South Pacific: Mo’orea ~ Island of Love

Since Mo’orea is one of those spectacular places in the South Pacific and sometimes called ‘The Island of Love’ we thought we’d offer it as a bit of a romantic getaway  today in honor of Valentine’s Day.

So whether you are ready for the romance of exploration or the romance of love – hop aboard. We are sailing south. . .

Can’t you just smell the sweet scent of the blossoms that explode from trees and bushes alike?



Can you feel the sun’s rays warming your soul as well as your skin? 

Decisions to be made. . .stretch out on the white sand beach or sun on the private deck of your thatched-roof bure, or bungalow, out over the water?

Or do the kayaks and paddle boats lure you into that turquoise water that laps gently against the shore?

Or you could spend a few hours just sittin’ on the dock in the bay. . .

That’s as far as we will go with suggestions in the PG-rated post.  But let your imaginations soar. . .what would you do if you found yourself on a South Pacific island today?

Note: We took the photos used in this post during a lunch stop we made while driving around the island in our rental car during the one day we had here during on our South Pacific cruise last October.  
This is the Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort and Spa.  There are 54 bungalows built over the water – each has glass panels in the floor and steps that lead to the waist-deep lagoon.  Another 49 bungalows are clustered together on the resort grounds.

Just in case we’ve tempted you with this post – the resort has no rooms available this Valentine’s weekend.  However, I checked dates for this coming October (the month in which these photos were taken) and you can book one of those garden bungalows at their Best Available Rate of $548 a night or an over-water for $742.  Oh yes, WI-FI is extra!

Rather pricey in our book, but then again, what price romance, right? 

Happy Valentines Day!

We are linking this week with:
Budget Travelers Sandbox Travel Photo Thursday.
Travel Photo Discovery on Monday

Traveling the Road Not. . ., well. . ., less Taken in 2013

I’ve chosen to put a new twist on Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken”, as we reflect on our travels this last year.

Sadly, with limited amounts of time we will always have roads not taken, but we’ve also had some great travel by choosing roads, less taken. 

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

O’ahu, Hawaii – January – February

If you drive west from Honolulu, past the town of Kapolei, past Ko Olina, a planned unit development, past Waipahu town, you come to the end of the road, where waves crash against the shore and the real beauty of O’ahu is found at every turn. . .even on days when clouds cloak the Waianae Mountains.








Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

Greece – Mani, Peloponnese – April

We set out in our rented car from Nafplio, Greece to explore a section of the Peloponnese – a taster sized sample of a rugged, but beautiful part of this country with which we are so taken. Often times we found ourselves alone for hours on a narrow roadway that looped up and down, over and around the stunning countryside. (GPS hasn’t discovered this part of the world yet.)



And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.


Vancouver Island, British Columbia – September



The narrow roadway that cuts across Vancouver Island, British Columbia was a new route for us and one that cut through magnificent old growth forests leading us to Tofino, the small fishing (and tourist) village at the end of the road.






I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.


Mo’orea – French Polynesia – South Pacific – November

Never ones to favor those group tours organized by cruise ships, we prefer to set out on our own.

Lucky for us, Avis had an ‘office’ at the dock when we arrived in Mo’orea!  And some of the sights we saw were simply amazing to our American-safety-first way of thinking.


That’s it for this Travel Photo Thursday! Drop by Budget Travelers Sandbox where we are linking up today for some more armchair travel!


Our wishes to each of you for a Happy New Year – full of travel whether it be by car, bike, ship, plane or armchair.  And try putting away that GPS once or twice and set out on the road less traveled. We recommend it!

Living A Celebrity Life

Our floating home has carried us several thousand miles from the port in Honolulu, Hawaii to French Polynesia – Tahiti, Bora Bora and Moorea.


We are sailing the same waters charted by those brave navigators centuries before us; James Cook and Ferdinand Magellan, among them.  I dare say our ship, the Celebrity Solstice, pictured above, is far more luxurious than the ships they sailed.  And much larger -- it would take almost 10 of Cook’s ships to stretch the length of ours. 

 

And now that we’ve been on this vast stretch of ocean for five days, passing no other ships, seeing no other forms of life, we are even more impressed with the courage of those early day explorers. We leave tonight for another four days at sea to reach New Zealand.

 

Our ship has 15 floors stretching from the lower floor 2 where we board the tenders that take us to shore in many ports, (photo above from a tender) all the way up to the very tip-top Sunset Deck from where we wile away hours watching the clouds and sea.

 

Our room we describe as being on one of the ship’s  bulges – we are on the 8th floor – quite in the middle of the ship.  The circle to the left of the “X” above highlights the area in which our cabin is located.

By being on the bulge our balcony is slightly larger than those on the narrow part of the ship. Note the flat screen television - (we watched our Husky football team play last week and today we are watching Sunday NFL football following our return to the ship.

 

I am writing at the desk to the right of the television and when I turn my head to the right, and look out at our deck, this is my view. We are currently anchored at Moorea.  A tropical paradise? You had better believe it – photos don’t do it justice!