Bora Bora

On our westward crossing of the Pacific, we had not been very impressed with Bora Bora and Tahiti – crowded, very expensive ($3 for a cabbage? Please), and not particularly friendly. While we still don't like them as much as most of the other islands (they're not getting on our Christmas card list...), we did find some upsides when we visited this time.

In Bora Bora, we spent almost no time on the island itself – the whole day we were out on the lagoon. A lagoon is a shallow, sheltered area between the barrier reefs that circle an island, and the island itself. There are often tiny sandy islets called motos around the reef. Bora Bora has one of the most beautiful lagoons in the world. We went out on an motorized outrigger canoe for a circle around the island. We also did the standard tourist gigs of snorkeling while sharks were fed nearby; another spot where stingrays were fed; visiting a motu, etc. These were fun, but the real treat was simply being out on the lagoon itself, and watching the rugged scenery as we circled the island. Plus we had good company (fellow ship passengers) and it was just the four of us. When we got back, they loaded up the same boat with twelve...

Bora Bora is just stunningly beautiful, as you can see from the pictures.

We can see what it would be a dream honeymoon kind of place -- especially if the in-laws were paying.

Tahiti

The next day, in Tahiti, we escaped the teeming city and took an all-day, 4WD trip into the rugged center of the island. It was the same tour from the same company as the ship offered, but half the price. It turned out to be an interesting day, from the first moment we were picked up. A fellow passenger, Susan, had called the company that morning to ask if she could join the trip with us. It was already booked full (with 8 passengers), but she could sit in the passenger seat in front. The rest of us were in the open back of the vehicle, not unlike a safari truck. As soon as we boarded the truck, one of the passengers picked up at a previous stop got into a heated argument with the driver. It was in French, so it was hard to follow, but it appeared he was incensed that there was a passenger in the front seat (Susan), because the truck was only licensed for eight passengers. We have no idea why he cared so much about this, but he just wouldn't shut up about it. After increasingly vehement back-and-forth, the driver finally told the man he could leave the tour right there if he wasn't happy. That shut him up for a while – but he grumbled the rest of the trip.

As it turned out, we were the only English speakers on the back of the truck, so it wasn't a very interactive group (there were two Germans in the English "camp" but their English was survival-mode only)

So we started off with the guide in a bad mood, and the passengers grumpy. The mood lightened once we turned of the main island road and headed up into the interior. It was a surprisingly short distance until we were totally beyond civilization – maybe a mile or two. The mountains supply both drinking water and hydroelectric power for the island, so the roads into the interior, though dirt, were in good shape. We were soon driving by magnificent stereotypical tropical waterfalls, one of which we stopped to swim in.

There are a lot of streams and rivers in the interior, and the road frequently had to cross them. This we did by simply driving through them. Something you'd expect in a safari trip, right? The odd thing was, there were bridges built over the stream a short distance away – you had to take a bit of a jog if you wanted to take the bridge over the river, instead of driving through. No doubt the bridges were useful in the rainy season, when the rivers would otherwise be impassible. Nonetheless, it was odd to be given the choice.

The interior is stunning – the sheer eroded walls of the volcano's caldera rising for 1000s of feet. It's hard to capture in pictures. Here we were, in the middle of absolutely nowhere, when the guide took a right, and delivered us to a French restaurant. Our rule of thumb is the better the view, the worse the food, so we didn't expect much as we sat on a terrace taking in the fabulous vista. But, for all their other "uniquenesses", the French won't tolerate bad food, and here in French Polynesia it's the same – we had a delicious meal of Coq au Vin in the restaurant at the end of the universe.

We stopped for a swim on the way back. On a rock on the other side of the pond, continuing in the theme of stereotypical tropical views, sat a young, extremely attractive, Polynesian woman, topless. It you held up a frame, you'd swear you were looking at a Paul Gaugin painting. She was with an older European fellow, who our guide proceed to spend 45 minutes chatting with, even though by this time we were running an hour late. It's hard to complain about spending longer in Paradise then planned, but the bugs were bad and we were tired and hungry.

We finally got back to the main road and headed towards Tahiti. Dozens if not hundreds of local Polynesian teenagers were out practicing their surfing at the end of the day – the stereotypical views continuing (surfing was invented by the Polynesians).

Papeete was finally coming into sight, when we went around a bend -- and were pulled over by a police checkpoint. There were more than a dozen local gendarme, all wearing cute short shorts (really!). They were checking people and vehicles for proper paperwork, etc. It turned out there were indeed problems with our paperwork, and we were held up for about 30 minutes while the driver and police discussed the matter. The whiner from the morning was openly gloating, because one of the issues had been the passenger count. We never were told exactly what was going on, but they did eventually let us go.

We arrived back to the ship about two hours later than expected. Fortunately, the ship was staying overnight in Papeete– otherwise we would have missed the boat – literally!

It was fun for a change to see the parts of Tahiti that have given it such a great reputation in the past.