Bora Bora

Bora Bora, Tahiti - Day 66 - 24 August 2016

Today was a perfect day for swimming and snorkelling.  We had a tour booked with Patrick which was our 3rd tour with him.  The best place to be when visiting Bora Bora is in the water as it is amazing…. warm, clear and a beautiful aqua blue colour and great for snorkelling.  Patrick had other business to attend to so was meeting us for lunch on the island.

Our tour consisted of three outriggers with about 12 people in each all from our cruise ship.

We were lucky enough to score the front seat even though the weather was a bit changeable and it did rained briefly during the day.

We made 3 stops to swim with the White Tip Reef Sharks, Lemon Sharks and Manta Rays and at the last stop to snorkel in the coral gardens which was in much deeper water.  The amount of different colourful fish was unbelievable!

After we finished swimming and snorkelling we headed to a private island where our lunch was being cooked.  Our lunch consisted of slow cooked pig, breadfruit, chicken, fish, fruit and a variety of fresh Polynesian salads washed down with French Champagne.

Patrick was there to meet us and to do his fire dance before we left the island.

Once back on the boat Patrick serenaded us with his ukulele in his loin cloth… not bad scenery for us girls sitting up the front!

We arranged with Patrick to drop us at Bloody Mary's bar for the obligatory drink and the usual photo of the men's toilet before heading back to the dock area and continuing the search for the pearl that had to be bought…. and yes the pearl mission was successful even if it was 2 minutes before our curfew for the last tender!  

Another great day in Bora Bora…. Four days at sea before Auckland, our next port.

Quick Facts:

Region: Bora Bora is a volcanic island in the South Pacific

Population: 8,927 (2007)

Climate: Average temperature 79 degrees

Language: French and Tahitian

Currency: French Pacific Franc (CFP)

Amazing cloud formations arriving into Bora Bora

Half cargo and half cruise ship 

Up front in the "dress circle"

Ready to swim with the sharks and rays

A sting ray

Outrigger canoes 

Over the water bungalows

Beautiful aqua water

One of the guides

A Moray Eel

A reef shark

Our lunch slow cooked in a pit in the ground

Peter with the pig's ear!

My yummy Polynesian lunch with french champagne

Our table for lunch

Not a bad view for lunch

Leaving our island for lunch

Being serenaded by Patrick as we motored to Bloody Mary's

Bloody Mary's

The men's toilet got a lot of visitors

        

Drinking at the bar

Down town in Bora Bora

Sunset and more unusual cloud formations

Star gazing and seeing the planets 

Papeete

Papeete, Tahiti - Day 65 - 24 August 2016

We had been to Papeete a number of times before so thought it would be good to do something different so we booked a private catamaran for the day.  There were 11 of us on the tour with Ann our tour guide from Liberty Cruises.  

The agenda for the day was to meet at 9am on the dock for a full day of cruising, snorkelling and lunch then return at 5pm.

All went to schedule until the rain came after lunch and it looked pretty much set in for the afternoon.  Not ideal for more snorkelling and lounging around on the nets out the front of the cat.

Luckily in the morning we headed for some snorkelling at the reef before our Polynesian lunch prepared on board by Anne.  The water was pleasant and the sun made visibility ideal although the fish were not as plentiful as we have seen in other places. 

After a delicious feast we were about to set off for our afternoon activities when the rain came down so we stayed put for a while with some playing cards others sleeping and the rest of us taking in the views and trying to avoid getting wetter than what we already were.

As the rain did not seem to be abating anytime soon we decided to motor to the surfing break where we saw the surfers and a whale!  There was a big surfing competition that had just finished the day before with Kelly Slater winning the crown.

We then decided to make our way back to the dock as the rain was steady and no-one was interested in any more snorkelling as conditions were not ideal and we were all wet and cold.

Once back at the dock we said our goodbyes and the guys headed back to the ship while the gals hit the shops.  It was 4pm which only gave us an hour before the shops close at 5pm and one of us (not me) was on a mission to buy a pearl.  After walking the streets looking for any shop that might be open we stopped off at a lovely french bar for a sav blanc before heading back to the dock area to meet up with the boys for dinner.  The plan was to have dinner at the night food market but due to the rain the conditions were not ideal for eating outside so we headed for the nearest bar across the road.  Here we found free internet, happy hour for wine and beer and excellent pizzas…. what more could you want??!!

We then headed back to the ship tired but satisfied.

Next stop Bora Bora tomorrow.

Quick Facts:

Regions: French Polynesia's capital city and situated on the island of Tahiti

Climate: Pleasant tropical with distinct wet and dry seasons

Language: French and Tahitian

Currency: French Pacific Franc (CFP)

Our welcome to Papeete

A stone sculpture at the dock

Our yacht awaits us….

Where is the sun??

Found it briefly

Not quite the Great Barrier Reef but it was Tahiti!!

Our Tahitian lunch

And then the storm came….

Relaxing between showers

Sheltering from the rain

A great day but….

Walking around the streets of Papeete

A wall mural

The Ukulele school

And yes we found a nice french bar as no shops opened! 

Hilo

Hilo, Hawaii - Day 59 - 18th August 2016

We met at 8am for our private tour with "Big Island Aina Tours".  This was a tour that I had organised and we were a group of 8.

Our tour guide was Gil who was there to meet us on time with a nice new, clean, air conditioned van and our tour was for approximately 6.5 hours.

The weather was perfect with a nice breeze that was pleasant for walking through the rain forest and the Volcanic National Park.

Our lunch stop was at the Macadamia Farm which for us was the signatuary ice-cream! After lunch we visited the Rainbow Falls and the black sand beach.

Our tour finished at around 2.30pm and Gil had offered to drop us off at Ross for our last retail fix but alas after dropping those who wanted to go back to the ship including Peter we were caught in a traffic jam.  As we only had an hour before we had to be back on board we decided to turn around and head back to the ship…. our stress levels were greater than the need for last minute bargain shopping!!  Ross will have to wait for another visit!  To drown our disappointment we headed for happy hour in the Wheelhouse Bar…..

Another great day in Hawaii and a fabulous sailaway on deck 11 with good friends and a wine or two!

Five days at sea before Papeete, Tahiti…. can't wait for my sea days….

Quick Facts:

Region: On the east side of the big island Hawaii

Climate: 127 inches of rain/year - one of the wettest cities in the world.  A pleasant tropical rainforest climate year round.

Language: English (but there is an official Hawaiian language)

Currency: US dollar (USD)

Arriving into Hilo

Volcano National Park

Thurston Lava tubes

Our tour group

Native flowers

Volcanic lava along the roadside

Pu'u Huluhulu 

Nene (Hawaiian goose)

      

Pukiawe                                                                                                 Mamane

Beautiful colours in the lava

Kilauea Iki

Volcano still steaming

Steam vents

    

Native flowers

Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut chocolate factory

Manually inserting the nuts into the chocolate

Rainbow Falls

Banyan Tree cathedral

Black sand beach

Fish ponds

Happy hour back on the ship

Volcanic lava spewing into the ocean seen from the ship