DAY FOURTEEN - BORA BORA

Monday November 3rd (Tuesday back in Australia, Cup Day) and we are at anchor at Bora Bora . For the past three days including today we have visited three Polynesian islands. Tahiti on Saturday, Moorea yesterday and Bora Bora today.
My first observation of all three is that they are nothing like what I expected. There are few if any clean sandy beaches. On Tahiti all the beaches are black sand, on Moorea the only white sand we saw was those that had been created by the hotels, and here on Bora Bora Matira Beach, where the majority of the mainland resorts are, the beach is very nice. Crystal clear water, clean white sands, pandanus and coconut trees to the waters edge and very friendly locals. Moorea and Bora Bora are both surrounded by little islands called Motus and these do have very nice beaches I’m told. We didn’t go there so didn’t see them.
The second thing I noticed that I was not expecting was the very low quality of the majority of houses on Moorea and on Bora Bora. Papeete, Tahiti is really just like any other city the world over and the housing mix not as noticeable as Moorea or Bora Bora. Many of the people here live in the most wonderful of locations, almost on the waters edge. But they live in what looks to be houses constructed from left over materials from dump sites. Sheets of ply for walls, old rusted corrugated iron roofs. There are some traditional houses made of pandanus and other local grown materials. There are also quite a few brick/concrete houses that have been built by the government to replace houses destroyed by hurricanes.
TAHITI.
We spent the morning in Papeete at the local market. Today was a holiday in Tahiti and the only shops that were open were jewelers and the market. The market was a mixture of fruit and vegetables and fresh fish and hundreds of bunches of flowers. These people really go in for flowers. They were more expensive than our previous stop at Raiatea. The city itself appears a bit run down and a bit grubby. But even so has a real charm and allure about it. Must be the French connection. Most of the people we spoke with were very friendly and helpful, but not the flower sellers. I got an earful from one lady when I asked if I could photograph her floral arrangements. You’d have thought I was carry out some industrial espionage.
In the afternoon we went on a Tour that Evon had arranged with Marama Tours. Unfortunately they had misunderstood how many we were and only sent a 22 seater for our 40 that Evon had recruited. Half our group had to head off in Taxis while the rest of crammed into the bus. Our driver’s English was not too good and he only knew one speed to drive at, flat out, so while we did a tour of the whole island it was too fast with not enough stops.
MOOREA.
On Moorea Mary and I had opted to do a Princess Cruises Tour of the island with a visit to the Tikki Village. This turned out to be one of the highlights of the entire cruise. The tour itself around the island was very informative with a driver who spoke quite passable English. The Tikki Village show was fantastic. Ten very attractive girls in traditional costumes complete with coconut shell bra’s and six muscled young men that had more energy than anyone deserves. They danced to music provided by four or five men on drums, guitars, ukuleles. The men put on their own display of fire dancing. The show also included a display of dying sarongs (that’s not what the call them here but I can’t remember what is the correct word) and how to wear them.
The Village itself is a bit artificial looking but the waterfront location is stunning.
BORA BORA
We had booked a Princess Cruises tour here as well. This tour, Highlights of Bora Bora, was a complete circle of the island, all 32 kilometers of it, in a vehicle known as Le Truck. A surprisingly comfortable method of transport. Ideal for this climate with open windows, no doors just a safety chain and plastic seats. Today’s temperature was forecast as 32c with 88% humidity. We took 2.5 hours to circle the island with 4 stops for photo opportunities plus a visit to Matira beach and Bloody Marys Bar. Bloody Marys is owned by an American and has signs out front with the names of all the rich and famous that have visited. It is a very interesting place to visit and has a colorful history from when the American Forces were here. The locals are a bit cynical of the todays Bloody Mary and we were told it is nowhere near where the original stood nor is it anything like the old bar of years gone by.
Of the three islands we visited over the past three days this is certainly the most memorable. It’s clean, very easy on the eye with it’s surrounding coral reef and the little islands scattered all the way around the mainland. All in all a very nice place to visit for a day on a cruise.
Tonight we leave Polynesia on our return route through Samoa and Fiji. We are at sea for the next three days until our next stop at Pago Pago, the capitol of American Samoa.