More Bora Bora
Karinya
Tim And Vicki Schofield, Captain Cal 7 and Jess 4
Thu 25 Aug 2011 22:30
As promised, a more detailed account of our fun in
Bora Bora. After expecting less than we thought having being told it was
very Americanized, we were more than impressed. We had such fun, which was
helped by all our friends and more new friends being together.
Firstly, this would be the last port of call with
Telos, so we wanted to max out on spending time with them. We had some
great evenings, the last of which on Telos, was a wild night, with dancing,
swimming, high class wine tasting (this box or that box), and a game that
involved picking a carton up from the floor with your teeth only. Each
round and the carton gets an inch shorter, no touching the floor allowed at
all. Although this was hard, the stretching was probably needed after our
walk during the day. Our Swedish friends were the best at this, and they
are 50 years old! A great tuna on the BBQ and lots of fun. Thanks
Telos, we shall miss you all.
Secondly, we managed to see the family from
Bonaire(boats name). The kids were ecstatic as they could play all day
again. It was lovely to see them again, and a shame we shant see them
until New Zealand. We did however do a part exchange. They took our
Optimist, and we took their new 15hp outboard. Unfortunately, Callum didn't take
to the Opi like we thought. I guess he needs friends to use it and have
real fun. But, Tim is now overjoyed (and so is our little petrol head)
that we have an engine that will put us on a plane and with more weight in the
dingy instantly and faster. No driving this one Callum, it is way too
fast!
Thirdly, we made some new friends. Sarah and
Storph from SA, a young couple who are also going our way to OZ. We have
had some fun times with them, and Storph let Callum use his hookah system
(a dive tank ), so Callum was overjoyed and so was I as he offered to take me
out for a couple of dives. We managed to see the biggest sharks I have
ever seen. Think they were lemon sharks as they had 2 dorsal fins, and
they were very fat. It was when it circled us that we got a touch
nervous!! Amazing experience, thanks Storph.
The walk up to the top of the mountain on Bora Bora
-
Well, we were warned by all who has been, don't do
it, the kids will not manage it, you will be in trouble. There was 17 of
us who went, so lots of help and support. No problem...for the kids.
They loved the climbing, on hands and knees up the scree, then ropes to help you
up some sheer faces. It took just under 3 hours to reach the peak, and
about 3 to get down. I found it a little demanding on the old thighs as
they don't get much of a workout anymore. Tim's knee gave out a little,
but generally we are all fine. The prize goes to Jess for making it in one
piece. Storph helped her up, either on his shoulders or just pushing her
up, and Tim helped her down.
It was an amazing experience and worth doing - dare
I say - again!!
We also had a fab beach BBQ one night. Tim
went off and scoped out this small motu (island), to see if we could light a
fire. Well, not just that, but kindly someone had built one and put out
tables and chairs for us. There was even a dingy dock. so we all
brought out gear and had a great time. The kids managed to build their own
fire,and just succeeded in almost burning down the thatch that was covering our
heads!!!
It turns out that the island is owned by the Hilton
Hotel. We wanted to use it the following night too, but to our horror, it
was already being used. If we wanted to use it, it would be £150...per
person for the night!!!!!!!!!!! Guess not then.
So, onwards to the Cook Islands. More history
concerning the Bounty and Capt Bligh. Also time to get back to some school
and routine.
Dinner at the famous bar. Very expensive, but
a nice evening.
Storph and Sarah on Takalani
Ashling from Telos and her husband
Darryl
Callum dive with the hookah system.
The kids making fire - smiles all
round
The grown ups making fire - some BBQ
eh?
all laid out for us, we couldn't believe our
luck.
No, he hasn't been in a fight. Forced into
the shower after the beach island BBQ!