Bora Bora

21 January 2012   Bora Bora.
                                             Yesterday I had packed so it was just a matter of breakfast and away. There were lots of farewells and good wishes for the future. They all say they will come to Spain but I have my doubts, I think the backwoods of Ontario and Ukraine will have more immediate and insistent demands, but it would be nice if they managed it. Kosta and I were away in the dinghy at about 0800 hrs and on the dock at Viatape about 30 mins later. When I switched on my phone I found that Ann was on an earlier flight so it was a good job we were 'early'.

 Kosta departed with beer and fags for Sergiy and shortly after the catamaran ferry brought Ann from the airport. Our RV in mid-Pacific had worked!
 It was great to see her. We took a taxi/bus to the pension which was right at the end of Matira  Point. We have view out over the lagoon and step out onto a little beach.

Our pension 'Robet y Tina'  at Matira Point

The view across the lagoon to the reef from our terrace

About 1/2 mile away across the lagoon the surf explodes over the reef, and at 20 miles we have views of Riatea and Tahaa to break up the horizon. It is beautiful. The pension is not 5* but it is comfortable and just right

Local fishing boats and an hotel of over water bugalows

For the rest of the day we just wandered in the area, had lunch and then spent the afternoon on a public beach lazing and lolling about in the tepid blue water.
Mahi Mahi for supper and then to bed!

22 January 2012   Bora Bora
                                            We had a lovely breakfast on the terrace overlooking the lagoon.

We then joined a boat tour of the lagoon organised by the 'hotel'. The boat was moored about 20m from our room  so there was no hassle about transfer or pick-up. The 'Captain' was called Natura or Alfonso or ...... and he sang, drove the boat, played his ukelele, extolled the beauty of Polynesia in general and Bora Bora in particular, and declaimed the dastardly French. He was a good chap doing his best. Anyway off we went to the Hotel International to collect 4 Indians who were on a joint honeymoon and who were sharing the boat.

Natura

The first stop on the tour was 'Feeding the Sharks', and much was made of the impermeability of the floating line that the sharks would not cross. We arrived at the point just as a couple of other chaps were laying out 'the line'. The sharks were Black Tip Reef Sharks about 1.5-2m in length and a beautiful sandy colour.

They ate their fish with gusto and totally ignored the line! They were however more worried about us than we were about them and swimming with them was both a thrill and a wonder.

Note the sharks on both sides of the line!

The Indians were very loathe to enter the water but came in when they saw Ann and I in there with no obvious blood in the water. There were also Remoras and Rays and a variety of reef fish snacking on the leftovers and on the weed growing on the line.
  We then went to a coral garden in quite deep water to snorkel. The coral and fishes were good but not in the same league as the Pass at Riatea.
  Next stop was 'Feeding the Rays' where I had been a couple of days ago. On the way there we passed where Nitidus was anchored so we went over to say 'Hello' and everyone got to have a look over the boat. The Indians were suitably impressed and Ann now knows what the boat is like first-hand. And it was nice to see Kosta, Genady and Sergiy again. I think they were afraid I was coming back!!

 The Rays came and nuzzled us. They were about 1.5m in wingspan and felt like satin to touch. They were lovely and gentle and unafraid as long as there were no rapid movement. They came to nudge us for food and suck us  to attract our attention. Natura said that they had all been de-stinged and were friends of his family!

 We then did a circuit of the island in a rain storm,which was surprisingly cold, and back to a motu for lunch. The Indians were on a 1/2 day and returned to their hotel. Ann and I had a lovely lunch looking out over the lagoon to the main island.  We subsequently sauntered to the viewpoint at the top of the motu which had spectacular vistas. It was provided with shady loungers which we made good use of.

There was then a demo of what to do with every part of a coconut, which was surprisingly interesting and informative, another snorkel over more coral and back to the 'hotel'. A lovely day and a great way to end our time on Bora Bora.