This morning I woke up and started to finish packing, however I decided to go upstairs to get some cereal for breakfast and see what the visibility was before packing up my camera.
I took a couple of pictures with my phone, but the colors of the mountain were still a bit muted, so I didn’t bother to bring my camera outside for any more photos.
I finished packing and called Hertz about a ride in the shuttle, but it wouldn’t be available until 10 AM, so I decided to walk off and get a taxi.
The taxi to the airport was only 2,000 CPF ($17 USD) and pretty quick.
I got an almost new rental care (less than 1,000 kilometers on it). It took me a while to change the language to English and I failed to get Android Auto set up on it no matter how much I tried. I even tried plugging in my wireless Android Auto device and it refused to connect to it as well.
After I gave up I started driving to Marae de Arahurahu. The tour I took last week didn’t stop at any Marae, so this was one of the things on my list of places to see on my way to the lodge I am staying at tonight (since Hertz charges 60 CPF per kilometer). I came across an interesting church on the way.
The Marae was down a short dirt road and had a large parking lot. The Marae itself was mostly empty, only a few visitors and had a public bathroom. The Marae itself was in very good condition and there were a couple of statues. It is certainly worth a visit, even with all the Marae I saw on the other islands.
The next place I stopped was Grotte de Marae. I did stop here on the tour last week, but it was more interesting when it wasn’t raining because there was still water dripping inside the cave.
The next stop was Marae de Mahaiatea. It is at the end of a small road and it is not in one piece anymore, but it apparently was a very important (and tall) temple. It supposedly used to look like a step pyramid like I have seen in Egypt.
The last touristy place I stopped at was the Harrison Smith Botanical Gardens. There were a few interesting plants, however the signs were damaged so it was impossible to see most of the descriptions. The Polynesian chestnut trees were probably my favorite, I really liked their roots and trunks.
It was now afternoon and I was having a Big Mac attack. Luckily I know of a McDonald’s close by.
I stopped at Carrefour to buy some snacks and water before continuing to the lodge. While I was inside it started to rain, but it calmed down a lot before I was ready to leave.
I drove past a couple of public beaches, but nothing else of any interest on the way to the lodge. I had to drive up a narrow road to the resort.
Luckily for me my bungalow was nearby the reception so I was able to get Wi-Fi access without leaving my bungalow. The bungalow was really cool and has a great view of the ocean – and you can hear the waves crashing on the reef as well. It came with mosquito nets and a mosquito coil – but no air conditioning. Apparently some of the newer bungalows have an air conditioned bedroom, but not mine. I will survive without the air conditioning for a couple of days.
I tried to catch the sunset, but the sky didn’t cooperate. I stayed at the bungalow for the rest of the night and caught up on some work.
Information on the window of the reception building:
Today’s timeline:
