After I had to leave the Manava Beach Resort, I spent a few more days at Moorea. I found a backpacker lodge for a fair price in Piha’ena (“Painapaopao”) and met two nice guys to hang out with.

Well, and adventures are not happen in a resort 😉 So at the first day I had a little bicycle accident, not so serious, but bad enough to cancel my planned hiking and diving activities (I can’t put on fins now). Because of that incident and the limited public transport, I hitchhiked a lot, which worked fantastic. So I went to some popular spots at Moorea, for example the Lagoonarium, the Belvedere Lookout and Temae Beach.

Moorea isn’t that touristic as I expected. There are the luxury resorts of course, very few souvenir shops and restaurants and that’s it. The only possibility we had to get a drink in the evening was to take the walking distance to Hilton Resort (they offer a Happy Hour from 5 to 7, then you can get great cocktails at affordable prices). So when I stayed at the lodge I could really feel the slow, laid-back life in the nature of Moorea. Roosters crow all night. Millions of crabs creep around. Dogs freaking out when somebody appears at their territory. And you always hear the sound of the sea; of this incredible South Pacific Ocean around Moorea, which shows every shade of blue.

C’est incroyable, je peux encore parler un peu français 🙂
Well, but I’m not able to write this post in French 😉 So the pictures you see are shot at Lagoonarium de Moorea. It’s based at Motu Ahi, a small island at the eastcoast of Moorea. Once you’ve paid the entrance fee, a boat will pick you up and bring you to the Motu. There you can snorkel around (due to the strong current they fixed ropes in the water, which makes it quite comfortable to look around). You will spot lots of the pacific marine life, like stingrays, black tip sharks and moray eels. It’s like swimming in an aquarium! They feed the fish as well, what I don’t want to approve, but during the feeding they come very close and you can touch them, which is a unique experience certainly.

Yes, it’s really appropriate to say “Thank you!”. I still can’t believe that it really happened, but it did actually.
But let me explain: I checked a few options for accommodation at the various islands of French Polynesia. It’s not a typical backpacker destination at all as the price level is for a “once in a lifetime” holiday. At agoda.com I found an incredible offer of a private villa at Moorea for an unbelievable cheap price (I guess they mixed up US Dollar and Pacific Franc). I booked immediately, even I thought there must be something wrong, the amount of money I could loose doesn’t hurt badly.
Of course, the owner of the villa sent a cancellation, but it was still confirmed at agoda. So I contacted agoda.com directly and described the situation. Well, I thought it would be nice to offer an alternative, but I didn’t expect anything at all. But a lady called back and offered me to stay at “Manava Beach Resort & Spa” with no additional costs, and they will bear the costs for the breakfast as compensation, too. I agreed, even if I didn’t know the accommodation.
After the call I checked it online and my mouth falls open. It’s a ****resort with overwater bungalows, infinity pool and spa! And of course it’s super expensive! But agoda only charged the price for the primary booking. So even a single breakfast costs more as the price I paid for the three nights here including breakfast.
I would never be able to afford such a luxury accommodation in French Polynesia. So thank you very much, agoda! I guess I’m the only backpacker who had ever been here 😉

Tomorrow I will finally cross the International Date Line. So I will fly to the past – departure at June 12 and arrival at June 11. Weird feeling 😜