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Moorea,
The Pristine
By Bergmann
Everyone in our group had finally arrived dockside and so
had the chum. It was time to head out into the lagoon to swim
with the stingrays and feed the sharks. The skipper of our
thatch-covered outrigger canoe, a young Polynesian named Tommy,
tried to put us at ease. Speaking in halting English for the
benefit of the four of us who didn't speak French, he reassures
us: "We don't eat people here anymore. But be careful
with the sharks; they like white meat."No one was eaten
that day, by the natives or by the sharks, but we all swam
with the stingrays and were treated to some good one-liners
by the crew, some inspired ukulele- playing and singing by
Tommy, and stunning waterside views of what many consider
the world's most beautiful island.
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| Moorea, one of
the Society Islands of French Polynesia, is what peoples'
imaginations conjure when they think of the South Seas:
steep, jagged mountains dropping off sharply to white
sand beaches lined with palm trees and aquamarine lagoons
fringed by coral reefs. James Michener once described
Moorea "as a monument to the prodigal beauty of nature."
Unlike its big sister, Tahiti, 11 miles to the south,
Moorea has largely resisted development pressures and
remains pristine and sublimely laid-back. There are no
towns, only villages with a sprinkling of small shops
across the islands 37-mile circumference. Moorea draws
a manageable 200,000 tourists a year --abouthalf European
and a third North American. |
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| As we pulled away from the dock on the Spirit
of Moorea, Tommy used his oar to point out the sights: picturesque
Cooks Bay, surrounded by steep, lush, multihued mountains on
three sides; Mount Moua Roa, whose steep cliffs appear on a
Tahitian coin and was the Bali Hai in the film "South Pacific";
one of the 11 passes, or breaks, in the coral reef encircling
Moorea that allow boats to pass into and out of the crystalline
lagoons; the islands' largest mountain, Tohiea, at nearly 4,000
feet. |
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Other sights
came into view: Mount Rotui, between Opunohu and Cooks
Bay, with its jagged peaks and spires that were the source
of inspiration for much Tahitian lore. Opunohu Bay itself,
one of the most beautiful bays in the South Seas, still
largely untouched by development, and the stand-in for
Tahiti's Matavai Bay in the 1983 production of "The
Bounty" with Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins. Behind
it, sloping up the mountains on the islands only paved
inland road, past pastureland, coconut groves and pineapple
plantations, Annette Bening and Warren Beatty were filmed
in "Love Affair."
Soon, our guide spotted black- tipped reef sharks-- |
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about 4 feet long -- and invited
us in the water to watch him feed them from behind a rope
about 5 feet away. It wasn't exactly like swimming with
Jaws, but the theme music from the movie nonetheless reverberated
in my mind, and I was thankful when I got back on the
boat with all four limbs intact.
Next, we went west along the coast and soon found about
a dozen stingrays waiting for the pleasure of our company.
I had been in the water with them twice before, but never
by choice. |
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But after assurances by Tommy that
they wouldn't sting, I stepped into the clear, shallow water.
Before long, they were swimming next to me, and I was petting
their backs and soft, slimy undersides.
Stingrays aren't aggressive and generally will sting only if
someone accidentally steps on their tail when it is obscured
beneath the sand. The sting can be painful, and sometimes fatal.
But I returned from the trip that day with a new affection for
a marine species that I had previously feared. We returned to
our hotel paradise, the Inter-Continental Beachcomber, to relax
in our overwater bungalow -- a cottage built on pilings over
water that are common throughout the South Pacific. Among other
things, ours had a straight-on view of the lagoon from our bed;
the first thing we saw when we opened our eyes in the morning
was the sun shimmering on the water. Our room also had a rear
deck with a ladder that allowed us to swim and snorkel in our
back yard. At night, you could switch on a spotlight that let
you observe the colorful marine life in the lagoon. Best of
all, though, was simply shutting your eyes and letting your
aural senses take over. At night or waking up in the morning,
you could hear nothing but the gentle lapping of waves, chirping
birds and the occasional fish jumping in the lagoon. It doesn't
get any better than that. But after traveling thousands of miles,
it's hard to resist the temptation to explore, no matter how
idyllic the experience is at the resort. Those who rent a car
or a bike and tour the compact island won't be disappointed.
It's uniformly gorgeous, with beautiful bays, lush mountains,
waterfalls, coconut trees and multihued hibiscus and pink laurel
everywhere.
The view from Belvedere Lookout, often described as one of the
prettiest in the South Pacific, is reached by taking the paved
inland road. It offers a panorama that includes Mount Rotui
rising between Opunohu and Cooks Bays and the valleys below.
Another great vantage point is the hilly road above the Hotel
Sofitel Ia Ora, which faces Tahiti on the Sea of the Moon --
as the sea between Moorea and Tahiti is called. You can see
Tahiti clearly, as well as Moorea's white reef line, the navy
blue water beyond it and the calm turquoise water inside it
in the lagoon.
For those craving more adventure, there is scuba diving, whale-
watching, deep-sea fishing, parasailing, four-wheel drive safaris,
jungle hikes and helicopter rides over the reefs. If your idea
of adventure is being turned loose in shops with a credit card,
the options here are limited largely to local handicrafts and
black pearls. There are more than 1,000 pearl farms in French
Polynesia, which account for nearly 90 percent of its exports,
and black pearls are sold everywhere. For those who grow weary
of the adventures on land and water, or lazing by the pool or
on the beach sipping drinks, Tahiti is five minutes away by
air, and Tetiaroa is about 20 minutes north by plane. |
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Yawn
Patrol
If
you’re an insomniac, you know the problem usually
isn’t falling asleep, it’s staying asleep.
Now a study shows that most insomniacs can cut in half
the time they spend tossing and turning
at night by using simple, basic behavioral techniques.
Like what?
¨Getting to bed and waking up at the same times
each day;
¨Leaving the bedroom if you wake up and can’t
fall back to sleep;
¨Using the bed only for sleep.
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