Moorea (Part 2) - July 3-12, 2009

Part 2 of Moorea! We just had way too many pictures to fit into one post! We took out kayaks a few times during our stay. For the most part the lagoon was shallow and clear (we could clearly see fish and coral, even in water that looked to be about 40 ft deep), but as we approached the bays the bottom would just drop out of site. Other times, we would suddenly find ourselves in less than 1 ft of water, weaving through the coral back to deeper waters. We could hear the loud crash of the waves breaking out on the coral reef about 400 m offshore, but it was very calm within the lagoon. Here is Eric relaxing in his kayak, and a few other pictures of the scenery.
Up ahead are the over water bungalows at the Hilton, and in the second picture you can see our bungalow on the right.That night we went out to the Tiki Village Theater. It was started over 20 yrs ago and there is a whole village where many of the performers live and work. It is considered to be one of the most authentic Polynesian show in the Pacific. We started with a tour of the village and learned a bit about the different handicrafts, from jewelery making to basket weaving to wood carving. We also learned about black pearls, which French Polynesia is well known for. I saw some really cool jewelery, including a great coral cuff bracelet, but I restrained myself. We saw the opening of the ground oven, and then it was time to eat! They had traditional Polynesian food - I think the coconut bread balls was one of our favorites, although the mahi mahi in coconut sauce and the chicken/pineapple dish were also excellent.
After dinner was the big show, 1 1/2 hrs of singing and dancing. At the beginning they pulled up people from the audience to teach them some of the dances. Eric and I were both pulled up but we won't scare you with those pictures. Here are some pictures from the show:The fire dancers were one of the best parts, they were amazing!
Towards the end of the show I remembered that I could do video on my camera, so I taped a few of the different dances. Here is one of the clips:

We loved the show and would recommend it to anyone visiting Moorea!