French Polynesia: Tahiti and Bora Bora, Dec. 2 and 3

I’m on my final travel adventure of 2024:  My brother and I are taking a cruise aboard the Norwegian Sun from Tahiti to Melbourne, with various heavenly stops in between.  First up:  two jewels of French Polynesia, Tahiti and Bora Bora.

Tahiti

I’m not one to kick myself.  For one thing, I’m not that flexible.  For another, I try to avoid the (w)(c)(sh)ould’ve trap.  If an opportunity is missed, I’ve learned a lesson for the next time.

I mention this because I neglected to arrange anything for our full day in Tahiti – widely known as a gorgeous spot just this side of paradise.  Without checking, I assumed there would be lots to do in and around the capital, Pape’etē (pronounced as four separate syllables).  There isn’t.

To fill our day, we walked along the waterfront, visited the Municipal Market, admired the street art, sidestepped numerous chickens, and pretty much covered the city from one end to the other. 

By then it was … around 11 a.m.  We stopped at the tourist office in hopes of booking an afternoon island tour.  Not surprisingly, they were sold out. 

Lesson learned, lesson duly passed on:  plan ahead!  Book an island tour, take the ferry over to Moorea, do something – but don’t expect to fill your time in Pape’etē.

I have a couple of other pointers.  (1) Taxis and most small businesses do not take credit cards, but they do accept US dollars.  (The fare from the airport to our AirBnB was $27.)   (2) Many restaurants are not open for dinner.  (3) Some restaurants are closed on Mondays.  (We spent part of Monday afternoon checking out various pizza places – some of the few restaurants serving dinner – and ended up with a good meal at L’Appizzeria, tel. +689 40 42 98 30.)

We boarded the ship Tuesday morning. Norwegian said boarding would not begin until noon, but they started letting people on shortly before 11 a.m.  Although there’s a gleaming new cruise terminal in Pape’etē, it’s apparently yet to open.  As a result, the embarkation process took place entirely on board, and I give Norwegian high marks for its efficiency.

That initial bit of goodwill evaporated a couple of hours later; read on ….

Bora Bora

Two weeks before the cruise, I booked a tour through the ship to explore the island on a 4-wheel drive vehicle.  My ticket was waiting for me in our cabin.  

Not long after, though, there was a note on the door informing me that they’d booted me off the tour; it had been overbooked and I was one of the last people to sign up.  What followed was a comedy of errors with a happy ending.

Bora Bora is a tender port – not in the “like butter” sense; you have to take a ship’s tender to get ashore.  My brother and I showed up a few minutes before they started distributing tender tickets and got group number two (out of ten).  We were able to go ashore at 10:45.  The ship’s early tours disembarked a few minutes before 10 and group 1 left around 10:20.  We found out later that the final group didn’t leave until 12:30.

Once ashore, we visited the tourist office to ask about renting bikes.  They discouraged us from doing so, citing narrow roads, traffic, and lots of dogs running around.  (We subsequently met two women who did rent bikes and had no problems with autos or animals.) 

Time for plan B:  take a private van tour around the island.  The cost:  a reasonable $35 per person, compared to more than $150 for an equivalent tour from the ship.  I whipped out my credit card only to find that all the tours were cash only.  I’d brought a bit of cash but not enough. 

Back to the ship we went to collect our wallets.  By this time, fortunately, the tenders no longer required a ticket.  Here’s where the happy ending comes in.  Rather than a 20-person van, my brother and I and an Australian couple booked an air-conditioned minivan taxi to take us around the island ($35 cash per person).  (There are plenty of private vehicles offering tours right at the pier.)

Our guide/driver, Corinne, was delightful.  She brought us to some of her favorite spots, including lovely viewpoints, the remains of a marae (temple platform), and Bora Bora’s most famous beach, Matira.  At one point, she asked us if we’d ever heard the song “Bora Bora” and, while driving, performed an a cappella version in a gorgeous, crystalline soprano.

She also showed us how she made batiks – one of her several artistic talents, which also include pottery-making.  We returned to the pier two hours after we left, having had a wonderful afternoon despite the rocky start.

One thing I remember from reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance many years ago is that the true nature of an event often emerges only after time has passed.  Things that seem negative in the moment may end up producing positive results.

Our experience in Bora Bora was a fine example.  I was annoyed at Norwegian for being ousted from the ship’s tour and annoyed at myself for not bringing sufficient cash ashore the first time, especially after learning in Tahiti that credit cards are not widely accepted.  But the ultimate effect of those events was positive: we had a wonderful tour with a woman who proudly shared her home and her culture.

Next up: Rarotonga, in the Cook Islands.