Polynesian for "Yellow Lizard" and the inspiration for Darwin's coral reef formation theory, this little tropical South Seas gem is just 11NM from Papeete; a quick 10 minute flight or a leisurely 40 minute ferry ride away. With Elevation being worked on, we decided to indulge ourselves with a week of French Polynesian resort life and headed out on last Sunday's afternoon Ameriti ferry. Given that it's high season, we were limited with our accommodation choices so we opted for the family run Hotel Kaveka; small, intimate and right on the waters edge at Cooks Bay. It's been sheer pleasure to sit out on the deck of our island bungalow; a hop, skip and a jump away from the brilliantly turquoise lagoon. We've enjoyed swimming and snorkelling along the fringing reef, alive with colourful tropical fish, regenerating corals and the occasional turtle. We've walked each morning to the local Supermarche to buy fresh baguettes and croissants plus fresh fruit from roadside vendors. We've been introduced to the delights of a woodfired, fresh yellowfin tuna pizza at 'Allo, named as the best pizza place on the island and just a short stroll from our hotel. Paul also loved their 300g Steak au Feu Du Bois! We've lazed out under the stars at night listening to the sounds of Polynesian drums beating out across the tranquil waters. We've definitely relished the opportunity to relax and recharge our batteries after the rigours of our last two passages.

Of course, we also wanted to see more than just our comfortable resort! We decided to take the opportunity to be "real tourists" and headed out on a day trip onboard an Albert's Moana Tours vessel. Our guide Siggy, a French Polynesian Rasta, was both entertaining and informative and provided great commentary on sights along the way. Cooks Bay, or Pao Pao Bay, was named in honour of Captain James Cook even though when he arrived at M'oorea he chose to anchor in Opunohu Bay (next bay around to the west and one of the backdrops for both the 1950's musical South Pacific and the 1984 movie The Bounty). Both bays are favourite anchorages for cruising yachts and we're looking forward to bringing Elevation here soon.

We passed by the Hilton's overwater bungalows then across the lagoon to see the Intercontinental. I was devastated to see that this hotel has 4 captive bottlenose dolphins housed in a small pool. They offer tourists the opportunity to "swim" for 15 minutes with these poor, trapped ocean darlings for $200 per head. Shameful. Please, never, ever go there! Continuing to follow the very shallow inside channel, we arrived at "Stingray City" and along with dozens of other tourists, we jumped into the crystal clear waters to snorkel amongst the rays and black tipped sharks whilst guides from each tour boat hand fed them. Now we've got the location, we will come back in our tender before the daily hordes arrive to enjoy some quiet interaction. Roger & Sasha, our friends on SV Ednbal, have advised us to take a can of sardines to hand feed the rays who very gently rub against you while you give out treats. Will be a much better experience without the ubiquitous squealing of groups of teenage female Asian tourists! After around an hour of swimming, we clambered back on board and headed to Motu Fareone for a traditional Polynesian lunch complete with beers and rum punch. Whilst our feast was being prepared, Siggy entertained us with a "Pareo" demonstration, enticing both female and male models from our group to showcase numerous different ways to wear this colourful local cloth.

French Polynesia is famous for it's Poisson Cru - raw fish marinated in lime and coconut milk. I was lucky enough to be given the honour of being Siggy's "Sous Chef" as he demonstrated how to make this very delicious dish. A brine, made up of a very liberal dose of salt and fresh water, was firstly added to a huge stainless bowl filled with freshly caught and diced tuna. This I mixed gently for several minutes. The fish was strained and then marinated in the juice of a dozen Tahitian limes, again with me mixing gently until the flesh began to turn opaque. A very generous serving of diced cucumber, tomato and onion was then added and tossed through. The last ingredient was fresh coconut milk, made on the spot from grated coconut flesh strained and squeezed through a cheesecloth bag. This was also mixed through, coating all ingredients thoroughly - Voila, Poisson Cru for the crew! This, along with grilled tuna and chicken, coconut rice with carrot, mixed veggies and bread was enjoyed by all. More swimming followed lunch, then Siggy completed his final demonstration - how to husk and open a coconut using only a pointed stick; very impressive! Our trip back gave us the opportunity to see several different resorts and hotels as guests, initially ferried to the boat by coach in the morning, were dropped off at their individual accommodations.

M'oorea is only 134 km2, with one major road running all around the island. For our last day, we opted to hire a small car and set off to circumnavigate, with a detour up to " The Belvedere" to check out the view from up high. Our first stop was the Jus de Fruits distillery and fruit juice factory for a free tasting of their wares - great juices; tantalising tetra packs of a wicked Rum Punch and a delectable Tahitian Cocktail; plus some very different fruit liqueurs - we especially liked the M'oorea Coco! This outlet also produces a pineapple sparkling wine, which was not available for tasting - given that the M'oorea pineapple is meant to be the sweetest in the world, we're pretty certain it will be a super syrupy pineapple "fizz". We checked out various anchorages along the way before turning inland for "The Belvedere". This amazing lookout is situated on the dormant volcanic slopes of Mt Tohevia and provides a stunning panorama of the three peninsulas of M'oorea, beautiful Mt Rotui and both Opunohu and Cooks Bays. Nearby is a series of Marae, including the significant Ahu O Mahine, the large Marae named for the famed warrior chief of Moorea. Captain Cook was entertained by Mahine on his visit of 1774 and again on his third and final visit in 1777. Mahine was instrumental in defeating Tahitian invaders - in fact Cook noted seeing some 200 strong war canoes heading towards Moorea on his departure in 1774. After forming an alliance with the ruling Tahitian King Pomare through marriage to one of his daughters, he was ultimately murdered by the Pomares as part of their quest (backed by the British) to form one large Kingdom of Tahiti.

Returning back to the coast, we meandered around to Pt Tepee for lunch at the delightfully laid back beach cafe at Les Tipeniers. We then continued on, occasionally stopping to photograph more of M'oorea's very luscious landscape. The Toatea lookout provided an amazing view of the upmarket Sofitel resort and nearby anchorage - definitely somewhere we'll be dropping the pick. Our final stop was at Plage Publique de Tenae, a long white sand public beach which is very popular with both locals and visitors alike.

Our lazy week came to an end; we bid farewell to our hosts at Hotel Kaveka, returned our hire car and were dropped at the airport for the very quick but scenic Air Tahiti flight to Papeete.Marvellous, Magical M'oorea has certainly been great for both heart and soul!