Monday November 5
We were up early as we were moving to Moorea today - we caught the resort shuttle to Vaitape then the free airport ferry to the airport for our 12:50pm flight to Moorea. This approach saved a few hundred dollars off the Conrad’s direct airport water shuttle. When we got to the airport we had some time to kill and since the sun was over the yardarm we decided to have a beer and a glass of wine at the small cafe. Yikes - this place sets a world record in pricing - about $30AUD for these drinks - I would have gotten a bag of chips as well (in lieu of lunch) but these were $13AUD.
We landed on time, collected our luggage and grabbed our shared taxi to the hotel. Check-in was very busy and somewhat chaotic but we got our lagoon view villa around 2:30pm - alas there was no upgrade available. Our villa sits right on the edge of the lagoon so it’s almost as good as one of the OWBs. To our surprise there was a complimentary bottle of FC and a fruit plate waiting for us in the room. So we had the fruit plate instead of lunch but saved the FC for later.
We lazed about for the remainder of the afternoon then slid into five’es and dinner - the FC hit the spot - the a la carte dinner was somewhat average - Dieter had veal and I have BBQ chicken.
Tuesday November 6
We went for brekkie and to our surprise were told breakfast was included contrary to our booking description - hope this proves to be true when we get the final bill.
We did lots of snorkelling off the beach - excellent coral and lots of fish. We had lunch in the bar.
We wound down the afternoon then had five’es and dinner in the bar again - a simple menu - food variable.
Wednesday November 7
We were at breakfast as soon as it opened at 6:30am as we had a big snorkelling trip booked for 8am. To our surprise there were lots of other people up early too.
We set out on our snorkelling trip at 8am - after getting kitted out with shorty wet suits, full face masks (Dieter only) and fins and under-water sea scooters. See video.
There were 8 people on the tour - we had been told it would be only 6 - hummm. First stop was not far off the beach in shallow water so everyone could get the hang of the sea scooters. They were lots of fun - we followed the guide through some great coral again with lots of fish and a very friendly sting ray. Next stop was dolphin watching just outside the lagoon - it was quite choppy. Third stop was also outside the lagoon where we snorkelled with sharks (reef and lemon sharks) - without the sea scooters. Fourth stop was back inside the lagoon - very far along where we snorkelled with a ‘flotilla’ of Eagle rays - 40+. From here it was back to our end of the lagoon for the final swim with the sea scooters on the edge of a major drop off.
We were back on the jetty - around mid-day totally exhausted - but declared it the ‘best tour ever’ - particularly value for money.
After showering we had lunch and a lazy afternoon - around 4:30pm we picked up our hire car which we would keep until Friday afternoon when we left Moorea by ferry on our way home via another overnighter in Papeete.
We finished off the day with dinner in the bar (again) as the main restaurant was having their weekly Polynesian “luau” with entertainment - loud music, fire dancing etc, etc - we could hear and see it all from the bar.
The resort also has a fine dining restaurant where you must order at least 3 courses - but does not offer the Accor Plus half-price dining so we gave it a miss.
Thursday November 8
We had a more leisurely start to the day - with coffee on our terrace at 7am then brekkie at 8am then a final coffee back on our terrace before heading out on our roadie.
We drove up to the lookout then continued around the island, finding the old site of the now closed Club Med and the resort right beside it where we stayed back in 1977.
After lunch at the hotel we did some more snorkelling then the usual routine of showers, five’es and dinner.
Friday November 9
So it was our last day on Moorea - after brekkie and packing up and checking out we had another drive around the island. We had a late lunch at the hotel then returned our hire car and caught the ferry back to Papeete. Our regular driver (Yota) met us and took us to the Tahiti Airport Motel - right opposite the airport (surprise) - it’s only redeeming feature is it’s location. It was now after 6pm so we finished off the gin with a couple of G&Ts then walked to the only restaurant in the area - The Ocean Restaurant - a Chinese place which was OK. Then it was off to bed as we had an early start - our flight back to AKL departed at 8:40am.