What greeted me was a beautiful sunrise over the mountains of this lovely island called Mo 'orea!
"Well", I thought to myself, "this is nice."
I was encouraged by the nice weather, as we had been warned that a storm might be brewing and coming our way. I had two tours booked today - a morning snorkeling trip out on the reef, followed by an afternoon tour into the interior of the island via 4x4 jeep. There are some wonderful vistas on the island - 2 well known places - one called Belvedere Point, the other Magic Mountain. I was looking forward to some sunny shots!
We tendered off pretty early and I joined my snorkeling tour right off the tender at the dock. The water was so clear and pretty! I brought Snort along for the day and he, too, was pretty amped for the snorkeling.
View of the reef
The Intercontinental Hotel - overwater bungalows. I could totally unwind here.
Our snorkeling area. Let the arrival of the sting rays and sharks begin!
Such beautiful and gentle creatures.
And well, the sharks were very well behaved.
Uh oh. Is that a storm coming our way???????
About the time we were winding up our snorkeling adventures, those dark clouds were upon us and the rain began to come down quite heavily. Good thing we were already wet!
We got back on the catamaran and trudged our way through the heavy rain back to the port and dock area. My towel was so wet that I was able to wring at least a quart of water out of it. I had a set of dry clothes secured in plastic inside my now very wet backpack, but the towel did me no good whatsover. And it now weighed about 10 pounds. Yikes! After I changed into dry clothes, I went out to find out if my afternoon 4x4 tour was still on or was it cancelled. Still on!! Joy!!! 4 hours of more rain and mud and....... FUN!!!!
Here's a view from atop Magic Mountain. Interestingly enough, every time we stopped at a vista or place to get out and tour or view, the rains let up. But only for a few minutes!
This hat (thanks Daddy, for the awesome Tilly hat you left me) really saved my you-know-what. It kept my face and glasses dry.
Views from Belvedere Point.
This was a small vanilla greenhouse we visited. I'd never seen how vanilla grows before. They remind me of pole beans.
A not-ready-yet vanilla bean. Oh, wait, CLICK! No wonder they remind me of pole beans....they ARE beans!!!! Gosh, I just get smarter and smarter the older I become......... bahahahahahaha!
Okay, my very own coconut. The guy poked a hole in it and the water inside was really yummy.
Another pretty vista
This was our 4x4. Bumpy and wet, but a lot of fun.
Now that I finished my coconut water, the guy cut up the meat for me to eat! Double yum!
This is our guide and driver. We were out in a pineapple plantation and he was explaining to us how the plants grow, etc. It was so pretty out there!
Because of the rain, we had to cross a few little "rivers." This was a shot of the jeep behind us.
Our last stop was at this pretty and peaceful black sand beach.
So, even with the rains, I considered Moorea to be one of my best days on the cruise so far! If you know me, you know I love the rain, so maybe other people wouldn't have appreciated it as much that day as I, but it didn't "dampen" my spirits at all!
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