French Polynesia

We arrived at the airport of Papeete, the capital of French Polynesia, at one in the morning. Despite having arrived at an ungodly hour, this time we had decided not to make any reservations and to spend the first night in the "comfortable" chairs of the airport. Unfortunately, the available seats were almost all taken and the remaining ones were broken. We had no choice but to inflate our mats and lie down on the floor.

But it was the first of April and something had to happen... before falling asleep we thought it best to go withdraw some money from the ATM. Unfortunately, just at that moment there was a power outage, the money-spitting machine jammed and swallowed our credit card. There was no way to get it back: the only solution was to wait six or seven hours until the bank branch opened. With our tails between our legs, all we could do was retreat to our corner and doze for a few hours.

At eight in the morning we were positioned in front of the bank to claim what had been taken from us. It wasn't easy to explain what had happened to us during the night, but in the end the clerk assured us that within a week we would get our card back... a week!!! But how were we supposed to survive for a week without a penny??? Perhaps struck by an act of pity, he mobilised whoever was responsible and within half an hour we had what we needed: it doesn't take much, what's the big deal!

Once the problem was solved we headed to the port to board for Moorea. Oh right, we hadn't told you that among all the little islands available in French Polynesia our choice had fallen on Moorea, an almost obligatory choice. In fact, it is only 25 km by ferry from Tahiti (the island where we landed), has prices affordable even for people like us and above all has one of the most beautiful lagoons in the entire archipelago. Thinking of going to other destinations was nothing short of prohibitive, both in terms of costs (many islands can only be reached by plane) and as regards distance. And so within about half an hour we had arrived on our island: we had to solve the usual problem of finding a place to stay for the next six days. We had read and reread the various accommodation options proposed by the various guidebooks, and in the end the solutions within our reach were truly few.

Of these we chose the Chez Nelson campsite, which in addition to offering the possibility of pitching a tent, also made available to its guests a series of small "terraced bungalows". Basic, with nothing more than a bed inside and with a shared bathroom, they were located in a corner of paradise, right at the foot of a very green mountain and thirty metres from the beach... and what more could you want! If you think about the prohibitive prices of French Polynesia we could consider ourselves more than lucky: we paid roughly fourteen euros per person, an almost laughable sum if you compare it to the prices of the resort that bordered our campsite: 120 euros per person rising to 600 in the resort that stood a little further from us... we had got lucky!

Moorea too, like the island we had just left, was of volcanic origin, but with even steeper mountains and rich in vegetation. Another pleasant difference was in the lagoon, which especially in the area of our campsite reached very considerable dimensions. Within the lagoon were scattered some Motu (that's what the small islets within the lagoon are called) that drew a picture-postcard landscape. The water was surprisingly clean and transparent, especially a few metres from the shore it took on unbelievable colours and shades, ranging from light blue to green to cobalt blue: incredible, breathtaking!

And how could we not take advantage of the situation to dive in and swim among the myriads of tropical fish and coral formations? And it is precisely this activity that marked our stay on this island. Every day after breakfast the "Return to Parallel Zero" expedition set off, in discovery of new enchanted scenery, among the islets scattered in the lagoon, towards new deserted beaches, back to the sun and mask pointed towards the seabed. It was in this way that on the third expedition we landed in an arm of the sea that divided two motu and there in the middle a marvel of nature presented itself to us. Thanks to a gap in the coral barrier, the current was strong and with it so was the marine life. Parrotfish, clownfish, butterflyfish, rays of enormous size and even some sharks... things to leave you dumbstruck!

For our fourth day we had thought it best not to let slip the opportunity of a tour to discover the island. It was a boat excursion that took us to swim and touch the rays, to crash against the immense waves present outside the lagoon in the company of a colony of dolphins. We then returned to the lagoon and landed on an islet called Lagunarium where we had a close encounter with the many species of fish that populate these waters: in particular with some succulent tuna, magnificent turtles, moray eels and some sharks even of considerable size. We couldn't have asked for more.

The following day we didn't even miss out on a dive into the deep sea. Actually we only went down to twenty metres, but it was enough to surround ourselves with marine life and above all with an innumerable quantity of sharks that circled around us as if we were about to become their lunch. As you already know by now, time flies when you're having fun and in an instant this dream was over too.

We spent the last day packing up the backpacks and returning to the main island where in the very late night the flight to L.A. awaited us. Ah, for all those who don't know, we're talking about the City of Angels: Los Angeles!