Off to Tahiti- arrive in pouring rain and it hasn’t really stopped. Only staying one night in Papeete as not very beautiful, and plane arrived late at night. But do NOT stay in Tiare Tahiti- a total dump- neon lights, dirty yellow doors, filthy coffee. After positive NZ staff – the contrast with these could not give a damn of these guys is huge.
Ferry in morning to Moorea ( not soon enough) Here the hotel is delightful- Les Tapiniers- friendly staff, nice spacious bungalow, good restaurant. Morea is beautiful- mountains covered in palm trees and greenery, green cragged tops- waterfalls from mountain tops- straight out of the Lost Valley ( expecting dinosaurs to appear at any moment)
Went on boat ride to see the giant rays- did not realize we could get in the sea and stroke them- they have been taught to have no fear of humans. A truly magical experience, amplified by being circled by rather large sharks ( we were assured they did not eat humans.) Despite tempestuous downpours this was unmissable.
Early rise to go on to Manihi- an atoll- basically a lagoon surrounded by a narrow circle of land and reefs. Rain still persues us- downpours normally timed to when we are moving our bags and are totally exposed. In a water bungalow over the sea ( Manihi Pearl Resort-recommend.) The room has a glass table that you can see the sea below through. Also glass panels in bathroom and bedside tables. You can take the top of the table to feed the fish- Picadilly Circus. BK went down below to stroke the fish whilst Davina dropped food from above. Another amazing experience more than compensating for the weather . (We left finally sunny Moorea and Tahiti to stormy Manihi!)
Note-use Tahiti Nui travel- very professional.
2 days of tempests. Apparently they get cyclones every 12 years- last one was 14 years ago! Cyclone Olly got us!! Unbelievable gusts of wind and truly incredible downpours. Reminded me of old movie about tropical hurricanes. Palm trees at 50 degrees- everything soaking BUT what an experience! Food delicious.
Today it is calm and beautiful and went fishing. Great fun- who said fishing was an art- you just drop your line in and immediately catch something! Fabulous colours. Davina a dap hand with the reel. We will eat some of the catch tonight.
Looking over the balcony saw a reef shark. Called out to National Geographic endorsed cameraman- Davina. Camera at the ready , so focused on the shark, she crashed over the deck chair-hence blurry photo! But she lives for another day.
Nightmare happens- we are told that we are trapped on the island as all flights cancelled.Looked as if we would have to give up Easter Island as only 2 flights a week. Then, the next day, we find out that Lan has rescheduled a flight for tomorrow ( as their International flight was also cancelled)-and that if we could bet off this stormy,sodden tropical paradise we could make the connection. told a plane was coming at 12.30- finally arrived at 5.30 ( told if not here by 6.00 it could not land) Delighted to escape- we had fun with the other 8 people in the hotel ( 2 Canadian Scots and 5 French)- ended up all eating together and bonding- it was an experience that one enjoys more in retrospect!)
Now in Easter Island- absolutely fabulous- totally recommend. Everybody is so friendly and the giant statues (Moys?) are magnifiecnt. There are more wild horses than people.
we happened to arrive during ttheir annual festival- what a treat. and we saw a race inside the volcano- it involved canooing by loin clothed males across the lake inside the volcano- followed by running the perimeter of the lake carrying 2 large bunches of bananas (not comical- maybe 40 kg), followed by anothee r circuit, followed by a kind of surf board rowed with hands across the lake. Amazing. There was a ladies race at the end , and i waited to see the beautiful girls in their loin cloths- but sadly they were covered up!!
Tahiti is beautiful but the people there are so lazy and unhelpful- Easter island was a delight.
Chile is only 3 hours behind UK ( i dont understand these time zones- it looks further west than New York which i thiunk is 5 hours behind- can someone explain.)
Stayed at Mana Nui Inn- lovely people. and had excellent dinner at "Au but du monde". Saw massed singing and dancing from the restaurant balcony-part of the festival. Over 100 people on the stage. It was great as not done for the tourists.
