TS Today - Creating a Vision for the Future of Vacation Ownership Issue #142, Jul/Aug 2015 | страница 47

TimeSharing Today Page 47 Jul/Aug, 2015 ZDV ¿QH7KH UHVRUW KDV D VPDOO SRRO DQG a small beach, and some beach equipment available to borrow. Island Insights Mo’orea is surrounded by a reef that GH¿QHVDIDPRXVO\EOXHODJRRQZLWKPDQ\ of the overwater bungalows for which these islands are famous. Club Bali Hai was WKH¿UVWUHVRUWRQ0R¶RUHDWRSXWLQRYHUwater bungalows, but other resorts situated over the azure blue lagoon water now have much prettier settings for their bungalows. The island is about 45 miles around and we drove it once in each direction. The best beaches are along the north and east coasts, while the west and south are NQRZQIRUVXU¿QJVSRWVUHDFKHGE\ERDW out at the reef. Mo’orea has a population a little under 20,000, and about an equal number of tourists during peak season. The island economy once depended on production of copra (dried coconut meat, from which coconut oil is extracted) and subsistence ¿VKLQJ DQG IDUPLQJ 1RZ WRXULVP DQG fruit growing are the major industries. A large juice plant on the island buys much of the island’s fruit crop. 5RPDQFHDQGWKHUHHIRQ0R¶RUHD ÀLJKWVFKHGXOHVDQGORVLQJDGD\FURVVLQJ the International Dateline, we had to leave 0R¶RUHDDIWHURQO\¿YHQLJKWVWREHDEOHWR use our full week in New Zealand. Club Bali Hai charges exchangers a resort fee of almost $400 a week for a studio unit. To both the resort’s and RCI’s credit, the fee was not hidden, but it still seems out of line to me. The owners’ association seems to be pushing expenses that should be for owners’ accounts onto exchangers. Since Club Bali Hai is the only time- share resort in French Polynesia, maybe it can get away with charging this fee, but I would not stay here again. If I get the opportunity to return to this beautiful part of the world, I will look to nontimeshare options. Tom and Charlotte Gorham own timeshares at Club Trinidad Resort in Palm 6SULQJV &$ 9LOODV RI +LFNRU\ +LOO LQ *DXWLHU06DQG:ROI5XQ0DQRUDW7UHDsure Lake in Du Bois, PA. A Lapse in Time %RWK WKLV H[FKDQJH DQG RXU ¿UVW H[change in New Zealand were Saturday to Saturday, but we discovered that with Charlotte Gorham on the BelveGHUH YLHZSRLQW ZLWK &RRN¶V %D\ LQ WKHEDFNJURXQG www.tstoday.com for back issues, Resort Report Cards, articles on resorts and much more