SEPTEMBER 2014

la Orana Carissa,

Luke and I had a fabulous time in Taihiti. It was sunny and very warm, as the aim was to have a break from our New Zealand winter and we certainly achieved that.

The Pearl Resort & Spa at Moorea was a lovely small resort and we found we had the beach to ourselves most days, which we loved. The swimming, snorkelling and water activities were great. The staff were all friendly and helpful. We stayed in the bungalows with the plunge pool and these were very private and in a great location. The excursions were fabulous and reasonably priced. Highly recommend the 4 x 4 safari trip through the interior of the island, very interesting and the locally made alcohol, pineapple based, were amazing.

Just something to be aware of at both Manava Resort at Papeete and the Pearl Resort at Moorea, they charge a 200 eco fee, which although not a lot in the way of cost, was unexpected.

Just a couple of little niggles in that we found the, presumably stray cat, annoying at the resort as it would hang around you at night while you were trying to have dinner and felt we had to keep looking over our shoulders. I am a cat lover, however did not feel it was appropriate for a stray cat to be hanging around. We found that the Pearl Resort did not advise you of what was in fact going on at the Resort. Most resorts have either a daily or weekly newsletter advising you of events at the Resort. This would be very helpful.

The Manava Resort was fine for an overnighter, however didn't think it was in the best of locations as not really near anything. The other thing we found was that we wasted a lot of time travelling ie: first day actually getting to Manava Resort then up the next morning and waiting for our transfer to the ferry to go across to Moorea and we arrived in the afternoon. Same thing coming back. Next time we would aim to travel, all day and night if we had to, to actually get to where we are staying so we can just relax.

We had been advised that Tahiti was very expensive, however we did not find that at all.

Carissa, you have been fantastic and very efficient with arranging our trip, which we really appreciate. There were no hitches and Tahiti Nui Travel were impeccable at keeping to pre-arranged times for pick ups, etc. We are already thinking about our South Pacific trip for next year and will definitely be in touch then.

Thanks for everything.

Kind regards
Rachael