Located ten miles away from Tahiti is its smaller, less populated sister island, Moorea, where we've been for almost a week. We've enjoyed both the land and ocean life here. One day we toured the island via rental car, going inland to hike through ancient ruins and up to overlooks where Eric took this glorious photo. Non-stop, one could drive the island's circumference in an hour. However, we stopped along the way to see the sights and have lunch.

The following day we toured the lagoon, the area inside the barrier reef. There we stopped to swim with stingrays who are used to tourists and guides who lure them with the smell of fish. The stingrays are friendly and rub against people. At first this is a litte disconcerting but then becomes fun. Bear loved it and we could barely get him out of the water.

One unfortuntate thing here is that most of the coral has died in recent years. We've heard two reasons: a recent hurricane and the introduction of a foreign starfish. We are not sure of the correct cause but the result is sad.