Magical Moorea

 Moorea appears out of the mists like a larger more mysterious version of Bora Bora, which it is. More mountain peaks, bigger surf on the reefs, much narrower channel to Opunohu Bay, which is where we anchored crosswise in the channel!  


On the way in one passes the shuttered Intercontinental Moorea Resort, thatched roof cabins located overwater or crawling up the hillside. Sandy beach, places for kayaks and snorkeling,restaurants and beachfront bars - all shuttered, deteriorating plywood coverings over windows. Asked “Why?” our snorkel leader said that shortly BC the hotel workers went on strike, and then COVID came.  Asked “Why did they go on strike?” He gave a Gallic shrug and said “They are French; that’s what they do!”



The openings in the reef (see the channel marker) or passes, are created naturally when during the rainy season fresh water floods down the narrow valleys in the mountains and rushes out to sea. The corals don’t like the change in salinity. When we arrived we saw a lot of organic debris in the water and the guide’s explanation that there had been torrential rains a few days earlier explained that.  

The reef and the waves put on quite a display for us.  Our rainy lagoon cruise got us closer to the windward area of the lagoon.


More on Moorea later .(PI).



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Panoramic New Orleans

 In the afternoon we went on a panoramic bus tour of New Orleans, with stops at a cemetery and at the New Orleans Museum of Art, which is located in a huge park containing both quiet park activities and a botanical garden as well as football and soccer fields and a golf course. Imagine!  But the most interesting part of the trip for me was driving through the now restored areas that had been flood destroyed by Katrina  and seeing from the ground how far below sea level New Orleans actually is. One drives along a main road (not a highway) lined with modest two story houses and ahead the road rises as to go over a railroad or highway. You can’t see what it is going over until you get to the top, and you see that you are going over  a “drainage” canal, and the water level in the canal, which is at sea level, is higher than the second story of the homes that you just passed!  We didn’t drive through the Lower Ninth Ward, not sure why.  Our guide explained all t...
Read more