Last few days in French Polynesia

Jackamy
Paul & Derry Harper
Tue 8 Jun 2010 02:01
 
Tuesday 8th June
 
We've had a great last few days on Bora Bora and it was definitely worth making the trip around to the other side, it's been lovely! Once we were all settled Amy dinghied over to the beach to try and find a little cafe that had been recommended by other yachts. She stumbled across a home made sign on the beach outside a shack and decided it must be the place so booked a table for us and Blue Magic at 18.30. We then ate a spot of lunch and headed over to a snorkelling spot by a little motu with Peter and Margie from Peregrina. We tied our dinghy's up to buoys and hopped into the water armed with bread for feeding the fish and suddenly we were surrounded by little Scissor-Tail Sergeants and Banded Sergeants.
 
  
 
We also saw lots of huge Sea Urchins and Brick Soldierfish hiding out in amongst the coral. There were also lots and lots of brightly coloured clams.
 
  
 
Then when two boats from the hotels turned up full of guests it was time leave. You couldn't see the fish or the coral, just bodies and legs!
 
After a little discussion Peter and Margie decided they'd like to join us for something to eat at the 'Motu Cafe' so we sent Amy off again to book it up. Whilst over there she bumped into Michael and Ger from Simanderal who were adding themselves onto our table, so with another two more we were up to 11. We were looking forward to a good night and we weren't disappointed!
 
The 'Motu Cafe' consisted of 4 pinic tables underneath a corrugated roof on the edge of the beach. It had only been up and running for 4 weeks and the owner Michel and his wife Martina were very interesting characters. Michel has possibly the most interesting life story I have ever heard. Michel actually built the house adjacent to the cafe some 10-15 years ago and rented it out to the rich and famous, his guests included John Travolta, Dustin Hoffman, Paul Newman and many more I'm sure. It was a beautiful spot but the house had become very run down as he hadn't lived there for a long time so he was planning to rebuild it and rent it out again. I think he'll do well, he has a superb spot, it's probably on the only section of beach on Bora Bora that isn't spoilt by hotels.
 
The food was fantastic! We had a starter of sashimi (sliced raw red tuna) with cabbage, rice, tomato and onion salad and a mustard dressing to top it off. And for the main we had grilled tuna, rice and a honey mustard dressing. It was all delicious and it just kept on coming so I think we all ate our body weight in food, it was hard not to!
 
  
 
Michel telling everyone his life story....................The 'Motu Cafe'
 
 
 
There was more partying last night for Ian on Lucy Alice's birthday. A BBQ was planned on the beach but when we discovered the beach was private our plans were ruined. Everyone was trying to think of other possibilities when Stuart from Gaultine suggested everyone have a BBQ on his boat. Gaultine is 60ft and was built by Stuart and she was the perfect location for a party, I think I counted 17 of us on there and there was even room for more. A superb night was had!
 
We're leaving Bora Bora within the next few hours. I think we've been surprised by our experience here, it was better than expected! We are however looking forward to the next part of our adventure, the Cook Islands. It will be a 3-4 day sail to Raratonga so we'll update the blog whilst at sea.