Moorea to Bora Bora

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We got up bright and early but I’d had a terrible headache all night and really didn’t feel good. I knew this would happen at some point in the trip - where one of us felt poorly but we still had to carry on with the change over day. I dosed up on migraine relief tablets and got ready for the long day ahead hoping that the headache wouldn’t get any worse as I already felt like being sick.

We checked out at 10am and got a surprise of an additional VAT charge on our room (we’d been told about one of the taxes but there were actually two different taxes as well as the VAT!) This added an extra £60 onto the bill which wasn’t good but there wasn’t a lot we could do about it.

We’d booked a mini bus transfer to the fast cat ferry port which was only £8 between us which was much cheaper than the taxi we got on the way in so it almost made up for the VAT charge. It took ages to get there as we had to pick up at lots of other hotels but we got there with 20 mins to spare. The journey along the coastal road gave us a good chance to get a final look at Moorea. The island truly is beautiful and dramatic - the beaches give way to steep mountainous peaks which are crawling in lush greenery. There are trees of all different types growing up the slopes and the water is green, blue and clear all at the same time. It’s almost impossible to believe you are actually there looking at it and no matter how much you stare you just can’t take it all in. Something that Michael Poole had said yesterday came back to me. “Bora Bora has the most beautiful lagoon. Fact. But Moorea is the most beautiful island.” I believed him as I don’t think I’ve ever seen anywhere quite so amazing. If the lagoon in Bora is more beautiful than Moorea I was looking forward to seeing it as the lagoon in Moorea was also something very special.

When we arrived at the ferry port, the mini bus driver pointed to where we needed to check in our luggage - something we’d missed last time as we’d taken it on with us (it then made sense why a few people had looked at us funny as we got off wheeling our bags!) so we went and put our bags in the metal cages which got taken on separately and as we were early we went and grabbed a cold drink as it was already so hot. We came back and caught the 11.30am Moorea Express fast cat back to Tahiti.

We tried to go out the front on the cat but before we set off someone asked us to come in as the weather was choppy and it wasn’t safe. We went and sat down at the back as it’s better there for seasickness and we figured if it wasn’t safe to stand outside then it was going to be a bumpy journey. Matt looked worried.

It was choppy and the cat bounced around on the waves in the rolling motion that Matt hates so much. He kept me informed as to how he was doing through the journey and luckily by the time we’d got to Tahiti he’d only got as far as having nine yawns and numb white hands. We were lucky it was only a 40 minute trip as otherwise it could have been messy.

We got off and collected our bags without any problems and I sat Matt under a shady tree and set off through town to find a pharmacy as we needed another bottle of sunblock. It felt like quite a walk in seering heat (but it was actually only about 5 mins) before I found a shop and managed to buy some very expensive sun block (£16!) I tried to buy Matt an ice-cream from a shop in the way back but the freezer seemed to be locked and it would probably have melted before I could have got it to him anyway! So instead I headed back and we devoured the left over Tuc crackers and a bottle of (by now) warm water. We decided that we just couldn’t face any more jam sandwiches and threw them in the bin.

Matt had spent the time I’d been away reading the guide book and when I arrived back he told me that rather than getting a taxi to the airport which cost over £10 we could get on ‘Le Truck’ - which was a local open sided bus - for about £3. I thought this sounded like a bargain so he went over to the Tourist Info Centre to check out where we could catch one from. This sent us on a walk through central Papeete with all of our luggage. I’ve never been happier that we went for rucksacks with wheels! Matt was looking for the ‘The Blue Flower’ that the TIC had told him about but couldn’t see it so we walked around in the area they’d pointed to and the buses started going past us. Unfortunately they were already full by the time we waved them down and there was just no room for us and our luggage. So we walked back along the road and eventually found the source of the buses, outside a shop called ‘The Blue Flower’ with a ten foot picture of a blue flower. Finally it made sense - Matt had been looking for a sculpture or something, but it was just a shop!

We got on a bus and it only cost us a couple of pounds to go to the airport - even cheaper than we'd expected. The bus was open sided and all of the seats inside faced inwards, with a long seat up the middle so that everyone faced each other. They were obviously really popular as all of the buses ended up full within minutes but luckily we got on early enough to find a corner near the door that we could sit with our luggage. Unfortunately we were opposite the entrance to the bus which was completely open with no door so we had to hang onto our bags in case we lost them around a sharp bend.

When we came to the airport the bus stopped and the driver gave us a shout. We were on the main road by the airport but it was quite a walk to get to the entrance from here so again we were pleased we had wheelie rucksacks. Unfortunately they weren't so much use down the steps.

We headed into the airport and eventually found the domestic departure gate and checked in our luggage. They were overweight by 2kg but they let us off. Then we went through to the departure lounge and waited for our flight to be called. Around 3pm we were called to the plane and even though there was seating for about 80 people on the plane, only about 10 people got on. We took off and got a great view of Tahiti and Moorea before heading out to sea. The trip was 40 mins long and we went over a few islands which Matt got some great pictures. Coming into Bora Bora was spectacular as we got a birds eye view of two other islands immediately next to it before we came in over the lagoon and swung around for a steep turn to the airport which was on it’s own motu.

We landed smoothly and went to find our bags. As soon as we’d found them we had to check them into the shuttle boat hold so that we could go to the main island and meet our accommodation transfer there. We went straight upstairs on the shuttle boat and got an amazing view of the lagoon and the little island by the airport with a marble sculpture on.

The shuttle didn’t take long to get over to the main town and we got off hunting for our pick up. It wasn’t there. There were taxis vying for our trade but we tried to explain to them we should have a transfer booked without knowing how to say this in French. A mini bus arrived and we told the driver where we were going and he said ‘five dollar, get in‘. But we tried explaining that we wanted to wait for our transfer. He hung around for a few minutes and then told us to get in. We said we were going to call the owner of our accommodation but he just took our bags and put them in his mini bus and told us to go with him. Again we asked him how much and he said five dollar (but as Tahiti works in francs not dollars this meant nothing). We debated about whether to protest but as we didn’t have a better option (we as didn’t actually have the resort tel on us) we got in and thought we’d have to accept it if it cost us lots. When we arrived at Village Temanuata the driver unloaded our bags, looked for someone who worked there and gave up saying that ‘someone be here in five minutes’ and then headed off without asking for any payment at all! We were relieved. Our next hurdle was to find someone and make sure there wasn’t a pick up still waiting for us at the shuttle dock. We walked through the bungalows to the office and found an excentric French lady called Martine. She had been worried about us as her driver had called to say he’d be late. It seems that to help out this other driver had picked us up for free. She was very pleased we’d made it and so were we.

She showed us to our room, waited for us to unpack and bit and then realised were were in the wrong room and asked us to move one bungalow closer to the beach. We didn’t mind as it meant a better view.

We were so pleased to be there at long last after a long journey. I still had a headache although didn’t feel quite as sick. By this time Matt also had a headache too.

Our bungalow was one away from the beach. It was called a ‘sea view bungalow’ as out of the patio doors you could definitely see the sea. We had expected cooking facilities but instead we just had a fridge. But this time we did have a kettle which was what we’d really been missing in Moorea - and the water was drinking water which was a novelty as that would save us a bit of money.

The resort had it’s own small white sandy beach and the water there was quite deep. A little further along the road there were public beaches that were much shallower with amazing stretches of white sand so there were a few options of where to lay in the sun.

Although we were tired and didn’t feel great we couldn’t stay in our room as we’re too inquisitive so we headed out to explore. First we checked out the public beaches nearby all around, and some snack places to eat breakfasts, then we headed the opposite direction where we’d been told we’d find a shop and some restaurants. Everything was quite close together and within a twenty minute walk we’d been past about five different restaurtants and a shop. We called back at the shop and bought some essentials - wine, cornflakes and milk. The we headed to the restaurant we’d selected. It was by the lagoon on the beach but the main restaurant was in an undercover area. We asked if we could sit outside actually on the beach and they said that was fine so we went out there although we were the only ones brave enough as it was quite breezy. Almost immediately a little stripy cat came and sat with us hoping we’d feed him.. When the food came out we were shocked. Matt had ordered a mixed grill which was actually quite small; I’d ordered chicken in mushroom sauce and it ended up being the biggest half chicken we’d ever seen! I gave Matt half of it and still couldn’t finish it so had to give loads to the cat who was more than happy to help.

Prices on Bora are quite a bit more than Moorea and we had thought it was expensive there!

Very full we left our seats knowing within minutes the cat would be up there to lick the remains off our plates. The walk back wasn’t bad a all and we didn’t even need our torch as there were street lights

We attempted to set up the mosquito net we had over our bed but as it had rips in it we weren’t sure if it was worth it. Although there were screens on the windows, unfortunately there was a gap in the roof by the porch meaning that anything that wanted to could fly into our room. We knew we’d wake up with some bites in the morning.

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Photos

This time we saw a four masted boat as we drove to the ferry port.
Unfortunately this time the driver didn't stop so this was the best we could get.

Another pic from the journey to the ferry port.
If you look closely at the top of the mountain you will see a small hole that goes right the way through.