Moorea (May 5-8, 2004) Photo Gallery by Jim Markowich at pbase.com

Moorea (May 5-8, 2004)

Moorea is the most exceptional of the islands. Its knife-edge mountains are visually irresistable, and the twin bays on the north shore are sublime -- especially Opunohu Bay, which has almost completely escaped development. The views from Belvedere, overlooking the bays and the mountains, can knock the speech right out of your throat... or something like that.

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NW coast of Moorea near Tiahura, from the air	north coast from the air	Opunohu Bay, north coast, from the air	the Sheraton's overwater bungalows, north shore
Cook's Bay, north shore, still in the airplane	extraordinary mountains, from the Vee d'Opunohu road	extraordinary mountains with cow	viewpoint overlooking Oponohu Bay and Mt. Rotui, from Belvedere
view to the west, forest trail, Belvedere	grove of huge Mape (Tahitian chestnut) trees, forest trail, Belvedere	fallen fruit, forest trail, Belvedere	purple leaves of a melastoma plant
view to the west, trail end, Belvedere	descending forest trail, Belvedere	Nice view. Really, we edited out about thirty more like it.	Some strange housing development?
Our 1940's-style suite at the Motel Albert ...clothesline out front being put to use	front of our building, Motel Albert	Mt. Tearai, above our building, Motel Albert	something like the Southwest of America, with lots of vegetation
moonrise over Mt. Rotui, from Cook's Bay	artful moonrise over Mt. Rotui, from Cook's Bay	our pilot Dr. Michael Poole's Dolphin & Whale Watching Expedition boat, leaving Cook's Bay	We're trying to spot dolphins. You only see them in the darker water within the lagoon.
That's Dr. Poole on the left. Guests on the right are hoping to see something. Poole claims a 95% success rate in locating the beasties.	more turquoise lagoon water (where you won't see a dolphin)	What's that, to port?	a group of spinner dolphins thirty yards out to port
They're not on the move. Once they were found, we could just slow the boat down to a few knots, and stay among them.	a mother and calf, as we drew closer	spinner dolphins The clear water made it easy to see them below the surface as well as above it.	spinner dolphins The accidental horizon line shows how far from shore they were. This was in the lagoon, but very close to Taota Pass, on Moorea's west coast.
spinner dolphins In twos, we were allowed to sit in the bow of the boat and look over into the water there.	spinner dolphins Even at our slow speed, the dolphins seemed to like the pressure of the bow wave, and willingly milled about the front of the boat.	spinner dolphins The wavy distortions are neat...	spinner dolphins A bunch at the bow -- the largest are about five feet long. Dr. Poole estimated that we were observing about 45 individuals.
spinner dolphins Although they like the bow wave, they're not too keen on people. Asked how they react to people in the water, Dr. Poole said that they move off to a distance of about 200 meters, and continue making a day of it.	spinner dolphins Dr. Poole explained that spinner dolphin society is not based on a dominance hierarchy, as so many other animal societies are. Rather, they exist in fluid, mixed groups, maintaining social order primarily by having a lot of sexual contact with each other.	spinner dolphins Not one of the 45 dolphins we watched did anything lewd, though. The most entertaining thing they did was take sudden, spinning leaps out of the water.	spinner dolphins The researchers often recognize individuals by the characteristics of their dorsal fins.
-- Then they take a satisfying, little cruise back to land.	...passing majestic sights...	...and feasting on local fruit	ocean canoers practicing for a race
Oy.	a shop called The White House specializing in selling pareus, or wraparound skirts.	White House It used to be the manor house of a vanilla plantation.	Pink waterlily on Motel Albert grounds
Close-up of waterlily	Cook's Bay a nicely designed hotel complex, currently (temporarily?) abandoned	pineapples, propane and dog food at the Mobil station, Cook's Bay	fresh egg The owner of the Motel Albert gave us a just-laid egg as we came back from our food-shopping at the gas station. Roosters and hens were EVERYWHERE in French Polynesia. Roosters don't just crow at dawn, either. They crow whenever the hell they feel like it, which sometimes means at any hour of the night.
dinner Yes sir, we were really living it up whenever dinnertime rolled around. Nothing but the best; the most extravagant. Money was no object.	pineapple plantation	inland scene	Moorea's mountains More mountains and foliage -- sorry. We just couldn't stop.
see why?	fallen blossom, fallen leaves...	fallen leaves	fallen mimosa blossom
stamens the Nikon 990 has an exceptional macro lens. It'll take sharp photos of objects as close as 2.5cm from the lens!	mimosa stamens It makes you look at details that you'd ordinarily not notice.	mimosa up close last of the mimosa series	vanilla rows of vanilla plants at the Lyc�e Professionnel Agricole -- the agricultural school halfway up to Belvedere
unripe oranges Lyc�e Professionnel Agricole	approaching heatstroke in a pineapple plantation, Lyc�e Professionnel Agricole	vanilla bean Lyc�e Professionnel Agricole	canoe race, starting line
our building, Motel Albert	Motel Albert interior yet another view of our sumptuous accommodations	beds at Albert one with a Skeeter Defeater set up

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