Honeymoon - Day 8 and 9 - Moorea

May 8, 2014

This was the first of two days in Moorea.  We had gone to bed a bit later than normal last night so we slept in until about 8:30 which was a nice change.  We got moving around 9 and headed up to breakfast at La Veranda.  After enjoying the breakfast on the boat deck, we headed back to our room where Joe napped for a bit because he had woken up not feeling well .  After getting ready, we took the tender to the shore and walked around Moorea for a bit before heading back.  We talked to some locals to get an idea of what to do on the island for the following day.  We had plans to go to the beach but didn’t have our bathing suits so we headed back to the boat to change.  It was the first day we had absolutely sunny amazing weather since we got on the boat, so we went to the pool to relax a bit and found a lot of our friends there.  We ended up staying by the pool until lunch, then grabbed lunch at the Grill.  Lunch was absolutely amazing and we had a stir-fry with scallops, shrimp, and calamari, as well as all of the usual things.  The theme for lunch was Polynesian so it was all amazing. After lunch we relaxed at the pool a bit longer and then around 2 we headed to the Marina where I took out a paddle board while all of the others took out kayaks and we paddled and kayaked for about an hour and a half.  We made it to shore and back but Joe and I swapped the kayak and paddle board at halfway so he paddle boarded back.  Once we got back we were sufficiently tired so it was nap time for Joe while I read for a bit then got ready for the evening.

Since it was quickly getting to our last days on the ship, we watched the sun set before heading in to see Joe play in the black jack tournament.  He was doing so well and was only in second by 20$, but had to push all in for the last hand.  Unfortunately, the last hand did not play in his favor and he lost it.  It was a fun game though, and we headed to dinner once we finished up.  Dinner was Polynesian night as well, so we started off with poison cru for our appetizer, then enjoyed lobster tail stuffed with shrimp and scallops and a beef tenderloin,  all served with veggies.  For desert Joe had a chocolate lava cake with ice cream and I had a creamy pineapple cake and they were both amazing.  After dinner, Joe still wasn’t feeling amazing so we decided to call it a night and laid down to read for a bit before heading to bed.  It had been a fun day enjoying the amazing sunshine, and we heard we had another beautiful day in store for the next day!

May 9, 2014

We were up bright and early today for our last dive of the trip!  We were spending the second day in Moorea and the weather forecast was wonderful!  We had an 8 AM dive so we woke up around 6:30 and lied around a bit.  We decided to order room service for breakfast the night before since the room service menu was amazing!  We got a knock promptly at 7 with our huge order!  We had gotten fruit, pastries, hot meats, eggs, smoked salmon, and so much more!  It was nice getting breakfast in bed and not even having to make it!  After breakfast, we got ready for the dive and headed to the marina.  This dive was the canyons where we would see sharks, turtles, etc, so we were incredibly excited!  We took the boat out and enjoyed our dive tremendously.  We saw sharks larger than in Bora Bora that were 10 to 15 feet swimming right by our heads.  We had such a great dive instructor that pointed out so many things like piranhas, eels, baby sharks, etc.  On our ride back from the dive we saw so many dolphins, the pack had to be about 20 or them diving and eating!  It was such a beautiful sight to see.  

Dolphin watching :)

Once we got back from the dive, we quickly changed and got dressed since I convinced Joe to do a hike with me.  We wanted to make the 10 o’clock tender, so we headed out to hike Magic Mountain.  A local person had told us about it and the hike started about 1 mile from where our tender dropped us off so we were excited to explore Moorea.  Needless to say, we started off excited and quickly started getting worn out.  Since I had convinced Joe to go on the hike even though he was not feeling 100%, I was the bag carrier.  Thank goodness we packed 4 water bottles.  The hike was the hardest hike both one of us had ever done and it was unbelievably hot and humid.  We are still glad that we did it because at the top we saw the most amazing views looking down on the bay.  The sky was clear and the water was crystal clear making the views breathtaking.  We started our trek back, little did we know we were going to be stopped by a grumpy old man.  Apparently the mountain belongs to him and he charges 2$ per person for those who want to hike it (or take RTVs up).  We had not brought any cash with us, and he spoke little English, so he locked his gate and stared at us.  We had no idea how to convey that we had no money, and it was a bit intimidating, but finally he opened the gate thinking we would walk a mile back to the tender, take the tender to the ship and back, and then return to give him 4$.  To say the least, we were exhausted and that was not happening!  Once we got back we laid on the ground in our room for a bit (we were super sweaty so we didn’t want to lay in bed) before heading to lunch.  

Panorama of the view from the hike!

Our Walk!

What a pretty view!

Amazing Water!

We made it!!!

At lunch I started feeling incredibly sick to my stomach so I left Joe and ended up getting sick right as I got to our room.  I instantly felt better so I thought I was good to go and we headed up to the pool to enjoy the remainder of the day.  We relaxed by the pool, but around 4 my head started hurting so we headed to our room to nap.  Thinking I was OK after the nap, we headed up for our dinner reservations at La Veranda after enjoying the sunset.  At dinner I started feeling terrible again so Joe finished dinner rather quick and we headed back to the room where I fell asleep instantly.  Joe had to pack all of our stuff on his own (I am so grateful) as I got 12 hours of sleep.  Looking back, we are pretty sure I had a nice case of heat exhaustion because it really was incredibly hot on the hike and a VERY steep hike!  Either way, we are still glad we did it for the beautiful views!  Just be warned, it is not an easy hike so maybe take an RTV up if you want to enjoy the view!  Moorea was our favorite island and stop from the cruise.  It is absolutely the most beautiful island and the water is crystal clear.  Definitely recommended to anyone that is in French Polynesia, especially since it is a short boat ride away from Tahiti.

Last Sunset on the Cruise!

Honeymoon - Day 2 - Moorea

May 2, 2014

We landed in Tahiti at 5AM on Friday, and were welcomed by lovely live Tahitian music played by Tahitians dressed up in traditional clothing.  We enjoyed listening to the music while we got through security and customs, which took about 45 minutes or so.  After security, we headed to the ATM to pick up some money since we had read that was the best way to exchange money in Tahiti.  It was simple and easy, and we were not charged an arm and a leg for the exchange fee, so we would highly recommend doing so!  

After that, we headed outside where we easily found a taxi and told him we needed to get to the dock that the Armeti ferry departed from. The taxi driver was very pleasant although he did not speak much English, and charged us the expected 2500 XPF.  Upon arriving to the doc, we headed to the ticket counter that the taxi driver pointed out, and we purchased a round trip ticket for each of us which was 3000XPF.  We boarded the ship and headed straight to the café where we enjoyed a baguette and pastry for breakfast (each was ~400XPF).  We finished up breakfast just as the boat started moving so we headed up to the rooftop where we enjoyed watching Tahiti disappear in the background and Moorea appear.  It was such a beautiful sight and everything was so green!  

Tahiti

Moorea

 After getting to the Moorea port we retrieved our luggage that we had given away and then got a taxi to the hotel.  We had planned on taking the bus but could not find it, so we opted for the taxi which was 3500XPF and took about 25-30 minutes.  We enjoyed the ride thoroughly and the taxi driver told us a lot about the island, which was very fun for us.  Once we arrived at the Hilton Moorea, it was still only 8:30 AM so we knew we were still very early to check in.    

We were welcomed with beautiful leis that were made fresh, a lavender soaked towel, and a Tahitian morning cocktail.   We got all of the information we needed for our hotel stay, and then left our luggage and went to explore the property.  We enjoyed the beach view while we sipped on our cocktails and unwound from our trip.  After Joe took a short nap in the hammock, we headed back to the lobby (which is wide open and has no windows or doors!) and changed into our swim suits and enjoyed some snorkeling.  It was nap time again for Joe after that and I enjoyed some time in the sun enjoying the beautiful scenery.  After Joe woke up, it was still only 11 so we took the kayak out and circled the over water bungalows, before heading in to change for lunch.   

We were surprised to find that our room was ready around 11:30 and our luggage had already been taken to the room!  We took a golf cart to our room and were pleased to find our room to be exactly what we had hoped for.  We had wanted to do the over water bungalow and loved seeing the cut out in the floor of our room that allowed you to see the fish in the sea below, a beautiful balcony, fresh flowers in our room, and a beautiful set up.  We showered fairly quickly and headed to lunch since we weren't unpacking because we were not staying too long.  We had done some research and read rave reviews on a restaurant, Café Lilikoi.  It is a short walk from the Hilton, you simply turn right from the hotel and it is about a 3-5 minute walk and is found on the left.  The food was so reasonably priced and amazing (~1600XPF/person for a meal)!  We ordered the grilled Mahi Mahi special which came with rice and the seared tuna served with fresh pineapple salad and both were absolutely amazing and a lot of food!  We also ordered the desert of the day which was a small cake (almost like a mini pound cake) and fresh vanilla ice cream which was probably the best vanilla ice cream we have ever had (500XPF)!  After finishing up lunch we headed back to the hotel to enjoy our over water bungalow!   

We lied down to relax on our back porch and before we knew it, we were both asleep for a couple of hours and Joe did a bit more snorkeling to test out the GoPro!  We had done quite a lot of research on the GoPros and decided we wanted to get one for our dives even though we had another under water camera (but it could not go as deep).  We didn't want to buy one because they are so expensive so we rented one from a place right down the street from us for 60$/two weeks with insurance! 

We woke up from our nap to find a beautiful note and a bottle of champagne in our room delivered by the Hilton congratulating us on our wedding day.  We enjoyed some champagne while sitting on the dock and finalized our dinner plans.  We learned that a lot of the restaurants on the island come and pick you up if you would like to eat there, so we headed to the front desk to ask about the schedule.  We made a reservation at the Moorea Beach Cafe because it was very highly recommended, so we headed to our room to get ready for the 5:30 pick up.  Since we were ready by 5, we headed to the hotel bar and enjoyed our complimentary cocktails, Maithai, which was a very beachy and amazing drink.  We finished up our drinks just in time for the shuttle to pick us up, and we headed to dinner.   

The restaurant is right on the beach and although it started sprinkling, we enjoyed an amazing dinner under a covered, fully open restaurant right on the water.  We got their fixed meal menu, where you order an appetizer, meal, and desert for 3800XPF.  After I ordered a glass of wine, and Joe ordered the traditional Tahitian beer, we browsed the menu.  We ended up ordering tuna tartar and a raw seafood special for the appetizers and both were amazing!  The portion size was huge!  After ordering the appetizers, we received a complimentary Ahi tuna appetizer that was also very good and fresh bread.  For dinner we ordered a Spanish Mackerel with veggies and white rice and Ahi Tuna with Asparagus Risotto.  Both of the fish came with two filets and plenty of sides, so needless to say, Joe and I were stuffed!  We finished up our meal with desert, ordering a chocolate fondant and a raspberry tiramisu which were both amazing!  We finished up our meal and headed back to the hotel.   

We stopped by the Crepe Bar on the way back to our room since they feed the sharks and they turn on the lights so you can watch them swim around.  The Crepe Bar is on the peer so it is just next door to our room!  After watching them for a bit we headed back to our room to enjoy the remainder of the champagne and lay outside on our back porch listening to the waves below.  The over-water bungalow was everything we had dreamed of, and the Hilton resort was more than welcoming and accommodating to our needs.  We called it an early night since we are still getting used to the time change, but what an eventful first day it was!