Bora-Bora

While we really enjoyed our time in Moorea and Tahiti, we were most excited about visiting Bora Bora. We had intentionally saved the best for last, and thankfully, the island didn't disappoint. :)


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We travelled from Moorea to Bora-Bora on Air Tahiti - a small domestic airline serving only the islands of French Polynesia (it's parent company is the larger Air Tahiti Nui). Our flight left mid-morning from Moorea airport -- a tiny airport without security / bag screening. It did, however, have many stray cats and roosters strolling around inside. It was an interesting experience to say the least. Anyways, within an hour of taking off from Moorea, we landed in Bora Bora! We were lucky enough to be on the left-hand side of the plane, so we had a great view of the island as we were arriving.

The airport in Bora Bora, although also really small, catered quite well to all of the tourists arriving. Each major hotel on the island had a booth and representative there to greet you with bottled water, a welcome package, and flower leis. The reps then led you around the corner to the boat docking area of the airport  where the hotels each had their own private boats waiting and ready for transport to the hotel. (The airport is on its own motu 'island', so boat transport was a must!).

Having our luggage loaded onto the hotel boat

Within a few minutes, our luggage was loaded onto the boat and we were on our way to our hotel - The Intercontinental Thalasso Resort & Spa. When we arrived at the resort, we were greeted like royalty with the blowing of a conch shell announcing our arrival, a shuttle driver, a bag porter, and drinks awaiting us. As for our first impression of the resort? Our research was spot on - this hotel really did have the best view of all hotels on the island and they really did treat you like royalty (though they really should given the price of the place!)

First view of our resort, taken from the boat upon arriving!

Arrival at the resort

Upon arrival, we found out that we had been given the overwater bungalow that we had requested - it was a 'Diamond' end of pontoon with perfect view of Mt Otemanu. It pays to be Ambassador Gold members!

Our bungalow!

There were a few bottles of champagne, a large bowl of fruit, and several snacks awaiting us in our room.  But we quickly forgot about these goodies once we saw the view! Needless to say, the first thing we did was headed outside to our deck and jumped right in! We then spent the next hour or two taking turns jumping off of our deck into the beautiful turquoise blue waters. It was so much fun!

Having fun!

Afterwards, we headed back to the main part of the resort (i.e. the land-based portion) and had lunch on the beach at their restaurant. They most expensive burgers of our lives, but we like to think that the view alone made up for the large dent in our wallets!

Lunch with a view!

The rest of our 4 days in Bora Bora were spent hanging out in our hut. We did order breakfast room service on our anniversary (which was delivered by canoe!), and also did some scuba diving with Manta rays.

Breakfast being delivered!

But the highlight of our visit to the island was doing a private helicopter tour. It was only a half hour long, and more expensive than most sane people would have spent, but we saw this as a once in a life time experience. Was it worth it? Absolutely!! We both had perma-smiles on our faces for the rest of the day, and it's something we'll never forget. Here are some of our photos from this day:

First time in a helicopter!

We decided to fly in style - with the door open!

Our resort...it really did have the best view of Mt Otemanu!

Our resort again - the water really is that beautiful!

View of our hut from the air (the bottom most left one)!

All in all, our trip to French Polynesia was a great experience and one we won't soon forget - Mauru'uru!

Moorea

After spending a few days relaxing (and practicing our French) in Tahiti, we woke up early on our 3rd morning to head to the Port of Papeete for our ferry ride to Moorea. We wanted to get to Moorea early in the morning so that we could spend the rest of the day sightseeing. Unfortunately this meant being at the port for 5:45 AM, but it was a great experience since the early ferry was full of locals heading over to Moorea to work for the day (Imagine having to take a ferry to work every day as part of your commute!)

Port in Papeete - Ferry arriving at dock

Once at the port, we checked our luggage, hopped on the ferry, grabbed a seat, and ordered some coffee and breakfast. An easy half hour later, we arrived in Moorea (there's only 10 miles between these two fantastic islands).  Departing the boat was just as easy - we walked off, picked up our awaiting luggage, and met our driver who was waiting to bring us to our hotel. This was a great way to save a few hundred dollars, instead of taking a flight between the two islands, as most tourists tend to do.

Ferry once docked in Moorea

We arrived at the hotel (The Hilton Moorea) close to 7 AM. Unfortunately, check-in didn't quite go as planned. We had spent a lot of time researching which room we wanted to book at this hotel (they had the choice between overwater bungalows, land bungalows, and two pool suites). We chose to book a pool suite in the end because a) we wanted to save the overwater bungalow experience for Bora Bora, and b) how cool would it be to have a massive bungalow with private pool to ourselves for a few days?

Upon arriving, however, we found out that both of the pool suites were accidentally booked our first night there. Instead, they were going to put us in their best overwater bungalow and provide us each with a free dinner at their restaurant that evening. Although we didn't want to have to bother moving rooms, it was a pretty sweet deal that we couldn't pass up. We received a free $300 meal, plus the overwater bungalow in Moorea was an experience we are glad we had. The water in Moorea is excellent for snorkeling - much different than the crystal clear water found in Bora Bora.

Our first over water bungalow!

After completing the check-in process, we hopped into our awaiting rental car and headed out to explore the island. According to what we had read, it would take anywhere from 2-3 hours to travel all the way around the island (with enough time to stop and take in the sights/shops along the way). We found it quite strange driving on the right-hand side of the road again, but after a few minutes we were back to being comfortable. Our first stop was the Belvedere Lookout. It was quite a steep, zig-zaggy drive up a mountain, but the lookout provided great views over Cook's bay and all mountains and craters of Moorea's volcano. Quite beautiful.

Fantastic view from Belvedere's Lookout

After our stop at Belvedere, we headed back down the mountain where we stopped at the Agricultural School which we had read served great coconut ice cream. We stopped in to sample it and also scored some great homemade banana-vanilla jam at the same time. We then hopped back into our car and continued to head counter-clockwise around the island, stopping to take in some of the views and shops as they came along. About 3 hours later, we arrived back at our hotel ready to enjoy the afternoon on the deck of our bungalow.

Great landscapes around the island

The Sofitel Hotel

We spent the afternoon snorkeling off of our dock, and then headed to our free dinner at the restaurant - which was fantastic. Around noon the next day, we packed up our luggage and awaited our move to the Pool Suite. Because the room only ended up being ready around 1 pm, we were offered another free dinner - this time to their Polynesian Buffet and Dance Show - for the inconvenience. Honestly, this hotel went above and beyond what was expected of them. We felt very welcome (most of the staff knew our names by day 2) and we would stay there again in a heartbeat.

Overwater bungalows!

Great view of the island and ocean

Snorkelling outside the bungalow

Anyways, we arrived at our Pool Suite around 1 PM - and wow...what a place. It was twice the size of the other bungalows and included its own bar and fully-stocked wine fridge, a nespresso machine and all you could drink coffee, 4 bathrooms, a living room, bedroom, ensuite, and fully-enclosed private pool with lounging deck. It was most definitely too large for just the two of us, but we quite enjoyed it. :-)

Pool Suite Bungalow

Private Pool!

Very luxurious!

Lots of space!

The rest of our time in Moorea was spent relaxing on our deck. We did go to the Polynesian Dance one night for dinner, and went to the hotel's overwater Crepes bar the other two nights for dinner. We particularly enjoyed the Crepes bar, as it attracted many black tip sharks swimming underneath the restantant each night, allowing guests to watch them while they ate.

Polynesian Dance ...

... Including a fire show!

Over water Crepe Bar 

Sharks hang out underneath the bar every night

After 4 days in Moorea, we packed up once again to head to our dream destination of Bora Bora. Stay tuned for our update on this magnificent island!

Tahiti

We recently returned from a relaxing 2 week vacation in French Polynesia -- 3 days in Tahiti, 5 days in Moorea, and 5 days in Bora Bora. French Polynesia is literally a speck (ok.. many specks!) on a map, but impressively, its 130 islands span an area as large as Europe!



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The flight from Sydney to Papeete (Tahiti) was about 8-hrs in total, which included a brief layover in Auckland, NZ. The time zone difference messes with your head a bit because French Polynesia is just past the international dateline, making it 20-hrs behind Sydney/Canberra. Because of this, you effectively gain an entire day on your way there.

While in Tahiti, we stayed at the InterContinental Resort. The resort was quite nice, offering several pools, nice grounds, swim-up bars, and great views overlooking Moorea.

Pool with beach and swim-up bar! Moorea in the distance.

Sunset view over Moorea

The resort also had a private snorkeling lagoon which was home to lots of marine life. The hotel uses the lagoon for coral restoration projects and allows the guests to snorkel in it so they can enjoy the coral and fish!

Main Pool and Coral Lagoon

During our stay, we booked a morning of diving with Top Dive. The first dive was pretty low-key, with lots of tropical fish and some nice coral. However, mid way through the dive we started to hear several whales singing to each other! Unfortunately, we couldn't see them.. so we don't have pictures... but it was still a really cool experience. Our second dive was a wreck dive - in the lagoon between Tahiti and Moorea - which took us to 3 boat wrecks as well as a plane wreck.

Lots of nice coral and tropical fish!

Colourful Clams - these were everywhere!

Plane wreck

Much of the rest of our time in Tahiti was spent relaxing by the pool, sipping a few cocktails, and generally just adjusting to island time. We did, however, take a few hours to visit the city of Papeete in order to do some black pearl shopping for Stace.

Adjusting to "Island Time"

More to come..