A Bloody at Bloody Mary's to Start my Day!

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 1^st 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 1^st 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. 

Bora is definitely not Bora-ing

Bora Bora Day 1

I woke to partly cloudy skies this morning. I hoped it would clear. I was scheduled for Patrick’s ¾ Day Tour. Our Cruise Critic group stuck together and we were all assigned to the same boat. I’ve shared tours now with Brian and Mary, Phyllis and Tony, Steph and Kel and Nerissa.

We headed out to our first stop—snorkeling with Sting Rays and Sharks. The weather cleared a bit as we made our way to ‘the spot’. The color of the water is just as amazing as you’ve seen in other pictures. There was still quite a bit of chop. After having my feet destroyed by my new water shoes from Land’s End, I was wearing my flip flops. We entered the water – it was only about 3 feet deep. No coral to speak of. Well no live coral anyway.

As soon as the Ray and Sharks heard the boats approaching, they started heading towards us. Our driver, who told us Patrick is his uncle, got into the water in what looked like a thong. I don’t know if that is called a breechclout but I know I’ve never seen one on a man before. It definitely showed off his tribal tattoos.

He began throwing fish into the water and we were immediately surrounded by rays, black tip sharks and tons of little fish. Our guide picked up one of the large rays and began kissing it as he held it. I’ve touched them before but I still ran my hands over their skin. It’s soft and feels a bit like wet velvet.

I think I’ve finally gotten used to the idea of swimming with these reef sharks but I will NEVER get used to those nasty eels you encounter once in a while. They are very snake-like but I never realized how thick they are. Blech.

I have to tell you—I am living proof that sharks are not attracted to blood. We got back into the boat and we were chatting waiting for our guide to bring up the anchor etc…As he walked back to start the engine, he says “Who is bleeding?” We all look down, and I am not exaggerating when I say the floor of the boat, my flip flop and my toe were covered in blood. The cut was on my little toe and I remember hitting it against a piece of dead coral but it really didn’t hurt much. DIRECT pressure needed to be applied for quite a bit to get the bleeding to stop.

That water:

The sun was in and out as we moved onto our second stop—The Coral Garden. It was about 12-15 feet deep here and the water was very choppy. I asked our guide if it was OK for me to get into the water with my foot.  He said yes. That it’s not true what they say about blood attracting sharks. That there has to be 2 elements the shark can sense—1. Blood 2. Increased heart rate. I have no idea if that is true, but there were no sharks anywhere near us at the Coral Garden.

The coral at this stop was alive and well and gorgeous. So colorful. And the fish were very plentiful. I got some very nice pictures of them. We were here about an hour. When I got back into the boat, I could see the damage to my little toe much better as the water had washed it clean. I pretty much sliced a good chunk of it. It’s rather nasty looking. 

(My poor feet are being battered this trip. I believe I am going to have to find new water shoes and I think the cheapie ones are the best.)

I love these fish:

Then we were off again and had a lovely tour of the other side of the island, where all the hotels are located. Patrick’s family’s motu is just beyond them. The sun was shining brilliantly at this point. We pulled up to the motu and made our way sloshing through the water to reach land.

Patrick’s associates had prepared a wonderful meal for us. There was a bit of ceremony as he uncovered the food that had been roasting underneath the ground for hours. A suckling pig, bread fruit, chicken and spinach, taro and plantains. They were also grilling fresh fish—Tuna and Wahoo. In addition to that there were a few other dishes like Poisson Cru and tiny bananas. All the food was served on woven palm frond plates, covered with a single large leaf of some plant and you ate with your fingers, on a table in the water. The sun felt wonderful and was out in full force by then. Beer, wine, champagne and soda were also available. You could have seconds or even thirds of everything. There was plenty of food and drink.

A Bora Bora selfie taken on Patrick's motu:

Patrick, who is not a young man, but a very fit man, clad only in his ‘thong’ gathered us again and performed an authentic Polynesian fire dance with a fire baton. I was impressed. Although, I was talking to his daughter--Vitiare, who I believe is in her late teens, and she was complaining that she is tired of seeing her father’s naked backside!! She is embarrassed and her friends sometimes tease her about it. And she said, he is getting old and keeps doing the dance because he loves all the applause he gets. He does seem like man that LOVES attention and he is quite a showman.

We got to frolic in the shallow water for a bit and then we boarded our boats once again for a trip back around the island and back to our ship.

I enjoyed the excursion very much. While the snorkeling was good, it doesn’t compare to the snorkeling we did yesterday in Ta’aha. I think second place! The water is another matter. It’s the most beautiful water I’ve ever seen.

We are in port overnight. I did go back to shore after I dropped off all my stuff and walked 10 minutes to the right of the port. I found nothing. Maybe tomorrow I will walk 10 minutes left and see what I can find. I would love to find a supermarket—just to look around.

The internet is very bad here. I believe I have free internet at the hotel. If so, I will add lots more pictures, more Bora Bora and the Quad thingy I am riding in Moorea tomorrow!!!  TTFN

A bit of Food Porn