July 29, 2010

We rented our red scooter at 9:00 am right across the street from the Bali Hai Club. It was $60 for 8 hours. We left in the rain but luckily it quit after 5 minutes. Good thing for Steve, because he was riding in the front where he soaked up all of the wind and rain, pretty much totally blocking Portia. We stopped at various art and tourist shops whenever we felt like it, a big luxury as we are normally on foot and cannot cover as much ground. The road that circles the island is 35 miles and is relatively flat as it follows the coast line. We followed signs to a remote jeweler on a back road. The owner was a one time big game hunter/pilot in Gabon, Africa who always wanted to do some cruising but ended up settling in Moorea. We enjoyed trading stories with him, but did not buy any of his artistic jewelry, some dating back at least 30 years. For lunch we stopped at the Tiki Village, supposedly a typical village, but set up for tourists with shops and a restaurant on the water. We enjoyed shrimp curry and coconut fried fish from our table overlooking the ocean and watched a small Polynesian Dance show with demonstrations on how to use the pareo (a rectangular piece of cloth) which Portia wears daily on the boat. The little scooter had no problem taking us up to a sacred “marae” (a 600 year old ceremonial rock platform) in the jungle and to the lookout point over Cook's and Opunohu Bays. Because Steve had liked a tiki sculpted out of mammoth tusk on display at the Intercontinental, we stopped there and also at the jeweler's shop, where Steve bought himself a tiki necklace. Before returning the scooter after 7.5 hours, we filled the scooter's tank ($6) and bought pomplemoose (large grapefruit). We were tired. Traveling on land, especially on a sometimes bumpy scooter, is taxing and expensive (we buy lots of things) compared to the usually relaxing and cheap (can't buy anything out on the water) ride on the boat.