STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

yes - I've been.  I've been to the islands of Tahiti, Bora Bora, Huahine, and Morea.  We rented a "fun car" (a little moped with just enough room for two side by side butts and a little canopy over it) at each island and drove around - each time we turned a corner all the land crabs would scatter...

Lot's of sitting around and relaxing. We had thatched huts on the beach wherever we stayed - that was nice to just sit on the porch of the hut and play cards and drink screwdrivers... a quick stroll to the crystal clear water to snorkel... I did experience a hurricane there - not fun... not a lot of night life - pretty mellow, but lots of day exploring possible.  It's not posh outside of the resorts, but that's part of it's charm... The natives are pretty poor - shacks for houses - all the kids were playing with these big metal rings that had nuts on them (?) if we drove by kids in the fun car they would all go nuts and wanted us to honk at them... went to farm called "Local Motion" where we ate bananas flambe outside made from fresh bananas and vanilla beans from the farm... got one of the worst sunburns of my life on a black sand beach... bought some gorgeous black pearls... every night we stayed in Bora Bora we had a resident lizard on the ceiling of our hut (20 ft. or so up) and were awoken every night at around 4 am by roosters... Love the hamburgers there - always served with thousand island dressing and cucumbers... Heady, heady floral fragrances... fresh sea food... lots of interesting people and experiences to be had... we didn't do the resorts and we booked all our own rooms at each island - we had rough times and good times - it's all part of the experience - think of it as adding character.

I did like it and my favorite island was Morea... Do you want to go the $700 a night resort route or the budget route? Let me know and I can give more info - if you want to do the sightseeing budget route I can help you out.

Karina - I don't know what your friend was referring to with it being industrial - the most industrial thing I saw was the warehouse/oil drenched soil the boat let us off on at Bora Bora - I thought it was a mistake at first - as far as factories, I don't recall seeing any.

Been to Greece too - here's a response I posted in another thread (I would strongly suggest the Elounda area of Crete):

"RE: Anyone been to Greece?

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I have driven throughout most of Greece - except for Thessaloniki.  It really depends on what you want to see and do - I studied Greek archeology and mythology in college so Athens, Pelopennese and Crete were important for me to see (ruins, and items in museums) I have also been to Mykonos and Santorini.  The eastern coast of Crete is perfect for a honeymoon - I stayed in Akti Oulous where there is a sunken city you can see just by walking next to the water - near Akti Oulous there is a really nice resort area in Elounda - huge honeymoon spot - gorgeous resort too - definitely worth looking into if you are seriously considering Greece. 

Oh and I wouldn't suggest driving - they're freaking crazy there. When we were driving up the mountain to Delphi people would come barreling down around the corners in your lane (nothing but a cliff to the right of our car (no railing) and at every corner there were these clutters of weird cast iron and glass shrines for people who had been killed... slightly unnerving :)  anyway - be very very careful if you are driving...

If you go to Crete, try to fly in... I have lengthy stories to tell about my boat ride from Crete to Athens - huge storm - took 12 hours with the boat (the size of a cruise ship being airborne periodically) was not fun..."

 

 

-- Edited by detroit at 09:53, 2005-03-03

quote:

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Originally posted by: LA Gal
"Thank you detroit!  It's good to hear that you liked Moorea - I've kind of decided that that's where I'd like to go.  We want to stay at one of the big resorts (we are kind of fancy pants when it comes to hotels), but we have tons of hotel frequent flyer (stayer?) points so it's not as bad as it sounds.  Our ideal vacation is a fabulous hotel and lots of activity.  From reading about Moorea and Bora Bora, I've decided on Moorea because it looks gorgeous and the hotels looks wonderful (although they do look a little nicer in Bora Bora) but it looks like there's a lot more to do, on and off land.  We are big snorkelers, so the idea of an overwater bungalow sounds heavenly.   And it looks like there's lots of exploring, by bike or car or just hiking, on the island too.  Does that sound right to you?  Do you think Bora Bora offers just as much?  Am I crazy for going all the way to Tahiti and only seeing Moorea?"

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I thought I was spelling that wrong - it's been a  while - they pronounce all their vowels too - so I thought I might be missing an "O" - pronounced Mo-oh-ray-ah. 

I would have loved to have stayed in one of the overwater huts with a glass floor... oh - it will be so nice... If you are content with snorkeling, hiking, and driving around you will be set - I would totally do that in a heart beat - I don't think you'll regret it.

My fondest memory of the Tahitian trip (besides this seafood/grapefruit salad served in a pinapple that I had in Tahiti) was my bus ride on Moorea. I don't know if this is the same mode of transportation from the marina to all the hotels, but I have a feeling it is... Old school bus - all windows open - perfumed air - a bunch of locals on board - drove for around 45 min. - saw a lot of how the people live - the whole time listening to a "best of Stevie Wonder" tape the driver had in... it was just really, really cool... ever since, every time I hear Stevie Wonder I think of that ride... 

Anyway - you won't have any choice but to go to the island of Tahiti too. Your plane will land there and then you will go to the marina in Papeete (pronounced Pa-pay-ay-tay) to take a boat over.  It's a fairly quick boat ride since it's the closest island to Tahiti.  You could even do a day trip to Tahiti if you wanted to - rent a car and drive around the island - we went to an area where Marlon Brando lived on the far end of the island that's really rustic and beautiful. If you do a little research or buy a Fodors it will tell you about some of the places to see.

There probably are flights to/from the island of Tahiti if you want to look into it...

If you speak French it will help too... If you are interested in wholesale priced pearls (perles) there was a guy I found with a tiny shop off the main drag in Papeete - great deals... Stefan Labayesse? I think was his name?

 

-- Edited by detroit at 18:25, 2005-03-02

Perfect timing - I was just going to post this!  We are going on our honeymoon in July and pretty much our only choices were Europe or Tahiti.  I think we decided on Tahiti, but I think we'll do a cruise instead of a resort.  Thanks for the info Detroit!