Tahitian Treasures Cruise Diary Part 6 - Bora Bora

This is the day Peter started feeling unwell. I got up early to watch the sunrise and the ship anchoring at Bora Bora, near the village of Vaitape. The peaks of Mt Otemanu were shrouded in light clouds when we arrived, still looked spectacular. We ate breakfast on the verandah with this most magnificent view.

Bora Bora in French Polynesia is towered by Mt Otemanu, rising 727m high. The U.S. had a base here during WWII. The U.S. chose Bora Bora as a military supply base during WWII and the airstrip still remains, and is in use. The only way to and from the airport is by boat. After getting the tender to the jetty, we were greeted by Ken, our Cruise Entertainment Director.

We had booked the 'Le Truck' tour and we were early, so we had a walk around the jetty area and markets in light rain, which was actually very cooling. We went to the Tourist info centre, which was suppose to ha e free wifi, but sadly we couldn't connect.

We boarded Le Truck, an open bus/truck that carries 41 passengers. It took us around the island, showing us and telling us about the history of Bora Bora.

The bus did stop for about 30 minutes at a sarong making place, interesting, but I can google that. This time would have been better spent at Maitai Beach.

It also slowed down when passing one of the WWII sites – very hard to see. So disappointing we didn't see more WWII sites.

Bora Bora was formed around 4 million years ago from volcanoes. It was originally called Vavau, which means 'first born' as ancient legend says the land rose from the water.

Bora Bora is acclaimed one of the world's most beautiful places, and it is certainly beautiful. As we drove around the island there were just so many beautiful photo shots. Of the many artillery guns and fortifications to protect against Japanese attack, none were ever used.

I was also disappointed with Maitai Beach as I wanted to go for a swim, but our bus only stopped for 5 mins – not long enough, and I found out later that it stopped at the very end – not the real Maitai Beach that I had read about. After we were back on the ship, Jackie and Ken told us they had spent the day a Maitai Beach and it was beautiful. Sad the 'Le Truck' didn't take us to that part. After the Maitai Beach the next stop was Bloody Mary's. It was as I expected, sand floors, a tropical bar, but I was expecting a beach to be there. We were there for 15 mins, way too long. It was interesting though.

Across the road was a long jetty - can you see the ship in the background?

We are glad we did the tour, but If by chance we come back again, we will take a taxi to see the WWII sites and then head to Maitai Beach to spend a few hours.

After the tour, we headed for the chemist as Peter had progressively worse as we traveled around the island and was really not feeling well.

We had a walk around Vaitape and got back on the ship.

Peter went straight to bed. I had dinner in the OceanView Cafe and ran into Ken and Jackie, so we had dinner together. I took Peter back some iced chocolate. Peter has had no alcohol today, so he must be sick.