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Day 8 – Bora Bora to Tahiti (Papeete) |
Bora Bora, French Polynesia
Today is the last day of our stay on this beautiful island and the sun is shining with hardly a cloud in the sky.
We have been offered a late checkout today, we will be picked up from our room at 3.30pm transferred by boat to the airport at 4.00 and catch our plane to Tahiti at 5.20, so we have plenty of time to do as we wish.
First order of the day is a little sun baking followed by a swim from our pontoon, then a shower to wash off the salt.
We order a mid morning champagne breakfast with Billecart Salmon Brut, toast, croissants, omelettes fresh fruit and cheese, this will be our only meal today. We opted not to go with the infamous canoe breakfast as we didn’t like the choice of food. Once again the table is set to perfection as we sit under the blue sky and watch the boats pass by. Following breakfast we pour a last bath in our spa then pack our bags well in advance. Now it’s time for the last of our duty free as we relax on the deck and enjoy our final day in paradise sipping on GTs.
At 3.00pm our cart arrives to take us to reception to checkout. Sebastian our butler has the day off so we don’t get to say goodby. I check my bill and it totals XPF 36,0000 which is a little less than expected but still a lot of money on anybody’s calculator, the bonus – no charge for any of our Internet sessions.
At 3.30pm we are the only ones on the dock as we are presented with shell leis (flowers when you arrive and shells when you leave) then board a speed boat and head towards the airport terminal. We check in and have a two hour wait for the plane. Everybody at the terminal is wearing shell necklaces and looking sad to leave. It’s a quick flight flight back with no island stops and on arriving at Papeete it’s been raining and is very humid as we are welcomed with another shell lei and transported to the La Meridian Hotel.
We stow our bags in our room and head to the pool bar for a complimentary cocktail as the sun sets over the water. The place is full of tourists and takes on a magical atmosphere as we settle down to a few Margaritas by the pool. I dont know why it is but we spot two elderly English tourists reserving pool deck chairs for the morning by placing their towels on them. How do we know there English, because the Poms seem to be the only race who partake in this type of anti social behaviour.
Back at our room we order hamburgers as the restaurant meals are as expensive as those on Bora Bora and don’t look all that appetising. We also order an ice bucket to cool our final bottle of duty free champagne.
Its another early start tomorrow so Rocket orders an early morning call for 4.30am then we decide to retire as we are both tired, there is nothing on TV and we have nothing left of our duty free.
Hint – do your research if you decide to holiday in Tahiti. It is very expensive, the hotels are somewhat run down, the place is dirty and covered in graffiti. This may be a little harsh as we did only see a small part of Papeete and it would probably be a great holiday for backpackers as it has a very relaxed Polynesian atmosphere.