French Polynesia
Moorea may win your heart. Her snaggle-tooth volcanic fangs rear from thundering Pacific surf; Arthur Frommer - of the self-named guides - says she is the most beautiful island in the world; and Marlon Brando fell for his Polynesian female lead when making Mutiny on the Bounty here (for a tryst with a twist take the yacht-trip to Tetiaroa atoll, once the Brandos’ private South Seas love-nest).
But Moorea has a love rival: one short ferry ride and suddenly you’re being seduced by Tahiti. See the Gaugin museum then go on to the small village of Mataiea where, beside the lagoon, English war poet Rupert Brooke spent some of the final weeks of a brief life with Mamua, his Polynesian lover. Here he wrote his most acclaimed poem. Called Tiare Tahiti, it was for her.
Camping Chez Nelson www.camping-nelson.pf
Google Maps: bit.ly/AvMP1Z
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