Bora Bora is a lovely island, but with a lot of tourist development. There are 16 hotels, mostly of the over the water variety with traditional thatched roofs and rooms in individual little cabins. They are not big ugly concrete blocks like some of the ones in Papeete. The prices range from $300 to $16000 US a day. No food is included.
It makes me realize what a bargain the ship is at about $200 a day including excellent food.
Yesterday I went ashore in the morning, and found a plywood sided, wood bench equipped “Le Truck” for a round island trip. The cost was $25 which seemed OK as booked on board the price would have been $89. But the engine wouldn’t start, so the driver and a helper opened it up to do a repair. “5 minutes” I was told, but after 10 minutes I had a look and realized that their repair attempt consisted of hitting things with a spanner. I got off and the attendant kindly pointed to another bus which would take me for the same price. It was a brand new air-conditioned Hyundai.
The driver, named Hibeu (pronounced eeboo) was a local Tahitian who was very knowledgeable. He gave us a running commentary all round the island and stopped at many places where we could take pictures. It isn’t quite as nice an island as Moorea, but the surrounding waters are spectacular and well protected by reefs and motus. They have all underground wiring and a proper sewage treatment plant, the water is very clean. It is a drier island than Moorea, and the water supply is limited so two large de-salination plants have been built to supply the hotels.
There are only 5 gendarmes for 8000 people, crime is non-existent except for domestic disputes.
Two of the hotels are closed, bankrupt. One is the Club Med. Once a hotspot, Club Med has fallen on hard times. That and the other closed hotel were the least expensive on the island (nothing here could be called “cheap”). Meanwhile, the newer high priced places are full. The best deal is a private house, which can be rented for $1500 to $2000 a month.
After my trip round the island I went back to the ship for lunch, intending to go ashore again for some swimming. After lunch I felt lazy so I put some laundry in and sat on a deck chair just enjoying the lovely view. When I woke up the laundry was ready to move to the drier. So I “vegged” the afternoon away.
At 5:30 the ship did a “Bali Hai” barbeque including whole roast suckling pig on the aft deck. There really was a party atmosphere and we pulled two tables together and had a feast. Tom Budd and I split a “bucket of beer” 5 Coronas in an ice bucket for the price of 4. Tom drank 2…you do the math.
The sun drops over the horizon very quickly, and the sunsets have not been spectacular.This was an exception. See photo.
I tried to watch “South Pacific” in the ship’s theatre with Mother and Mary, but after half an hour my lids were drooping and I went to my cabin. I woke at 1:30 AM with a cough, but took a cough drop and went back to sleep. I seem OK this morning.
This morning a 4 masted brigantine appeared at anchor beside us. I can’t quite make out the flag, but it might be Japanese.
I’m going ashore again about 10 AM with my swimming gear to find a beach. We leave today at 6PM for Raiatea, which is within sight, so the ship will steam slowly to arrive at sunup.
