South Pacific 2015 – Papeete

Before boarding Mariner I had a day and half in Papeete, unfortunately the combination of the effects from my travel and the poor weather, I did not get to explore the island, but I did explore the Intercontinental Resort.

I was lucky enough to get upgraded to an over-water bungalow

This is the life!

I had lunch at Le Lotus, one of the resort’s restaurant that sits out on the water, a nice place to enjoy an afternoon. For lunch I had the Seafood Paella, which was pretty nice! Le Lotus provides multiple olive oils and vinegar to dip your bread into, they use local produce like vanilla to provide some interesting contrasts. To start with I was provided with a complimentary starter, some sort of goat’s cheese, which was not bad.

 

Le Lotus

Random Photos from around the resort

As I had a bungalow over the water I was able to take a dip and use the opportunity to test my camera in the water. As the water was cloudy and the sky was overcast the photos are not vibrant.

 More random photos from around the resort

 

   

The resort’s own lagoonaquarium

  

 The bay that resort is on is where the locals train and race their outrigger crews

On the Saturday morning there was an outrigger race from one side of the bay to the other, the shortest route was under the boardwalk near my bungalow. Looked like a few of them were more interested in having fun than racing.

  

Dinner on Friday night was with new friends back at Le Lotus, was not interested in a buffet dinner and I am glad that we did decide on Le Lotus as the food was excellent (a bit pricey though)

For my starter I had

Parrot Fish stuffed with shellfish served with Marquisian lime sauce, which was not what I was expecting, but a nice mix of the local seafood, a dish I would recommend.

For my main course I had sauted scallops, served with shiitake risotto and black tea sauce mousse. Another dish I would recommend!!

Desert was also excellent a chocolate mikado, served with dark chocolate mousse on a nut and cacao biscuit, salted butter caramel and cacao sorbet

 To drink we had a nice bottle of Argentinian Malbec, a 2010 Flechas de los Andes Gran Malbec.

Next up is boarding the Mariner!