Landing in Papeete at 2:30am was a reasonably stress free experience. I say 'reasonably' because as we filled out the immigration cards mid flight we noticed that they required our visa information. Visa? We didn't know we needed a visa for Tahiti? So the remainder of the flight was filled with a smidgen of nagging dread, imagining us doing a quick about turn and landing back in Auckland for Easter. No worries, I asked an official looking lady as we were queuing and she said, "Pah, no worries". And that was it. The extremely official little man in the booth, stamped our passports and we were on our way. There was no declaration for the assorted cheese that we had brought with us to nibble on, on balmy evenings, straight through.
The driver greeted us with a lei of fresh frangipani, the aroma was thick and tropical. We have two nights at the Intercontinental before we depart for the island of Moorea. We arrived at the hotel in a torrential tropical downpour. And as were we're guided to our room by an exceptionally handsome and buff young man in just a short sarong water cascaded down the garden walls in small waterfalls. The room is nice, modern with a great shower. However the aircon was incredibly noisy on our first night. Lance had to put his air plugs in. But this morning he had a fiddle with it and we should sleep in peace tonight.
The resort in beautiful in a way that only these tropical places can be. Right on the water and with several mammoth pools, and a lagoon pool that is fed directly from the sea, so of course is full of coral reefs and tropical fish. The water is crystal clear, we brought swimming goggles but you don't need them as the fish are swimming in and out of your legs.
After a great poolside breakfast and a wander, which included an early morning Heinikin and a virgin cocktail for me, a bit of resort shopping and a decision that we should stay at the resort for the day and enjoy the opulence, we settled by the 'lagoonarium' in our loungers and had frequent swims with the fish. It seems silly to swim in the pool when we have the opportunity to swim in such a unique environment.
We are coping with the French, because everyone so far speaks English. There are people from all over the world, for once we can feel smug about how close we are to such a beautiful spot, even though we live at the bottom of the world.
We had planned to eat at Roulottes which is a group of food caravans in town. We have read wonderful things about the food. Alas the heavens opened so we booked in at the overwater restaurant at the resort 'Lotus'. A lovely evening with perfect food and then a stroll along the waterfront back to our room. Tomorrow - Moorea!
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