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Welcome to the enchanting island of Moorea, one of the Tahitian islands in French Polynesia. This is actually the location where they filmed South Pacific. We definitely saw the beauty and wonder of this exotic paradise! | |
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Hotel Sofitel Ia Ora Coralia - Our luxurious resort was situated on Temae Beach, rated one of the most beautiful in the South Pacific. We stayed in an over-the-water bungalow (#119) way at the end. This gave us the most privacy since we couldn't see any neighbors on either side of us. As far as we were concerned, we had the entire ocean to ourselves!
We even had a glasstop coffee table which opened up to the ocean below. It was neat to be able to feed the fish from our living room! Our private deck above the ocean boasted an incredible and unobstructed view of Tahiti. We could jump right into the crystal, blue sea from our deck. But watch out for the coral! Ivan cut his foot on his first jump in. We used the little ladder at the side of our deck from then on.
An Island Paradise - We swam with schools of fish right outside of our bungalow. The resort also gave us canoes and paddleboats to use so we explored the Pacific from all kinds of vantage points. Our favorite was snorkeling though - much more hands on - and we could rub noses with the marine life!
Exploring - We rented a scooter for the first time and Ivan was a pro right from the start. On our way to town we stopped to enjoy the beautiful view overlooking our resort. We also explored a little bit, taking in the majesty of Cook's Bay and the novelty of Tahitian cuisine.
We also rented a car one day to get around the entire island. We did a little shopping and learned a lot about the famous Tahitian black pearl. Ivan bought me a black pearl necklace to commemorate the honeymoon. We ate more yummy food like the Pineapple Split - Tahiti's version of a banana split.
Shark! - Our boat tour of Moorea included an encounter with two beautiful sharks. We snorkeled as they swam by looking for food. They must have been used to the tourists cuz they were quite friendly! We also had a chance to snorkel with and feed stingray, which are surprisingly soft to the touch. Our Tahitian tour guide gave an enchanting narration about the history of Moorea and also prepared a tasty picnic lunch for us on one of the smaller islands. What a beautiful journey!
Deep Blue Sea - We couldn't leave this charming island without a fishing expedition! We shared a six man boat with an Australian couple and another American couple and took turns in the "chair". The waves were quite rocky that day but the vastness of the ocean kept me occupied. I spotted a few graceful dolphin jumping in and out of the water. What a sight! At one exciting point, a blue marlin was trailing our boat, but he quickly got away and was never to be seen again. We didn't catch a marlin but it was great just relaxing in the cool ocean breeze. We loved it!
New Beginnings - We also must admit that we spent many lazy hours just enjoying each other's company from the deck of our bungalow, taking in the magical beauty of this island hideaway. The glorious sunrise each morning reminded us of God's blessing on the beginning of our journey together as husband and wife.
We "give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever." ~ 1 Chronicles 16:34 | |
Copyright © 2001-2002 May N. Yong. All Rights Reserved.
