Thanks, Tony and Gordon

Tuesday 20th March 2007
Just another day in heaven. A fantastic day today doing nothing. We took some sun around the lagoon, swam, snorkelled, watched the dolphins and sea turtles and kayaked. This resort is fantastic and we both agree, the best place we have ever stayed. The Intercontinental spreads over 40 acres of beautiful grounds, lagoons and seafront. And the weather was perfect. Again, it looks a bit like the Caribbean in that there is often cloud but the sun is so strong, it cuts through all the time. We reckon that about 80% of the tourists here are French, with the rest divided between American, Australians, Japanese and a few English. It is like the very best of France (you know how exacting they are about their hotel standards) in paradise. The food and wine is to die for. The hotel houses the Dolphin and Sea Turtle sanctuary, so if you are staying here you can just wander over and watch them any time. They have also ‘cultured’ loads of coral throughout the lagoons so the snorkelling is wonderful – not quite the Great Barrier Reef but very easy snorkelling in calm crystal water, and not 30 miles out to sea. A lovely, lazy, but special day. Then a meal at the Mayflower restaurant because we don’t like to eat in the hotel all the time. All the restaurants here will collect you from your hotel by taxi and drop you back, The food was exquisite.
All the warnings I had read about Tahiti being expensive ,overplayed it. Yes, it is expensive, around £80 for a very nice meal, but not excessive. And it is very nice for us that the pound is so strong. The Americans and French find it ludicrously expensive. So after all those years of us being the ‘poor relations’ of Europe (remember those years when the French and Germans lorded it over us on every beach in Europe?) it is great to be in a strong position and find that the warnings of high prices were exaggerated. So thanks, Tony and Gordon. I always knew there was a reason we never voted Conservative!

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