Walking at the Head of Cook’s Bay
18 August 2020 | Cook’s Bay, Moorea, French Polynesia
Graham Walker
We were much in need of stretching our legs today, so at midday we took Guppy up to the head of Cook's Bay and followed a track on the map to take us up to a viewpoint high above the valley. This area is massive on growing pineapples and the smell of them drifting over the fields was a sensory delight. Come to think, of it we have never seen pineapple fields before. Beyond the fields it was a cracking walk through the usual lush vegetation; a riot of creepers sprawling through the pandanus, mango and banyan trees, and a carpet of hibiscus flowers, fallen from the canopy, on the track. As we headed towards the back of the valley and nearer to the volcanic wall the track got steeper and steeper (and K got slower and slower) until we finally emerged to a stunning view point overlooking both Cook's Bay and Opunohu Bay (where we were a few weeks ago for the Moorea sailors' Rendezvous).
A stop at the top to savour the view, and then east along the ridge to try to find another path to get us back down the hill before the end of the afternoon. This is where the trouble started. Walking paths in this part of the world do not seem to be that well represented on digital maps, and where we had expected to find a path down the hill there was none - and there did not seem to be another for a while. We had already walked quite a ways from our original path up the hill, and the new track was significantly rougher underfoot with many more obstacles to climb over. We were going to run out of daylight if we took the long way home, so nothing else for it but to follow a stream down hill through fairly thick rainforest undergrowth; why is there never a machete handy when you need one? It took about an hour of tripping over ground creepers, slithering down mossy rocks and grabbing for handholds on rotten branches. But after a while, and several slips and tumbles, we emerged into a pineapple field and found our way back to a track leading back to the bay. Bit of an adventure but the only thing we had to show for it were some seriously sore and muddy legs and a mammoth thirst.