Bora Bora
Serai
Jason and Emily Willis
Sat 28 Jul 2007 09:15
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We all dream about Bora Bora because we are told it
is the place of dreams. As we have passed through French Polynesia, it has been
in the knowledge that our final destination would be this famous island. And we
assumed it would be a case of saving the best till last.
French Polynesia is certainly an unforgetable
place, from the mountains and cravaces of The Marquesas, through the rustic
charm and friendliness of the the Tuamotus, through to the turquoise waters of
Huahine. But what makes Bora Bora really special? It's the fact that it brings
together elements from all the other islands in French Polynesia. It is
almost the Disneyland of Polynesia, similarly hyped and yet
delivering the magic of each of the French Polynesian islands.
We had been told in Tahiti to be very wary in Bora
Bora. Apparently the locals felt they had not benfitted from tourism and as a
result were taking matters into their own hands through muggings and theft. I am
delighted to say that we have seen absolutely no evidence of this. More to the
point, the local people have been nothing but kind and friendly.
We had a very slow sail from Tahaa to here. There
was very little wind but we decided to try to sail anyway. As a
result the 20 mile trip took most of the day
with Serai plodding along at a very sedate 3 knots. Of course the lure was
depatched over the side, but failed to attract anything at all; made doubley
annoying as we watched local fishing boats pull in some fairly good sized fish.
Once through the pass, we headed straight for a
small anchorage outside the Bora Bora Yacht Club. There were a few boats already
there and we searched for a place to drop our hook. It became apparent that this
was a very deep anchorage indeed. In fact one of the deepest I have ever had to
anchor in, at 70 feet. There was nothing to be done about it and so we dropped
over 200 feet of chain and hoped that it would not blow hard whilst we were
there.
The following day, confident now that the anchor
was holding us, we decided to climb the tallest peak on Bora Bora. It is an
incredible pinnacle soaring 660 metres over the lagoon and motus that make up
Bora Bora. Now this is not a climb for the faint hearted but nevertheless well
worth the effort, as I am sure you will agree from the photos we have already
posted. The climb was steep and in some places ropes had been left to aid
climbing. Once near the top, we had to climb the final 20 metres at a vertical
angle searching for foot holds and handholds, whilst hoping that a length of
electrical cable, left by some kind climber, would take our weight should any of
the holds give way. It took us two and a half hours to make the climb and then
only an hour and a half to make the descent. By the time we reached the bottom a
beer and icecream were definatey in order, as all of us were exhausted and
filthy.
We awoke to find that our muscles had completely
given up. Mine seemed to be the worst as I struggled even to get out of bed.
Thank goodness for a nice cup of tea, which seemed to get a little movement
back, but by no means had me running about. The entire day was spent feeling a
little sorry for ourselves and was finished off with burgers on the BBQ with our
friends on Silene.
At the southern end of the island we had been told
of some World War Two relics (Bora Bora was a US base during the War). We tried
to catch a bus or taxi but the prices were pretty high, so we ended up walking
and thumbing a lift. In no time at all we were at the southern point thanks to
the kindness of strangers. We sat on the beech and watched some guys
kiteboarding and wished that we were brave enough to take it up again. We never
did find the relics or a special rock that sounds like a bell when you throw a
rock at it. We did however find the famous restaurant Bloody Marys. Many famous
people have eaten here, but unfortunately we were not be one of them. Bloody
Marys is closed for lunch from Thursday to Sunday!
For the last few days we have been living with the
threat of some 'weather' coming our way. We had a good hold in our anchorage and
it would have been easy to stay, but I felt like we had not done the place any
justice by just staying in one anchorage. We upped anchor this morning and
headed through to a little anchorage on the North side. It is blowing like stink
here but at least we are anchored in only eight and a half feet of water -
yep...that gives us 2 feet under our keel! Tomorrow we will move on again to a
slightly better protected anchorage, albeit a bit deeper, and then look to leave
French Polynesia for good on Sunday, once this 'weather' has passed
us.
We are really looking forward to moving on to the
Cook Islands. The currency there is NZ dollars, which is very exciting.
Hopefully things will be a bit cheaper too. I just wish Rarotonga was less than
530 miles from here, but you can't have it all. This is a time of descisions for
many cruisers as they decide whether they are going to go to the northern or
southern Cooks and then whether they are going to New Zealand or Australia. We
will be saying goodbye to some people for a while and there is much uncertaintly
with others. We have made up our minds and know which route we are taking. It
remains to be seen who we see along the way and at our journey's
end.
Take care one and all. Till the next
time.
Love
J and Ems xx
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