Tahiti + Moorea

The "Tahiti Yacht Club" in the lagoon of Arue in the capital of
Papeete has been our home for the last 11 days, this extremely
friendly yacht club allowed us access to all it's facilities & it's
from this very protected anchorage we left "Apple" (yacht) & hired a
car to explore Tahiti.. Tahiti was originally named O Taiti, Papeete
is the capital with some 120,000 inhabitance, which is quite a
staggering proportion of the 230,000 total population that inhabit all
the islands within French Polynesia.. The French influence in papeete
is definitely an asset to the economy, as this city is bussing with
life, coffee shops, super-yachts "Mediterranean style" tie up on the
water front, the markets bustle with French fashion, products &
produce, cheeses + wines appear to be subsidized... there's also a
strong chinese influence in the local businesses, as all the
successful shops have chinese proprietors ..

So after driving around Tahiti for a week, although it really only
take's 3 hours to complete the full circumnavigation... we heading
across to the next island of Moorea.. Moorea is completely different
to Tahiti although only 10 miles away, Moorea is all we we're looking
for a complete mix between the mountainous marquesas islands &
Tuamotu's..... Basically islands inside atoll's very protected with
bustling markets & remote reef's... We're now anchored in heaven..
Cook's bay.. The bay is more that 1.5 miles deep & has a number of
hotels, restaurants, markets along its shores, along with the
picturesque over water bungalows.. I think were going to slowly cruise
around the various bay's & dive on some of the numerous dive site over
the next month... this islands deserves a longer residence..