Unfortunately, your correspondent’s file clerk left the phone on the charger today (good help is so hard to find!), so no pictures of today’s adventures.
This morning I took an e-bike excursion, for two reasons. One, was that I’d been seeing a lot of the water side of these islands, so I wanted to see more of the land side. Secondly, I’d been thinking of perhaps getting an e-bike of my own, and here was a chance to try one out.
Mo’orea has mountains! If you’ve ever seen South Pacific, you’ve seen Mo’orea (it plays the part of Bali Hai). So a scenic tour of a mountainous island had better be by e-bike! After a too-fast overview of our steeds, our little group set off.
Let me say it’s been quite a few years since I’ve been on a bicycle. They do say one never forgets… but I’d never handled one that weighed so much before— probably 45-50 lbs. So, I admit the turns were wobbly. But I made it through the morning without capsizing, so that’s something. Still not sold on these things yet though.
Anyhow, as I said, we set off, entirely on paved roads, which we shared with cars of course. This island is intensely beautiful! I suppose it’s the intensity of sunlight in the tropics (especially after the dim Seattle winter), but all the colors just popped. such vivid greens and blues!
We made stops on the way up, for local history and crops, and of course the views got better and better the higher we climbed.
Finally we reached the Belvedere lookout, where we could see both the big bays on the north side of the island.Just classic vistas. But alas, no camera!
I was able to capture the sunset though, after we were back onboard.
Lodging: MS Paul Gauguin
Kitsambler's Journeys 