March 21st - Bali Hai

Since so many people think of "Bali Hai" when they think of French
Polynesia, I thought it was high time I included a picture of the Bali Hai
in Moorea and the view of the bay from the hotel.

The Bali Hai in Moorea is now called the Club Bali Hai and sits in Cook's
Bay surrounded by the lush green mountains. Like many of the resorts here it
offers beachfront and overwater bungalows. It is now a hotel with a Vacation
time-Share Program affiliated with Resort & Condominium International.. It
is said that two of the original three bali hai boys can still be seen
around the hotel.

In the beginning there were Bali Hai Hotels in Moorea, Hauhini and Raiatea.
They lost the Bali Hai in Hauhini in a land ownership dispute in the
mid-nineties, and I am not sure what became of the one in Raiatea. For more
information on the "Bali Hai Boys" go to:
http://www.bookrags.com/news/a-small-hotel-on-moorea-is-all-that-moc/ - it
is a fun story.

According to one source even though people assume otherwise," the movie
South Pacific was not made in Tahiti, nor did the book or film ever indicate
that Tahiti, Moorea or Bora Bora was the setting, yet many people assume
otherwise. The Bali Hai Hotels were named for the movie, not the other way
around. In a remake of the movie in 2000, most of the movie was filmed in
Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia, and chose Opunohu Bay in Moorea for the
scenes that include the spectacular beauty of the island of Bali-Ha'I and
the Mou's Rou mountain. Thus, the legend became reality and the mountain
named Bali Hai by the Hotel Bali Hai "boys", is now immortalized on film as
the famous Bali-Ha'I peak that beckons to the sailors across the sea."