Tag Archives: hike

Cicumnavigating Mount Rotui

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Opunohu Bay is located at the very heart of the island of Mo’orea.  The highest summits of the Opunohu valley lay around the collapsed caldera which gave rise to the island.  Mount Rotui (899m) and Mount Tohivea (1207m) being the two tallest peaks.  Rich soils, gentle slopes, and crisscrossed rivers, make it suited to agricultural activities.

Pineapple plantations, citrus plantations, vegetable gardens, pastures, pine and mahogany patches are all developed to feed the local market covering over 300 hectares.  An additional 100 hectares are rented to local farmers and 35 hectares are dedicated to agricultural establishment dedicated to teaching programs (vocational education and training in the farming sector).

Opunohu Bay Caldera

Opunohu Bay Caldera

Matt and I needed to stretch our legs.  We decided a walk about was in order.  Our original goal was just to explore the Opunohu Bay. However, we ended up circumnavigating Mount Rotui which was a surprise to both of us. 

Orbiting Mount Rotui

We started out near Ta’ahiamanu (say that three times fast) and walked past Vaihere. At Aaraeo we turned left (by the blue arrow) and walked through the pineapple plantations and gardens. Continued on to Pao Pao (Cooks bay) then back on the road, past Urufara, and back to Ta’ahiamanu.  Ended up being 21,456 steps, 9.6 miles!  Follow the map starting at orange line, to white line, back to orange line.  Who knew Mount Rotui took 4 hours to circumnavigate!

At the start, we walked along the and pass a beautiful public park with lush green grass and towering palm trees that line the beach.  Can you see Sugar Shack way, way back?

We came across a man playing Amazing Grace on the bag pipes.  He was just pacing back and forth along the shore playing his music.  It was lovely.

A local fisherman had his trophies displayed outside his house.  He clearly catches a lot of marlin!  Look at all the tails and beaks.  Holy moly.

There are two monuments celebrating “Captain Cook” in Opunohu Bay.  You’d think they would be in Cooks Bay, but no.  The funny thing is the bottom pedestal on one of them is upside down (lower right photo)! I am pointing to where we are in the world (sort of).

Captain Cook Memorials

Captain Cook Memorials

Just before reaching Aaraeo we stumbled on a new museum being built.  Really interesting shape – sort of like a clam with arched steel covered with solar panels.

New Museum

New Museum

Across the road is a beautiful look out.  It had several legends outlined on the plaque which are pretty darn cool.

Entering the heart of the valley

In order to complete our loop around Mount Rotui, we had to cut across the valley through the pineapple plantations.

The plantations and gardens popped up, once we made the left turn toward the center of the valley.  Lots and lots of pineapple fields – it is the pineapple island after all.

Pineapple plantations

Pineapple plantations

Lots of animals along the way, cows, horses, goats.

Beautiful pastures and sweeping views of towering mountains.

We crossed several creeks and rivers.  Most were flowing because we had heavy rains for a few days.

There are lots of trails around these mountains.  We did not hike up any of the mountains (this time) as our track would be close to 10 miles when we are done.  The different colors show the different trails on just Mt. Rotui.

When all was said and done, we were exhausted, hot, and hungry.  We made it back to the boat, and took a dip in the water to cool off.  We relaxed the rest of the day!

Events from this blog occurred on 8 November, 2020.  Our blog posts run 8 weeks behind our adventures.

The Marvel of Maupiti

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Maupiti is so exquisite that we treated ourselves to a long stay.  The waters are just stunning. With blues ranging from a clear, turquoise blue, to dark blue and with many various shades in between.  The people are lovely, the town is quaint and there are both land and water sports to entertain us.

Matt and I went to explore Motu Tuanai which is a rather large motu with the small airport.  It was a blustery day with rain sprinkled in to keep it interesting.  We left rather late in the afternoon so we knew it would be a short exploration.  The beach is really nice and there are super cool inlets that fill up with the rising tide.

Walk About

Matt and I decided we wanted to take a walk to stretch our legs.  Maupiti is pretty flat all around with the exception of one rather large hill.  We decided to walk the long way around which was flat toward Chez Mimi.  We saw this cute little eatery on our bike ride and wanted to come back when it was open.  It was a 3.5 mile walk on a flat, well paved road.  We stopped along the way to admire the magasins and views.

Chez Mimi is on the beach.  It is a quaint little eatery run out of the local’s home.  We were the first to arrive at 11:00, but we brought our hunger one!  Matt ordered poison cru and I had a ham sandwich.  Not bad.

A different route back

We took a different route on the way back. We wanted to walk along the ridge, up and over the mountain.  However to get there we had to cross a local’s property. We walked up the large paved hill to get to the entrance to the trail. When we got there, the local who lived by the entrance told us it was not cleared and we could not go.  Drat.  But we did have pretty views from the top of the hill.

Maupiti view from the top of the hill

Maupiti view from the top of the hill

Maupiti has several magasins but they are all counter service.  Meaning you walk up to the counter and tell them what you want.  The problem is with our inability to speak French.  But Google Translate works and we are good at pointing and sharing photos of products.  You take for granted how nice it is to be able to roam among the products while in the States.

This post was written in August 2020.  Our blog posts are usually 6 to 7 weeks behind are true adventures.  

Mt Duff from the trail

Wet and Wild Hike

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Matt and I decided we needed to get up and move.  We had not been hiking since the Marquesas (several weeks) and needed to re-engage our legs.  The only drawback is that we have had lots and lots of rain since we arrived.  So, we knew it would be a wet and wild hike.

We started out on the main road heading over the ridge.  Along the way we passed by the local school.  This is the only school in the Gambiers and it was in need of some lovin the last time we were here.  It was great to see that they were building new classrooms for the young people.

School Expansion

School Expansion

Tombeau de Roi

Further down the road we came across the “King’s Tomb” which is called Tombeau de Roi.  We couldn’t read the head stones, but I imagine that it will be grave sites of the past chiefs and rulers of the Gambiers.

Tombeau de Roi

Tombeau de Roi

Meteo France Station de Riktea

Just past the Tombeau de Roi is the weather station called Meteo France Station de Rikitea.  We explored the facility but missed the opportunity to see them launch the weather balloon.  Evidently, they launch the weather balloon on weekdays at 1400 which would have been fun to see.

Meteo France Station de Riktea

Meteo France Station de Riktea

Couvent de Rouru

After the road turned into a dirt road and about 1 mile down, we stumbled across an old convent.  The name is Couvent de Rouru.  As you walk up the green grassy path you walk along an old stone wall.  There were two stone buildings still standing on property.  The first is still proudly standing, albeit in ruins.  Plants, trees, and vines are trying their best to take over (upper right corner photo).  Inside there is one carved cross still visible.

Couvent de Rouru

Couvent de Rouru

Further inside is another stone ruin plopped in the middle of the grassy field.  Behind the convent was a gorgeous arch that leads to a grassy path below the trees.

Couvent de Rouru

Couvent de Rouru

Baptismal Pond

We stumbled across the baptismal pond which needed some serious lovin as it was not something you wanted to be baptized in.  Hidden in the floral bushes was a mound marked by a sign that read “Baignoire de J.A. Princesse.”  Climbing up the mound is the pond overlooking the bay.

INSERT 3 COLLAGE (dated 24 May)

Chemin des 12 Apotres

We finally get to the start of the trail, Chemin des 12 Apotres (12 Apostles) which had a nice little sign, some old ruins, and a carved stone at the entrance.

Chemin des 12 Apotres

Chemin des 12 Apotres

Within the first ½ mile we came across more ruins hidden in the trees waiting for someone to explore them.

Chemin des 12 Apotres

Chemin des 12 Apotres

The path was incredibly muddy, slippery, and wet.  Just a small part of the wet and wild hike.  But the good news is we came across several waterfalls that were flowing nicely with the recent rainfalls.

Two small waterfalls

Two small waterfalls

A huge squall hit us about 2 hours into our hike.  We hid under a giant rock to avoid being drenched.  It only lasted for about 15-20 minutes.

Hidden from the storm

Hidden from the storm

We had our Garmin GPS and maps.me to prevent us from getting lost.  But, you know how that goes.  The trail we were on was not on either instrument.  But what we could tell was that the road which ran above us had ended.  Yikes.  We decided to try to find a path up to the road to head back.  We were about 3.5 miles into our hike at this time.

Forging Our Own Path

There were no trails, not even goat trails.  We started up the hill and realized our path was covered in raspberry bushes.  Which sounds pleasant at first considering we did not bring lunch and we were starving.  But then reality sinks in as these bushes are covered in lovely little prickles that stick hard and deep into everything!  And to top it off, the raspberries were not ready for pickin!  So, we decided to go up the little river/waterfall to limit the amount of whacking we had to do to clear a path.

Matt led the way with a giant tree stump and whacked the path for both of us (so sweet).  Up we climb the waterfall, across stumps, boulders and debris.  Super slippery, wet, and challenging.

Forging our own path

Forging our own path

After about 1.5 hours of climbing we finally came across a dirt road, thank God!  We were both so tired and sore from being stuck by bushes.  I wanted to show you how high we had to whack our way to the top, but the bottom photo does do it justice.

Long walk home

Long walk home

When it was all said and done, our wet and wild hike was 5 hours, 6.4 miles, 15,520 steps and 33 floors.