Bora Bora Boredom?

24 July 2014

Well after all the hype about the ‘pearl of the pacific’ Bora Bora was not all it was cracked up to be. We stopped there for a couple of weeks, anchoring on the east side while a weather system went through for a few days. The motor around saw us ‘touch bottom’ a couple of times, and with a squall that came through we anchored half way for lunch. After the squall however we had heard of a spot where manta rays gathered and we were not disappointed when we snorkelled to marvel at them, truly amazing creatures. While the weather was not brilliant we enjoyed some quiet time on the east side as there were no other cruisers there, and enjoyed the spectacle of Bora Bora itself.



Bora Bora sunset (4th July)



Bora Bora in the day...

Manta 1 ....

Manta 2 .......

Manta 3..........and there was more!

Enough quiet time so with Heiva started, the World Cup underway, and my birthday approaching, we headed back to the Bora Bora Yacht Club. A great, if not the best, location on the island with; excellent dinghy dock, good moorings, beautiful sunsets, a coral garden, and a full bar with attentive barman Jean Pierre.

BBYC

We went to one of the Heiva dance competitions which are always spectacular and Bora Bora did not disappoint with true professionalism, though sitting in stands it was not as intimate as we experienced in the Marquesas. Marion enjoyed it so much that she ran out of the stands at the end to get a picture with one of the sweaty big lads.

the girls.....

and the sweaty lads!

Birthday celebrations started out great with plenty of pressies and a bacon and egg baguette before heading into the BBYC to watch Germany Vs Brasil which was very disappointing, we were going for Brasil! After a few beers we jumped on our pushies and headed down to ‘Bloody Mary’s’ which is world re-knowned. Now we don’t know why so many celebs frequent this place; the service was crap, the food awful (not that what I ordered arrived). In the end I bought the hat, no need to go back. So we put our pushies into a taxi and went back to BBYC for dinner which was fantastic!

Our remaining time on Bora Bora was spent provisioning and trying to work out what all the hype was about. Without rabbiting on I guess if you had one or two weeks holiday, plenty of money, then Bora Bora would pass muster for a Polynesian experience. Other than that………?



Bora Bora ........finale!

While we met plenty of other cruisers, many Australian, that were heading off at the next weather window we decided to make one last stop on our way out of French Polynesia……..last blog for FP coming soon.
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…..MAUPITIE MADNESS !!!.
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Taaha & the Coral Gardens!

27 June 2014

Things are never what they seem. Here we sit in Tahaa, our third day on our fourth anchorage refusing to move. It has not stopped drizzling with rain since last night so we are sitting tight and having a rest day in.

View to Bora Bora

Off from Raiatea we set with a beautiful sail / drift to Tahaa in lovely conditions. We anchored at the coral gardens only to watch most of the other cruisers leave. Aha! The winds picked up and we had a bouncy uncomfortable night with little if any sleep. So, first thing in the morning we headed north to get protection and anchored off a motu on the drop off and rested. It wasn’t until our snorkel late in the arvo that we realised we couldn’t stay there as the anchor was on the slope and would pull out if the wind picked up. So off we went to another spot, arriving in failing light (not what you do with coral around) and dropping the anchor over coral heads…..not looking forward to tomorrow! A relatively calm night weather wise but a lot of coral ‘growls’ so after doing some washing the anchor came up without incident surprisingly and off we went back to the coral gardens. We arrived as a squall hit resulting in the anchor being dropped over coal heads again! The winds abated, the sun came out, so the washing was hung up and then the rain came back, the washing brought in………and while the weather is calm, it has been wet ever since. Love this cruising life!....but we do need the rest after our bouncy first night.

Late in the afternoon the rain stopped. So come what may we got the dingy down and headed off to the coral gardens. We were not leaving without seeing what everyone was talking about…..and we were not disappointed. So much so we did a second snorkel the following morning. Better when the sun is out!

Bora Bora next.....