Hello Huahine

Woke early again this morning, it’s our last morning on Moorea so I was probably sub-consciously trying to make the most of it. Florence had other ideas and slept a while longer.

Breakfast again had a good variety of fruit, followed by a cheese omelette today. Check-out is usually 11:00 but they kindly let us stay until our transport arrived. Nothing seemed to fit in the bags very well so packing took longer than it should have done. Plans to go for a cycle were abandoned in favour of a final swim in the pool.

By midday we were waiting in reception for our airport transfer to take us 5 miles down the road to the airport. The airport facilities were minimal – one shop and a food caravan outside – a roulotte; we ordered a mango juice and a coffee. It’s hot and humid this morning but there’s a slight breeze to keep it bearable.

The plane arrived and a few lucky people got off; about 10 of us got on and before we knew it, we were on our way. We could just see our resort out of the window as the plane climbed over the ocean. Today was a proper flight – almost twenty minutes long; we reached quite an altitude but there are some huge clouds towering high above us.

Our next island, Huahine, soon came into view in front of us. There are actually two islands within the lagoon split by a narrow channel between them. We’re soon on the ground, everything happened quickly and we were soon reunited with our bags and on our way to the hotel, the Matai Lapita Village. It’s an eco-friendly hotel. The bungalows are based on the design of Polynesian boat houses with very high pitched roofs. The decor is rustic but very nice. We soon settled in and took a walk round the grounds. The hotel doesn’t front the sea but has a lake in the middle with palm trees and water lilies all around it. Exploration completed, it was time for a swim firstly in the sea and then in the hotel pool. The sea was very flat; there were large waves breaking in the distance on the edge of the lagoon but there is nothing left of them by the time they reach the beach.

By now, it was getting close to cocktail hour so we had a quick shower and returned to the bar area to get a table with a good view of the sunset. Florence had a Mai Tai, I had a Margarita; Florence’s was the better choice. The sun sets over our next two destinations, Raiatea and Bora Bora, their mountainous outlines silhouetted by the sunset, just visible through the clouds.

After cocktails and sunset, we moved to the restaurant for dinner. There wasn’t much choice for vegetarians but they told us they could do any dish without the fish or meat for us. I settled on spinach cakes – surprisingly tasty. The hotel advertised a musical evening – ‘Special The King Tour’ – this turned out to be an Elvis impersonator with a cheesy keyboard. We agreed that if he played King Creole we’d get up and dance – he didn’t.