Bora Bora - South Pacific Island 14
...what could easily have been a 45-minute flight, turned out, thanks to our cargo ship, an 18-hour journey through some of the roughest South Pacific Ocean known to man. Ok, so that might be a slight excagerration, but believe me, what looked like a huge ship that wouldn't even float, let alone even sway, it certainly rocked from side to side, to the point that bags fell over, and things on tables at the start of the journey, were on the floor on the other side of the ship, by the end!
Our local beach!
No passenger ferries here...just our fantastic French cargo ship...outside and in our cabin (complete with our baguettes and bottle of wine!)!
After finally arriving on Bora Bora, once again our problems began! Our pre-booked taxi, funnily enough never turned up, and there were no formal buses operating on the island. This would have left us with no other option than to walk the 6miles with 6 bags, if it wasn't for the only friendly person on the island that called us a taxi. Prior to this, we even asked a local policeman of how to get to our accommodation, who told us it was best to hitch a ride!
Once we finally arrived at where we were staying, things weren't looking too bad. We were finally on what was supposed to be one of the nicest islands in the Pacific. We would certainly have to disagree with that, considering how run-down and dirty the island was, but once we found the nicest beach around where we were staying, we were happy.
Once we finally arrived at where we were staying, things weren't looking too bad. We were finally on what was supposed to be one of the nicest islands in the Pacific. We would certainly have to disagree with that, considering how run-down and dirty the island was, but once we found the nicest beach around where we were staying, we were happy.
After a few days of relaxing, we booked on a lagoon cruise, where we were to snorkel with sting-rays and sharks! For the shark-scared amongst you, they were only black-tipped reef sharks that under most circumstances, don't attack humans! After safely jumping off cliffs and out of aeroplanes in New Zealand, the sight of a shark certainly wasn't going to scare us! Having said that, the thought of what happened to Steve Irwin when he swam with sting rays was another matter, especially when we were stood there in the water with them!
The lagoon itself was absolutely stunning, but instead of posting some video here of just how nice it was, you'll have to wait until we get home to have a butch! Instead, we've put a clip of just how friendly both the sting rays and sharks actually were!
Bora Boras lagoon The lagoon itself was absolutely stunning, but instead of posting some video here of just how nice it was, you'll have to wait until we get home to have a butch! Instead, we've put a clip of just how friendly both the sting rays and sharks actually were!
Louise successfully training a sting ray to smile! Me just posing!
Our local beach!