Mo'orea: Now This is French Polynesia!

Our Easter Sunday was spent on the island of Mo'orea. We couldn't have been happier.

I absolutely love this description, "Formed when half of a monolithic volcano crumbled to the blue-green sea, Mo'orea is an achingly exquisite heart-shaped island that is simply paradise found."

Our day was filled with the most amazing scenery and a feeling that we were where we needed to be. Safari Mario Tours provided us with just what we had hoped for. Below is a pictorial tour with little explanation (it's a short port visit with limited internet connectivity hence this brief post). Enjoy the adventure with us.

My feet are in Opunohu Bay, one of the island's two bays.

A brief pause was at one of Moorea's many archaeological sites. If we had more time we would have explored the "trail of the ancestors" which leads through the forest, offering insights into the lives and environment of the people who once lived in the valley. Next time!

Driving through the lush countryside in an open back truck allowed us to really feel 'in' the environment. With frequent pauses for views and history lessons, our day was unforgettable!

Mo'orea is famed for the cultivation of pineapples. Turns out, cultivating pineapples is a very precise affair. The plant blooms with a blue flower which slowly turns into a fruit over the next few months. Then you have to wait until the fruit is fully ripe before picking it, because pineapples cease to ripen once they’re picked. It takes about a year from planting to harvest. The more the fruit is exposed to sunshine, the sweeter it becomes.

And how cool to actually go to church on Easter Sunday. We missed services but we appreciated the history and architecture of this octagonal church at Papetoai. Built by missionaries in the 1870s, today it is the oldest standing European building in the South Pacific.