Bora Bora Day II
I slept in this morning until 9:30. After a quick breakfast,
I left the ship in search of the beach, Bloody Mary’s Bar and a supermarket. I
found all 3.
I took the tender to the port and made my way to one of the
trucks selling rides to various places for $5 each way. OK. Sort of a rip-off
but gas here is very expensive and the people here have to make money when the
ships are in port—which is NOTHING like the Caribbean. Size or Ship Traffic.
The islands could never support that.
At any rate, I climbed into the back of the open truck and
onto a bench seat. 10 minutes later, I was in front of Bloody Mary’s historic
bar. And of course, I had to have……wait for it………..a Bloody Mary! 750xpf—not
bad, price wise. After walking around a bit, I went back outside and flagged
down another truck for the $5 trip to Maitra Beach. What a beautiful stretch of
beach it is. White sand and beautiful water.
The sun was shining, there were pretty many people there and
several restaurants. No chairs, palapas or anything. You just laid your towel
down on the sand. The water was crystal clear and that unique turquoise-y color
I will forever associate with French Polynesia. I think one wall of my next
bedroom is going to be that color! Although, no pictures I have ever seen have accurately depicted the color of this water. These photos don't do it justice.
The Supermarket was about a 10 minute walk to the left of
the tender pier. I was in my glory! I love going into authentic local shops to
see how people really live. I took a bunch of pictures of products and prices.
Many things were very cheap but some things were so expensive, I’m thinking
it’s not the locals that buy them. But I got a local bottle of water, a large
Sprite Zero in a bottle and a box of assorted bandages for 650XPF (or about
$6.50 USD)
Things are generally very expensive though: The prices are in XPF which is equal to an American dollar if you put a decimal point in the last 2 positions)
After I got back on the ship, I finally had the hot dog I’ve
been wanting for a week. Disappointed! It was not nearly as tasty as I was
imagining!! So, I headed off to the pool area. It was empty! I snagged a
lounger in the 1st row nearest the pool. The sun was so hot and felt
so good. I laid there until I got nice and hot and then got into the pool. It
was the perfect temperature. I lounged about there for a few hours and then
made my way back to my cabin for a shower.
RE: Status of the feet. Still very ouchy. Coated them in
antibiotic cream this morning and covered the worst of the wounds with
bandages. Still could only wear my semi-dressy black sandals. I thought soaking
them in the pool may help some. I guess we shall see. I have the quad ATV tour
tomorrow. I will be wearing my Sketcher’s WITH SOCKS. I think they will be
comfortable enough.
Tonight is formal night (I cannot believe this cruise is
almost over). I am hoping to get pictures with my favorite wait staff in the
dining room!
Back from dinner and it was wonderful. Lobster tail with
prawns. Joseph, our waiter, de-shelled everything for me! The seafood was
cooked just perfectly and was very flavorful. And the dessert choices were
unreal. I ended up choosing the chocolate hazelnut soufflé. Then they brought
around a tray of petit fours. I hope I will still be able to button my jeans
when this is all over. LOL
More food porn for you foodies out there:
The first is an appetizer portion of Fettuccini Alfredo in a Parmesan Bowl. The second is a dessert sampling of chocolate mousse, a tiramisu like dessert in the center and on the right, a hazelnut something with whipped chocolate in the center. Amazing!!
I have to be up very, very early tomorrow for Moorea. My
instructions state I need to be on the 1st tender.
I found my new friends, Lee and Tony in the bar before
dinner and we exchanged emails addresses. They are just such wonderful people.
I’m so happy I got a chance to spend time with them. They’ve told me if I am
ever in Sydney, I need to let them know and they will put me up and give me the
grand tour of their town.
I also exchanged information with my wonderful dinner
companion, Phillip, also from Australia! He’s given me his Facebook information
as well. He’s doing some interesting cruises in the future and I look forward
to seeing his pictures.
I hope to run into some of the others tomorrow and exchange
Emails with them as well.
This cruise has been so memorable and the crew and people
I’ve met helped push this cruise to the top of my list.
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