About a week ago, our friend Giorgio on Hoa Motu joined us
in Opunohu Bay, Moorea. The last time we had seen him was in
Boston earlier
this year. Now, with all of us being back on our boats, our encounters felt
much more natural; the environment more enjoyable. It was hard to believe that
so much had happened since our last reunion… After spending two fun (and late!)
nights together, the three of us geared up for another hike on the island. Mark
and I had tried earlier to find the Trois Cocotiers (Three Palms) pass and
viewpoint, but failed. This time, we had a general idea of where to go, since
we could spot the palm trees from down in the valley. As usual, no signs were
to be found, but we felt confident about our pathfinder skills. First, we made
it all the way to the Belevedere, where we had enjoyed the vistas on prior occasions
and then we set out to the west. We disappeared into the forest and hiked
amongst trees, ferns and stretches of pretty bamboo. We crossed a few rivers,
picked the left fork at a split, climbed up and then down again. We walked and
walked, quite level most of the way and … never found our destination!
Instead, we arrived at dirt roads and more trails, and each
time we needed to pick a direction, based on our intuitions. We felt like real
adventurers exploring the bowels of Moorea! At last, we arrived at a farm,
along the main road to the Belevedere, from where we easily found our way back
to the dinghy. The hiking on this island is fantastic; we just have to be fine
with rarely reaching our anticipated and planned target! All our hikes so far
have had a different outcome than anticipated.
Since it was Wednesday and before 2pm, the local shrimp farm
was open and selling fresh jumbos. Giorgio bought a kilo – thanks for the
treat! -
and we peeled, cleaned and
cooked them up on Irie. Since they were pretty expensive, nothing went to
waste. Mark made a broth from the shells, fried shrimp heads as an appetizer,
and delicious shrimp skewers as a main course. The second half of the shrimp
heads went in a pasta sauce later that week and the broth was used in a
risotto. But, by that time, Giorgio had already left for Tahiti. We would
follow a few days later…
 |
| Mount Rotui along the road |
 |
| View from the Belvedere: Opunohu Bay, Mount Rotui and Cook's Bay |
 |
| Edible "fruit" along the trail |
 |
| Many people have walked along this part of the trail! |
 |
| Which way do we go? |
 |
| Pineapple plantation close to the road |
 |
| Making shrimp/onion/pineapple skewers the "artsy" way |
No comments:
Post a Comment