01/07/09  Moorea

The 12,000 locals are spread around the coast road  circling the island which is about 40 miles long so you can drive it pretty quickly, which we did yesterday.  We almost went to the Ferry Terminal bay with the boat, assuming there would be a town there which there isn’t so I’m glad we didn’t.  There are a couple of concentrations of shops around the island but nothing I would really call a proper town.  The resorts provide  the night life.     We drove up to Belvedere Lookout which has pretty spectacular views of Cooks Bay and Opunohu Bay where we’re anchored. Cook’s Bay is quite developed with Hotels and Restaurants whereas Opunohu is significantly more remote and therefore more beautiful.

Today we went for a walk in  a very dark enchanted woods part way up the mountain, complete with eerie noises. More by luck than judgment  we stumbled across three Temple sites reputed to be  1000 years old.  The forest is full of fantastic looking Mape trees –a Tahitian Chestnut-with extraordinary root structures, straight out of Pam’s Labyrinth.