The Hughes Zoo

If Rarotonga was beautiful, Moorea is absolutely mind-blowing. It’s the quintessential south pacific island - gorgeous clear aqua water with waves  breaking 100m out on the reef, dramatic cloud-topped mountains, an approachable working class rural population and perfect weather.

We didn’t have much of a plan (as usual) and when we got off the tender Ange suggested hiring a car for the day.  It was pretty pricey (US$150, plus US$30 in fuel) but it allowed us to do whatever we wanted and comfortably spend the entire day onshore. We would have paid almost as much for a couple of hour guided tour.

As an added bonus, the hire car lady pointed out the local places that were worth visiting, including hands down the most unbelievably stunning beach I’ve ever seen. We spent probably 4 hours there and it was seriously like the rest of existence had stopped. None of us really got hungry or thirsty or distracted or bored. We just wanted to swim. Ange was smart enough to pack our swimming goggles, so we were able to do some skin diving over the small reef close to shore.

Jeremy was at first a little freaked out by having to share the water with fish, but quickly got used to the idea. Will had is morning sleep in the pram in the shade of a palm tree, while the rest of us swam a few meters away. Ange and I, and Jeremy to a much lesser extent, got a good case of sunburn. Jeremy was so excited about going to the beach that he was in a particularly demanding mood, so we sort of only half remembered to cream ourselves up. Still, it was worth it.

For lunch we hopped back in the car and drove a little further around the beach to the Sofitel resort. The place is seriously awesome - traditional looking huts on stilts out over the water. The food was pretty nice too. If it wasn’t for the reportedly $600/night price tag, I’d have added it to our list of places to come back to.

After lunch Ange did a fantastic job of driving the left-hand-drive Mondeo up a very narrow winding mountain road to a lookout. The mountain formations are so dramatic and beautiful.

As with Pepeete, the main language is French which makes it feel like you’re really quite a long way from home. Although it made sign-reading a pain, it was pretty cool.

For me, and I think everyone else agrees, so far Moorea is the highlight of the trip. I could have spent a week here. Or a month.

Photos for the day