Bora Bora

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We woke up before 7am and looked out hoping to see the cat. He wasn’t there, so we walked to the shop and bought some more tasty pain au chocolates for breakfast and some other bits of food and drink to take over to Eden Beach as we were expecting it to be expensive over there.

I was sure we’d see the cat when we ate breakfast outside our bungalow, as he usually appears when he senses food is around, but today he didn’t come.

We packed up all of our things and went to check out, sad that we hadn’t been able to put our plan into action (we were going to wrap him in a towel to stop him from scratching and Matt was going to try to prise his mouth open so that I could get a look at how far in the hook had gone, before trying to pull it out with Matt‘s handy foldaway pliers).

The lady on reception was lovely and she let us off on the cost of the washing she'd done for us (which should have been £7) because she said she liked us. She gave us a shell necklace (we’re going to end up with so many of these by the end of the trip!) and we wheeled our rucksacks over to the Intercontinental resort next door to meet our Eden Beach boat at the jetty.

We’d booked the pick up for 10am and by quarter past we were just beginning to wonder if it was going to turn up when we saw a small speedboat in the distance. It was heading our way. The waves were quite choppy as there had been a lot of wind and swell and I couldn’t quite believe that we were going to be transported in such a small boat given how big the waves were. The boat pulled in and Vlad introduced himself - the Czech owner of the hotel. He apologised that his normal boat was broken and he really hadn’t wanted to have to bring this small boat out to this point on the island, but he had no way of contacting us to ask us to meet the boat further along where the water was calmer. He explained it was going to get wet and rough.

We sat on a plank of wood across the middle of the boat with a bright yellow waterproof coat draped across our legs which was supposed to keep us as dry as possible. As soon as we set off we were lifted up in the air, and the plank came with us as it wasn’t fixed on to anything. We came back down with a plonk. Quickly I realised the impact of me and the plank lifting off the boat and smacking back down was going to hurt my back so I tried my best to bend forwards to try to avoid lifting off quite so high. I also held on to the side of the boat and had to keep the waterproof coat in place by holding it between my knees. Vlad stood up at the front, holding on with a rope. He did an amazing job given the weather conditions. Matt soon realised that his straw hat wasn’t going to stand the wind any more and I grabbed it and shoved it under the waterproof coat in between my legs. I shouted to him that it was getting crushed but I don’t think he could hear me and I don’t think we had any other choice!

The journey must have taken about 25 mins in total and by the time we arrived we were exhausted and soaked through. I don’t think Matt even had time to think about being sea sick as we were so focussed on hanging on!

Our things were collected by someone who worked for the hotel (check us out being all posh!) and Vlad took us to the bar for a cold drink so that he could tell us a bit about the place. Over a pineapple juice he explained where we were on a map, and told us that the ocean was on the other side of the island a minutes walk away so we could go there to watch for whales (the front of the resort was the lagoon side). He told us that there were kayaks free to use anytime, and if we fancied a walk he showed us the best part of the island to walk around that avoided the two big tourist resorts that also share the motu.

Eden Beach was Matt’s find and he doesn’t mind reminding me (constantly). There is a beautiful strip of white sand running right the way along the motu, scatted with coconut palms of all different sizes. There is a very shallow lagoon that is milky green (the sand has been churned up with the swell, I think it will go clear again once the water has calmed down). As you look out across the water you can see different shades of blues and turquoise in strips, ranging from bright turquoise through to deep, dark blue in the distance. The best part is that from here you have the best view possible of the highest peak in Bora Bora with the lagoon as it’s base. It is breathtaking.

Vlad showed us to our bungalow - we’d gone for a Garden Bungalow as it was all we could afford (even that was £140 per night but at least we paid for it earlier this year so it doesn’t really feel like it’s coming out of our travelling fund!) He had given us the one with the best view (we later realised that there was only one other couple at the resort!) It was set back slightly from the beach and the deck faced directly towards the lagoon. We had an uninterrupted view right over to the mountain. Vlad left us to settle in and we sat outside on the deck both agreeing that this was by far the best view we’d seen since starting the trip. As we sat looking at it I started welling up with tears because it really was the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen.

We spent the afternoon lazing around on the beach and then made the most of having the internet again when we got too hot (it cost us £10 per day but at least it meant we could keep in touch with family and use Skype again. Plus the blog was getting way overdue).

In the evening we headed to the bar for dinner. The focus of the resort was a small bar, with an undercover dining area, and a small kidney shaped outdoor pool. There was a French lady acting as bar tender and waitress for the night and Vlad came out to see us and told us he’d be our chef for the night as the cook was off today. He went through a long list of things we could chose from the endless menu, and basically said he could cook us anything we wanted, however we wanted. We went back to scanning the menu and Matt settled on fillet steak and I decided to have chicken and shrimp chow mein. A few minutes later Vlad came back out and explained that the menu was more of a guideline and that they don’t always have everything from the menu, and this included noodles. I opted for rice instead with my chow mein and he headed off to cook it all for us.

We figured we couldn’t afford wine (it was over £20 per bottle or £6 per glass) so we went for a beer each as that was a more affordable (£4) instead.

Dinner was lovely and by 8pm we were back in our room. Unfortunaltely we couldn’t make a start on the box of red wine we’d brought as we didn’t have any glasses in our room - not even one for our toothbrush. We decided to grab some from the bar tomorrow. The other annoying things about the room is that there is no fridge - I suppose there is no need as most people will buy everything from the bar but it’s not so helpful for us as we’ve got butter and chocolate biscuits! Also there is no kettle. We assume this is because the water on this motu may not be drinking water. But we both agree that this is the best place we’ve stayed by far.

Vlad recommended we hire a boat once the weather calms down a bit but we don’t think we will as it costs over £100 for the day and we’ve already done an island tour and got to see lots of places on that. The best decision we made was to split our time between the main island of Bora Bora and this motu as we’ve been able to see the best of both worlds. Had we just stayed here we’d have felt too cut off and it would have been a pain trying to get over to the mainland all the time.

That means that over the next six days our only outgoing is going to be on meals and drinks here but I’m sure these will add up quickly.

Vlad wasn't sure how long the wind would keep up so who knows - we might end up spending the next six days here on the motu. I can think of worse places to be stuck!

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Photos

Karen on the ocean side
It's so much windier on this side of the island