Afareaitu waterfall and island scootering

I had a dreadful sleep last night. It was far too hot even with the fan, my mind wouldn’t shut off from planning mode and I guess I am still very anxious and a little on edge – but it’s only day three. However, it was a bright and early wake up this morning for us as after hiring the scooter last night we wanted to do the whole island in a day to really soak up what Moorea has to offer. The morning started on a high as we had the gas bottle replaced so Leo could make his eggs with no risk of salmonella after yesterday’s debacle. 
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About 30 minutes from our Air B n B is the small township of Afareaitu, home to one of the best waterfalls on the island, so naturally we had to go. The track is not well signposted/ not signposted at all so you just have to ask the friendly locals and they will point you in the right direction. We met another couple where we left our scooter, walked for about 30 minutes in the blistering heat only to realize it was the wrong way.

The other couple gave up and turned back, but we persevered, and it was 100% worth it. Through dense jungle, filled with amazing tropical plants and insects we arrived at the Afareaitu waterfall and no surprise we were the only ones there. It was so bloody hot that I disregarded the fact that there could be literally anything in the pool and hopped straight in. 

LOVED IT! Leo did the same, and we had the best power shower from the falls after baking in the heat to get there. For anyone looking to do this walk, take a left at the fork then a right at the 2 towers made of stone. Sounds easy but we managed to miss it completely on the way up.
We spent the rest of the morning beach hopping, each beach being more stunning than the last, I swear this island looks like a hashtag on Instagram – everything about it is just surreal and mind blowing beautiful. We then made our way to the Intercontinental hotel as they have a sea turtle sanctuary where they rescue sea turtles as well as a dolphin encounter educational centre – and yes, IT’S FREE so definitely go! We were actually able to explore the full resort so held hands, put on a smile and pretended we were on our honeymoon which 95% of the guests staying there were. I was stoked to be able to experience what $400NZD+ a night would look like but we both agreed it wasn’t for us. 
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Next on the list was the Juice factory where you can sample various fresh juices and alcohol made on the island and again it’s free so highly recommend it if sticking to a budget. Unfortunately, the factory was closed for 2 weeks for a refurb, but cellar door was still open. We loved the rum punch, the lemon liqueur and the strawberry daiquiri – to be fair they were all amazing and the juices we so goddam fresh! 

 Finishing the day with a swim towards the North of the island we headed back home for the evening as we are at saturation point for sun at this stage. 1 thing we would both recommend when coming to Moorea is to not look at the weather forecast. I spent about 2 weeks looking at the forecast and dreading it leading up to the trip as each day it has said it will be torrential rain and thunderstorms. However,  since we arrived – not a single one. Just sun and heat…lots of heat!