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The Desmond’s French
PolynesinVacation
13 nights Moorea Village 1 night Hotel Tiare Tahiti
July 30-August 14 1999
Steve, Kathy, Pam (20 yrs.)& Paul (16
yrs.)
(We used Islands in the Sun $4400 for the 4 of us)
July 30-31st Clear
day in Oakland
Our Corsair flight out of Oakland was 1 hour late. The
plane was packed; the 4 of us were in the center aisle.
Lot’s of French people on board. I
think I slept through one movie. The movies
were awful and so was the food. They forgot
to give Paul one meal but he didn’t care. It
was really, really bad. I got very thirsty.
(Make sure you bring water on the plane!) It
was a butt killer flight.
We arrive the next day at 4 am. It’s very warm. We receive a flower lei greeting! We get our luggage and buy some water and wait for an hour for our transfer to leave. We are all tired. We go to the ferry dock in the dark. We have to pay 50 Cents to use the bathroom there and this Tahitian man is asking me, I think, what is that man charging you to use the toilet? They are agitated. It’s a European toilet! I threw toilet paper in the hole but I don’t know if I was suppose to. Pam is totally disgusted with the toilet. We wait for the dawn and talk to another American couple while eating granola bars.
I get our tickets for the Ferry fighting my way through the mob! The Ferry ride to Moorea was refreshing and the island is beautiful. We pick up our luggage and look for our transfer. We can’t find anyone in the mob so I search elsewhere. I end up buying some pineapples and Steven is yelling at me to come. This man takes us in a van to the Beachcomber where we transfer onto another bus to the Moorea Village. The bus driver honks at everyone! We are all shocked at how warm it is so early in the morning! We like it!
On arrival at the Moorea Village Pam & Paul take off to check out the view. They are very excited, “Look Mom!” They cart our luggage to bungalows 51 &52, the second row, 50 ft from the water next to the restaurant. It’s 9 am and our rooms are not ready yet.
The grounds are
very nice with a pool and covered deck off the restaurant & bar. Beautiful water and a beach with a motu not far
off. Steven is starving and the restaurant is
closed so we whip out the salami, cheese & crackers and cut up the pineapple. The pineapple is so sweet, the best we’ve
ever had. We unpack and head out for the
grocery store for water. On the way I order a
chicken for dinner from the Chicken guy (in yellow bus) for $10. They take American money at the grocery store. It is really hot walking on the rode. We rest a while then go snorkeling and early to
bed after eating our yummy chicken, pineapple & bread.
There’s a lot of music coming out of the restaurant but it doesn’t
keep us awake.
8-1-99
Clear weather
Began day with Pam & Kathy
going to store for pastries, fruit & juice. We
all had instant oatmeal. Decided to take the
free outrigger shuttle to the big motus for snorkeling-glad we did it; it was fantastic! Clear sparkling water, coral & fish of all
kinds! Going there every day! Went out for lunch to a snack shack-had hamburgers
and fries. Tasted very good. Later in the afternoon went snorkeling again
around the motu in front of our hotel. Water
is murky until you get out to the motu then clears up.
Good snorkeling with lots of stag horn coral & fish. Beautiful sunset.
8-2-99
Clear with very slight breeze today
Started day with trip to the store for pastries & fruit. After breakfast took boat to the motus for more
snorkeling. Boat was overloaded but we made
it. On the way back the boat stopped so we
could see some stingrays in the water. Snacked
for lunch then took a 4X4 tour around the island and hiked to a waterfall. Our guide didn’t speak English very well. She could tell us what everything was but had
trouble understanding us. The Belvedere
lookout had spectacular views, stopped at a fruit juice factory where we tasted the
spirits. Kathy gets mean when she drinks! Returned from tour around 6 pm then went to the
Hibiscus Hotel restaurant for pizza. It was
very good. The owner had us confused with
someone else and tried to move us into a different bungalow at the Hibiscus. We couldn’t speak French at all and she
didn’t understand English very well! We finally got through to her that we
weren’t staying there. We ran into a
couple that we had talked to on the ferry dock. They
were staying at the Moorea Beach Club. She
said nothing much going on at that hotel. Kathy said,
“at least it’s in a good location to walk around.”
8-3-99
Warm partly cloudy
After breakfast we signed up for the $10 shark feeding at the Moorea camping. Went by powered outrigger to the barrier reef and
got in the water with the SHARKS! (Black tip reef sharks)
It was very exciting to see the fin sticking out of the water and to see the
sharks! 
After
that they took us to pet the stingrays! They are very gentle creatures that seem to
enjoy the contact. Saw a pregnant one and a
VERY big stingray that the guide rode on. They
then took us to the motu for fruit snack and more snorkeling. Saw a huge fat moray eel. Back at the village Pam & Paul took the canoe
out. At first it would go in circles then it
sank! Caused quite a commotion back on the
beach. There wasn’t much else happening
so everyone watched them. A big buff guy
helped them tip the water out and haul it back on the beach ready & waiting for the
next canoe victims! Went back to the Sunset
restaurant for dinner and had seafood pasta. Very
tasty. Kathy’s had a claw thing in it
that looked like it was flipping her off. Beautiful
Sunset.
8-4-99
Partly cloudy/Rain in the afternoon
Breakfast as usual then to the motu
for snorkeling. Saw a stingray, sea star and
a duckbilled snapper swimming with a huge school of convict tangs. Went
to snack shack for lunch, good food, then to
check out shopping. Found an abc store in the
shopping area. Kids got tired of shopping
and left. Kathy and I continued for a short
while then walked back in the rain. It rained
the rest of the afternoon and most of the night. Had
to put the blanket on the bed.
8-5-99
Cloudy/Rain showers
The day began like all the others; a trip for pastries and oatmeal for breakfast. It was a simple question but one that held torture
in its manifestation. Kathy asked if we
wanted to ride bikes around the island? Our
trip started by riding our mountain bikes counter clockwise around the island. The easiest way we thought. We were doing
fine for the first part; we took lots of pictures and stopped for lunch. 
After lunch
we started out again. The kids didn’t
want to wait for us so they sped off ahead. That’s
when things began to go bad. A few miles down
the road Steven’s legs began to cramp. He
didn’t think he’d be able to finish. We
walked for awhile until he felt better. We
rode to the ferry landing—NO KIDS IN SIGHT! Steven
legs still cramping—Pam has all the money in her basket on her bike. Disaster was looming—the steepest grade of
the trip was just ahead! (Near the Sofitel Hotel) We were also out of water! We kept going-pushing our bikes up the hill. Finally, we found Paul at the top. But where was Pam!
Paul said he didn’t see her go by; but that she could have because he
wasn’t always looking at the road! We
send Paul ahead to find her with instructions to wait for us when he did. Mile after torturous mile—no kids. No Money
to buy bottled water or to hire a taxi!! We
get rained on really hard around Cooks & Opunohu Bays.
Finally, in a totally dehydrated delusional mind Steven stops at a small
grocery store and trades his watch for a liter of water.
At least death would have to wait for now. After
a few more miles we meet Pam coming towards us all clean and rested. Her story, and she’s sticking to it, is that
she realized that she was lost some where after taking a shortcut near the Sofitel Hotel
to bypass the big hill. Anyway, to make a
long story shorter, she got a ride from one of the guys that works at the Moorea Village. Finally we got back to the hotel before dark and
in time to avoid late charges on the bikes. After
8 hours and 36 miles all we could do was fall into the pool and massage our sore bottoms. Kathy’s 2 fingers were numb and Paul &
Kathy felt like they were getting blisters on their hands.
Would we do it again? Maybe,
but not tomorrow. WE went to happy hour for
mai tais and dinner afterwards. Sleep was not
to far off.
8-6-99
Partly cloudy/sunny afternoon
Activity was minimal today. Went to the Motu
for snorkeling. Saw filefish, stingrays and a
fish that looked a lot like a barracuda. Spent
rest of the day laying around and swimming.
8-7-99
Rain all day
The day began with sunshine but very quickly began to rain.
Didn’t do much. Pam &
Kathy took umbrellas to shop a little. They walked back from Les Tipaners along the beach.
They ordered another chicken and potatoes for dinner.
Kathy also bought some french butter for the bread. Kids swam in the rain.
Kathy reminded us how good she is at Rummy and very humbly won.
8-8-99
Sunny and windy
After breakfast (ate the last of the oatmeal) we decided to go to the motus for
snorkeling. There were so many people we
decided not to go. Snorkeled in front of
Moorea Village instead and relaxed on the beach. Found
out it was very crowded at the motus because the locals like to go there on Sunday. We had dinner at Chez Serge. Paul had a steak but had to send it back because
it was not done enough. Pam had shrimp (good
but she didn’t like the eyes staring at her) Kathy had shrimp-veg kabob and Steven
had mahi mahi steak (to many bones)
8-9-99
Hot day
Went to motu in the morning. Got ham & cheese baguettes take-out for lunch. Steven slept all afternoon while Kathy and kids
decided to snorkel to the reef. When they ran
into a shark they turned back. They saw a
huge pufferfish. The people from Lake
Arrowhead had lost their son Rocky, Kathy got
the binoculars and there was Rocky, tipped over in the canoe next to the motu. Pam & Sharon grabbed a canoe and were going to
be the next best thing to Baywatch and save him but he got it flipped back over.
We ate bread and butter for dinner. (We were tired from so much sun that day)
8-10-99
Sunny
After breakfast we rode Le Truck to the Tike Village.
The guide book said it opened at 10:00 but
when we arrived it said 11:00. So we walked
around the side and went down to the beach. Saw
some of the behind the scenes life style. Finally,
a severely tattooed guy chased us back to the entrance.
We paid and went in. Our guide
was a lady who spoke enough English for us, but she had B/O really bad! We all got tattoos drawn on us. After
finding out that this was an artist colony Steven was ready to leave. We walked 35 min to get back to the Moorea
Village. It was very hot. Steven got the Mother of all blisters on his foot. After dinner we walked home and met up with
a dog that chased our flash light beams. Lost
him when another family w/lights went by.
8-11-99
Sunny
After breakfast we rented a Fiat Panda. Loaded
ourselves and gear into it and took off around the Island.
Kids got kind of tired of us stopping so often for photos. Finally
found the public beach and spent several hours there.
Nice beach but current is kinda strong. for snorkeling. Saw some local transvestites. (I really had to look to figure out if the guy was
a girl or a guy!) We had lunch at the floating restaurant and dropped the kids off at
village. Kathy and I went back up to
Belvedere for another look. What a view. I hope the pictures do it justice. Moorea is a very beautiful place. Turned the car in and had pupus for dinner.
8-12-99
Sunny
After breakfast we took the ride to the motus for snorkeling. This was our last chance to do this. The people from New Zealand went with us. They are leaving today. They arrived one day before we did. They said it takes 6 hrs to fly home. Snorkeling was good. We saw 4-6 big stingrays in a feeding frenzy,
eels, octopus, flounder and many fish.
We had pupus for lunch. Battle cat joined us. This cat has obviously been in lots of fights.
Spent afternoon on the beach. Kathy saw 2 eagle rays near the motu. Steven met up with the New Zealand couple and sat and chatted while they waited for their taxi. Got their address.
Had dinner at the Le Pitcarin restaurant. The food was excellent-a bit pricey though. We told the kids we would only order water to drink! (restaruants charge about $2.70 for a soda) Steven had pepper steak. Pam had garlic shrimp. Paul & Kathy had chicken with shrimp and lobster sauce. On the walk back we stopped for an ice cream.
8/13/99
Sunny, windy
Last day on Moorea. Ferry ride from Moorea
was very rough! Stayed at the Hotel Tiare
Tahiti on Tahiti. Went to Public Market. Awesome! Ran
into Sharon, Bill and Rocky at the market. They
had gone to Bora Bora. Steve & Paul got
sick of shopping (of course!). Tahiti is very
interesting! Our room at the Tiare overlooked
the bay and all the boats. Went to a pizza
place and they put all the olives in one section; all the pepperoni in another section and
all the mushrooms in another. Should have
brought camcorder because the walls were painted with pictures. Hard time sleeping with all the traffic and the
air conditioner.
8/14/99
Dark
Left Tiare Hotel 4:30 in the morning. We were pretty wiped out. Flight leaves at 7 am Not a bad flight home since
we are able to spread out. Pam and Paul got
four seats and Kathy and I shared 4 seats in the middle isle. Food was good going home. Seemed like a newer plane and better crew. Little French kids moved behind us and kicked the
seats no matter where Kathy sat. We arrived
and got through customs. They take away the
coconut. We figured they probably would. Kathy was going to paint a picture on it. We didn’t know it then, but sneaky Paul had
smuggled in 3 hermit crabs. He had them in a
water bottle then put them in his pocket in case they got x-rayed. We arrived home around 9 pm.. Went to bed.
Paul’s salt water aquarium looks great with the new shells and new Tahitian hermit crabs.
Kathy’s Thoughts on Moorea:
I wish I had video taped the pareo show! She
spent an hour showing all the different ways to wear it! We also saw a really good
Tahitian dance show at the Moorea Village. Moorea
is beautiful and very rural. I wish I knew
more French words. It was worth the long
flight! I would have liked to have gone on a
guided hike but Pam’s ankle was swollen, maybe from falling on a rock when the canoe
tipped, and Steven had a bad blister on the bottom of his foot. I didn’t want to push it! Steven lost 10 pounds on this vacation!! I have to
say I have never heard him whine so much in my life as he did on that bike trip. I was not dying of thirst like he was and
couldn’t believe what a hard time he was having! But I didn’t say a word! Also, one night while we were sleeping the geckos
knocked our dishes off the top of the Fridge and scared me to death! In spite of the blisters, scrapes, and swollen
bottoms we really did have a good time and were amazed at the clarity of the water, fish
life, dramatic mountains, and sunsets. It was
fun walking to the store every morning for pastries, fruit and juice. 
We
would say Bon jour to everyone. Walking back
from dinner at night was fun on the beach or on the road.
The stars are so bright, the air is warm, (Not like at home!) But the mosquitos will get you when you sit out! We got to meet a few other Americans, the couple
from New Zealand; plus talked to the locals that spoke English. Yes, I would go back!
Pam’s thinking about going back and staying at Moorea Camping for
$8 a night! Below the sun is setting on the
beach.
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