Blogs from French Polynesia, Oceania - page 9

Geo: -16.4993, -151.74Another early morning. We're still in Bora Bora, having anchored here overnight. The tenders have been running all night, once every hour on the hour for those wishing to hang out on the island. There isn't much here in Viatape, the port town on Bora Bora, and unless your staying at one of the resorts on the island like Hilton or Intercontinental, the island goes to sleep after dark. We are booked on another water tour out in the lagoon including a Polynesian lunch. Remember, Mom loves boats!It's a cloudy morning with the top of the extinct volcano hidden in the morning mist. We were told last night that no tender tickets were needed this morning since service was already underway but an announcement this morning contradicts that. So we go for out tickets ... read more

Day 159 Friday 21 August At sea calm seas 27c scattered clouds Had breakfast then did Zumba, Gail walked and I did some work on the computer. Gail went to choir practice and I read for a while then I we had a cup of coffee. We went to watch Trevor Knight talk about his horses and then at about 3.30 we went up on deck to go to Marie's birthday party. Paul had organised it all and they had quite a crowd there. It was a good afternoon and we met some new people. After about two hours or so we went back our cabin had a shower then went to dinner. We did not go to the show as it was an entertainer we weren't interested in watching. Day 160 Saturday 22 August Papeete, ... read more

It was a one hour rocky speed boat ride to our destination but so worth it. We saw a real atoll (a ring-shaped reef, island, or chain of islands formed of coral) and the beauty cannot be described. Learned that the Indo-Australian plate and the Pacific Plate are crashing into each other and in some places lifting the earth up. Our stop today showed coral that used to be in the water and is now a wall. Incredible scene! The snorkeling today was wonderful and we saw so many colorful fish. After our picnic, our guide asked if we would like to make a basket and I said I would. He was a patient guy and it turned out to be a lot of fun. Meanwhile, the other guide made hats for all of us out ... read more

Always wondered about Tahiti but don’t have to anymore - it wasn’t as pretty as the other islands. It is a larger and has other cities but the port is industrial and as we walked to our destination today it continued to be industrial and commercial. Our goal was to see a waterfall up in the hills so we stopped at the Information Center and they told us that we needed a permit from City Hall. Okay, we got to city hall and finally found the right department where we plunked $12.00 to get our permit. We received a map and directions to get to Fautaua Valley and we were on our way. We estimate it was about 3 miles before we got to the gate in the noon day sun. At the gate they told ... read more

Woke up in heaven today. Bora Bora is a beautiful island with many surrounding small islands encircled by a coral reef. The color of the water is the real gem here and hard to capture but we did try and try. Patrick, our guide, picked us up in his outrigger wearing, as he stated, his tuxedo (please see photo). He was the full package. He not only looked the part but played his ukulele and sang for us but got in the water with bait to attract the sting rays and sharks, as well as other fish. The snorkeling was really great as the water was calm. After three snorkeling stops we docked at Patrick’s private motu and had drinks and lunch. Grilled mahi mahi and tuna were on the menu along with suckling pig, plantain, ... read more