Motu Auira. Maupiti, Polynesia. October 2012.

Living on A Motu in Maupiti

  Polynesia: Maupiti + Rangiroa + Moorea - October 2012

Dear English-speaking readers, this page is an automatic translation made from a post originally written in French. My apologies for any strange sentences and funny mistakes that may have been generated during the process. If you are reading French, click on the French flag below to access the original and correct text: 

When it's cold and gray, I remember Maupiti. I remember the light, the lagoon, the ocean... Come on! Back to Polynesia.

Landing between ocean and lagoon

The island of Maupiti, my globe-trotting friend Marie, who runs the blog Further...has already mentioned it here:
→  I entered a postcard in Maupiti

For my part, I had already slipped a few images into a very first post, here :
Pacific Blue

But for the rest, I'm very, very late in my stories ...  My trip to PolynesiaOur stay on this small island in the Society Archipelago dates back to October 2012!

😎

Map of Maupiti. Polynesia, October 2012. Maupiti is an island-mountain similar to the famous Bora Bora, its neighbor, located a few kilometers away. But in smaller, and more authentic.

No luxury hotels on stilts in Maupiti. The inhabitants - around 1,300 of them - don't want any. To accommodate tourists, there are only guesthouses.

We will stay for five days at the Auira pension, on the Motu of the same name, opposite the airport, with the lovely Gilbert and Edna. It was one of the few places available... Maupiti isn't overly touristy, but it's best to book your accommodation in advance.

My window faces the ocean as I land. So I miss the view of the island. But I can see the motusThese are the flat islets that surround and protect the lagoon, inside the coral reef. Maupiti has five of them.

Maupiti. Polynesia. October 2012.

The airport's tiny runway is built on a Motu. A bed of grey coral, between the deep blue of the Pacific Ocean and the cerulean blue of the lagoon.

It's beautiful, it's beautiful!

Note, for those who prefer the seaway to the airway: there is also the Maupiti Express (affectionately nicknamed Vomiti Express by locals and metropolitans living there) which runs from Bora-Bora to the island... But I haven't tested it.

The princesses of the lagoon

Gilbert from Pension Auira greets us as we get off the plane. The parking lot here is a pontoon on the lagoon side. Yes, in Maupiti, they pick you up from the airport... by boat!!!! I love it.

????

Maupiti. Gilbert (Auira pension). Polynesia, October 2012.

Gilbert passes the traditional necklaces of tiare flowers, so sweet in perfume, waiting for us to collect our luggage.

The sun is beating down, the light is everywhere. In Gilbert's clear eyes and big smile, in the intense blue that surrounds us, from sky to lagoon, from sky to ocean. It makes you a little dizzy, everything blue that hurts eyes.

The recovered luggage, here we are like two princesses, with our necklaces of flowers and our sunglasses, spinning on the wavelets of the lagoon sparkling in Gilbert's boat.

Motu Auira, Maupiti. Polynesia, October 2012.
Motu Auira, Maupiti. Polynesia, October 2012.

We marvel at the rugged beauty of the island-mountain, planted in the middle of the lagoon. As you'll discover, its appearance changes constantly, depending on the time of day, the light, the side you're sailing from...

Maupiti. Polynesia, October 2012.
Maupiti. Polynesia, October 2012.
Maupiti. Polynesia, October 2012.
Maupiti. Polynesia, October 2012.
Maupiti. Polynesia, October 2012.
Maupiti. Polynesia, October 2012.
Maupiti. Polynesia, October 2012.
Maupiti. Polynesia, October 2012.

And then we discover "our" beach. Our fare ("Bungalow" in Tahitian) is here, waiting for us, under the coconut trees ...

Motu Auira, Maupiti, October 2012.
Motu Auira, Maupiti, October 2012.
Motu Auira, Maupiti. Polynesia, October 2012.
Motu Auira, Maupiti. Polynesia, October 2012.
Motu Auira. Maupiti, Polynesia. October 2012.
Motu Auira, Maupiti. Polynesia, October 2012.

Motu Auira

For five days too short, so we will live on the Motu Auira, located in the southwest of the island. The only Motu from which you can reach the island on foot: it is linked to Maupiti by a huge sandbar where the water is shallow at low tide.

Maupiti. Polynesia, October 2012.
Maupiti. Polynesia, October 2012.

We tried kayaking too. Not a great success. Fortunately, as Gilbert goes back and forth between the motu and the island to run errands, we took advantage of the opportunity to get a ride home, without having to paddle.

A couple of Catalan tourists, also staying at the Pension Auira, thought they could make the crossing, but soon gave up! In fact, with the tide and the wind, and a more than random coordination of the paddles, the novices that we are are sailing mostly... in zigzags.

Motu Auira, Maupiti. Polynesia, October 2012.

Motu Auira, Maupiti. Polynesia, October 2012.

On our MotuWe'll be enjoying peaceful days, lazing around and strolling on the island of Maupiti opposite.

We'll gorge ourselves on raw fish marinated in coconut milk, fish for clams with Gilbert, cross the motu's coconut grove to see the whales from the ocean side, admire sunsets and storm clouds, get a taste for Hinano beer, and wade endlessly in the lagoon...

Maupiti, Polynesia. October 2012.

Stormy skies over the ocean. Maupiti. Polynesia, October 2012.
Stormy skies over the ocean. Maupiti. Polynesia, October 2012.

Maupiti. Polynesia, October 2012.

I will also do some dives... I'll tell you about it in a future post!

???? ????

  Polynesia: Maupiti + Rangiroa + Moorea - October 2012

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    1. @Laurence : Arf… C’est ce que je me disais aussi, en parcourant mes photos, c’est dingue, ce bleu !!! Je n’en peux plus de l’hiver, là.
      😈

  1. Ahhhh Maupiti ! J’adore.. le paradis sur terre ! Nous y sommes allés en décembre 2010 pendant 2 semaines, chez Gilbert et Edna justement, adorables ! Nous avons passés Noël chez eux avec un repas digne de ce nom ! On a adoré faire du snorkeling dans le lagon, aller faire nos courses en canoé sur la grande île, camper sur le motu avec une chienne qui nous avait adopté et nous suivait partout ! On s’est même fiancés là-bas ! Leur petit fils, Shea, qui vient pendant les vacances scolaires est adorable aussi !
    Thank you for this article which reminds us that beautiful memories 😉

    1. @Sophie : Ah, là là… Oui, qu’est-ce qu’on mange bien, chez Gilbert et Edna !!! Comme toi, je n’ai que de bons souvenirs de mon séjour sur le motu Auira… Ravie de t’avoir ramenée un peu là-bas virtuellement.
      8)

  2. Une vraie cure de soleil 🙂 , de ciel bleu, qui tombent à pic en effet après cet hiver couvert qui n’en finit pas de nuancer sa grisaille… 😮 Merci Corinne 🙂

    1. @Richard : comment ça, tu n’aimes pas le gris, le froid, la pluie (voire la neige) ??? 😡 Courage, les jours rallongent. On se dirige vers l’été…

      Ravie, en tout cas, d’avoir réussi à ensoleiller un peu ta journée !!! 8)

    1. @Mélissa: non, ne pleure pas… Ce n’est rien, ça va passer !!! 😆 (Moi aussi, je verserais bien une petite larme, tiens…)

    1. @petitetête: j’espère que tu veux y vivre, d’abord !!! 🙂

      Oui, cette île est réellement pa-ra-di-siaque… Je prépare un prochain post avec d’autres photos de l’île de Maupiti même. J’en pleurerais en revoyant les photos dans mon disque dur…

  3. Eh oui, Maupiti, c’est une carte postale, vivante et paisible, bleue et verte, lagon et océan, gens de la “ville” et habitants des motus, bière Hinano et eau salée, poissons et bénitiers, vélo et kayak. 🙄

    Great stay. Thank you for the memories.

    PS: That said, you exaggerate a little on the kayak ... Too easy! 8) : Mrgreen:

    1. @Marie: J’aime l’association que tu fais entre la bière Hinano et l’eau salée… 😆

      Peut-être qu’en ayant éclusé plus de Hinano, j’aurais trouvé ça facile, le kayak… 😛

    2. Sans doute ! Même chose pour le vélo. Surtout qu’il n’y a pas de danger de se perdre sur LA route. 😉
      By the way, thank you for the link and the credits (and for having left in my hands the photographic monster of the seas).

  4. WAW it hurts the eyes all this blue even in photo, thank you for this walk that lets you dream. It's breathtaking, it's like paradise on earth. Thank you for sharing this adventure, there are some who really need a change of scenery (ME). 😉

  5. Hello,
    Nous y sommes actuellement … Rien ne semble avoir changé : l’ endroit est juste Magique ! Nous rentrons juste de la pêche aux bénitiers accompagnés de Gilbert et de Biscuit, cet étonnant chien-pêcheur, désormais affalé sur la terrasse de notre bungalow qui fait face au lagon et l’ île de Maupiti … C’ est réellement Magique !
    Zou ...

    1. @Escapades: ah, la pêche aux bénitiers… Comme je vous envie d’être là-bas !!! Et que de bons souvenirs à Auira avec Gilbert et Edna. Passez-leur le bonjour et profitez bien de cet endroit exceptionnel 8)

    2. Hello,
      Nous nous réveillons face au lagon … nous entendons Gilbert préparer notre petit-déjeuner . Nous ne manquerons pas de lui adresser ton “bonjour” !
      Zou ...

    3. Bonjour transmis ; Gilbert semble bien se souvenir de ton passage ici : à l’ évocation de “Corinne”, il a spontanément associé ton nom de famille ! Journée un peu surréaliste passée en sa compagnie . Dans le cadre de la campagne électorale municipale 😉 (élections ayant lieu la semaine prochaine !), nous l’ avons accompagné dans une tournée des bars et des amis … ces discussions tellement éloignées de nos préoccupations européennes nous ont beaucoup amusés ; autant dire que la “Hinano” coulait à flot !!! De retour sur le motu, alors que nous en étions à notre énième visite ( on ne compte même plus les “Hinano” ingurgitées), nous avons vu débarquer Edna telle une furie … Gilbert était parti “chercher le pain” sur l’ île près de 7 heures auparavant ! Demain peut-être lui adresserai-je ton “Bonjour” ?! Nous ne sommes pas près d’ oublier notre passage ici, tant nous l’ avons adoré !
      Nous n’ avons personnellement jamais entendu Gilbert poussé son « Caféééé ! » (nous sommes des buveurs de thé !) ; nous retiendrons plutôt son “Tama’a” (orthographe plus qu’ incertaine ?!) qui signifierait “A table !”
      Bouh … nous quittons l’ endroit demain 😥

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