Tahiti

My wife and I took a 3 week trip to the South Pacific in July of 2006.  We visited the islands of Bora Bora, Moorea and Tahiti in French Polynesia, followed by Easter Island (Chile) and finally Rarotonga and Aitutaki of the Cook Islands.…

Tahiti ATM machine that We never managed to get either of our bank cards to work.  We have both Cirrus and Plus bank cards and they have worked faithfully all over the world.  We tried to withdraw money using both cards in several banks in Papeete, several more in Vaitape,

We struck out for restaurants on Moorea. Since there is no public transport in Moorea, and the island is fairly big, independent travelers are at the mercy of the restaurants sometimes-included transfer services.  We found only the restaurants in Cook’s Bay were willing to

Horseback Riding We did a 2 hour horseback riding trip with Ranch Opunohu Valley.  It cost $55 apiece, and was definitely worth it.  Our guide picked us up from our hotel exactly on time, and 15 minutes later we were on horseback for a guided tour of the interior of the isla

Opunohu BayOur Pension owner arranged a rental car with Avis for us.  It cost $75 for the day and only standard/manual transmission was available.  The pick-up was 25 minutes late, but they gave us a free upgrade to an A/C car.  We drove up to Belvedere Point for a grea

See the full slideshow here Outside our bungalow at Pension Motu Iti. This pension is one of the very few reasonably priced options ($90 US for a garden-view room) on Moorea.  The hotel has about 6 bungalows, and an open-air dorm ($20 per person).…

The next part of our trip took us back to Moorea (with an obligatory layover at Chez Myrna in Papeete again, since the flight arrives at midnight). In the morning, we took the Moorea Express boat over to Moorea from Papeete.…

Javelin throwing.What saved us, and what made Papeete an interesting destination even on the weekend, was the Heiva.  This cultural celebration happens every July and was a blast.  On Saturday, we watched javelin throwing (dozens of guys in traditional dress throw javelins f

The boardwalk Our two days in Papeete were unfortunately on a weekend.  There is very, very little going on in Papeete on the weekend.  Most stores are closed – in fact the whole city is closed on Sunday.  There are some very pleasant walks by the port – lot

  Chez Myrna Budget accommodations in Papeete are almost impossible to find.  We were lucky enough to reserve 3 nights at a pension which was highly recommended in the new Lonely Planet.  We paid $60 US per night – a steal in Papeete.  The room was good R