in
the Society Islands when it was originally discovered by the early European
Navigators was neither a warrior practice nor a game of skill. This scared game,
strictly intended for the masculine elite of the arii and raatira, was a
religious ritual. It seems that there were two opponents who would compete from
the same platform. There was no specific target; the archer would endeavour to
shoot his arrow as far as possible in the direction of the hill. The shooting
path, approximately 300 metres long was carefully cleared of all vegetation and
young men were positioned on the top of trees on each side to track the arrow
until it fell, while shouting to report when they saw the arrow pass by. Finally
the ritual was ended with the archers taking a bath before they put on their
ordinary clothing and after they had changed out of their
uniforms.
We stopped at a tiki village on
the other side of the island, more for a pit stop than anything as there wasn't
much there. We were drawn in by the thought of lunch in a beach side restaurant
and a chance to sit out of the rain. We were also treated to another dance
performance by a group of Tahitian men and women and once again Amy was picked
to dance. The fact that she was in the middle of eating didn't bother the crazy
man who'd picked her. This time however, she wasn't alone, Chrissy, Glenda and
Sue were also picked.
 Our view from the restaurant
and a local wearing very little strolling by
 
  After lunch was when the fun
started. The rain was coming down quicker and harder than before, so much so
that it stung our skin as we were driving along, it was seriously painful. Our
next scheduled stop was a waterfall in the village of Afareaitu, which
considering there is only one road, took us a while to find. When we eventually
found the turn off we began to enter into the valley along a dirt
track which quickly turned into grass and stones, i.e. not really a path at all,
but we still proceeded to drive along it. Eventually when we arrived at trees
blocking our way we disembarked and began to climb. After 5 minutes of walking
and making our way through rivers we realised we were on the wrong path as we
were miles away from the waterfall. We have since found out that you should
visit the waterfall in a 4x4 vehicle, not a scooter, and that there is a fee for
crossing private property and the owner will greet you and you pay him directly
- bloomin' cheek!
 Tweedledum and tweedledee
climbing up the hill and photographic evidence that we saw the
waterfall, albeit a few miles away!
 On our way back down. Note how
we are all wearing our helmets still; it's surprising how dry you feel when your
head is dry but the rest of you is soaking
 Off we go again!
We couldn't have picked a worse
day to go and we didn't see all that much but we had a lot of fun. A hot shower
and warm clothes were definitely needed when we got back to the
boat.
Whilst attending the briefing
on Wednesday for the next leg Richard from the BWR passed Paul 3 visas
for Nuie in the Cook Islands. Paul tried to give one back to Richard but he
simply said "keep it" and smiled. Paul turned to Amy and asked if she'd like to
stay which of course she replied "yes". One thing then led to another, questions
were asked and answered, flights were checked and before we knew it the decision
had been made for Amy to stay. So she is now with us until Fiji! She has fallen
in love with the South Pacific and I don't blame her, to leave here would have
been silly and everyone knew it. So we have her for 2 more months!
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