Bora Bora - The Flight: Why is Peter Pan always in the air?

Because he Neverlands. Just like our flight to Bora Bora.

Let me start at the beginning. Yesterday morning, as I was writing, I was hearing scratching noises, and ignored them. When I finished the blog, I noticed that my white trash Big Gulp from the night before had dark lumps in it. Dark lumps that weren't there the night before. I took a closer look.

Gecko in the drink

I thought it was funny at first, and then remembered the drink was lightly alcoholic. I'm not being sarcastic - I fall asleep very quickly if I have too much, so there isn't much in there. Even so, it's probably done a number on our small friend, and he isn't moving.

I take him to the sink and gently pour out the remaining drink. I carefully add some water so he's not coated with juice. The bottle is left on its side in the sink so he can get out.

He scrambles out pretty quickly (phew!), but stops at the side of the sink, where he stays with his eyes closed for about 20 minutes.

Gecko in the sink

Finally, he makes his way out of the sink. Rob opens the window, and out he goes. Crisis averted. No animals were harmed in the course of this vacation.

Gecko starts to think (about the consequences of impulsive actions)

We get all packed and drive over to return the rental. One of the employees then drives us over to the ferry dock. We have to take the ferry back to Tahiti, where we'll catch a direct flight to Bora Bora.

The ferry is interesting. It goes between Tahiti and Moorea five times per day, carrying people and a lot of cargo. The vehicle hold is completely full of shipping trucks, business vehicles, and ordinary cars.

I don't remember being on a ferry before. It's lovely inside. There are lots of seats, and not many people. We take a seat by the window so we can watch the scenery for the half-hour ride.

There's a little cafeteria on board, and Rob grabs a couple of drinks for us. He orders in French and they don't reply in English. He is very proud!

We get in to Tahiti without issue. The ferry ride was very pleasant. If we ever come back, I would take the ferry instead of the flight.

Going through the Tahitian pass on the ferry

We get to the airport at about noon. We have five hours until our flight to Bora Bora, so we'll grab some lunch and maybe do some shopping before we go. We go to check in for our flight first, so we're not schlepping our bags around.

At the check-in desk, we apologize for being early, but the guy kind of ignores us and says the flight is full. "But we have tickets!" "No, I mean the 2pm flight. I can get you in on stand-by."

This kind gentleman at the desk is going to try to get us to Bora Bora 3 hours earlier. That sounds much better than hanging out at the airport.

He points us to some seats near the desk and tells us to wait for about 20 minutes. Now we're excited. Rob had tried to get us on this flight originally, but it was full, so he couldn't. While we're waiting, Rob runs to buy me a hair flower that I had seen on the walk to the desk (Rob carries the money - it's easier). When he comes back, he is once again super-stoked for ordering completely in French.

A few minutes later, the lady at the desk excitedly waves us over. We got in! We get our boarding passes. Rob quickly sends an email about the schedule change to our ride in Bora Bora, and about a half hour later, we're on the plane.

The plane flies for about 10 minutes, when it lands back in Moorea. Yup, took a ferry from Moorea, and then a plane back to Moorea.

It's ok, though, the plane is going through to Bora Bora. We just have to stay on. However, after Mo'orea, the plane also stops in Huahine. It flies over Rangiroa, then finally lands in Bora Bora. We're still here about 2 hours earlier than we would have been.

The planes don't land directly in Bora Bora. The airport is on a nearby motu, then you have to take a ferry into Bora Bora.

Motu Mute to Bora Bora ferrry

Luckily our Bora Bora host got the email and is waiting for us. He takes us to the grocery to buy food, and then we're finally at the small house.

Our itinerary:

1. From: Mo'orea house to car rental
2. Rental lady drives us to Mo'orea ferry
3. Ferry to Tahiti
4. Taxi from Tahiti ferry to Tahiti airport
5. Fly from Tahiti to Mo'orea
6. Fly from Mo'orea to Huahine
7. Fly from Huahine to Motu Mute
8. Ferry from Motu Mute to Bora Bora airport
9. Andre (our host) picks us up at the airport, takes us grocery shopping
10. Andre drives us from the store to the room

Finally! We're here! However, Andre loves to talk, and shows us every feature of the room, and his garden, and where the bikes are, and who all the dogs and cats are. It's all lovely, and he finally leaves us to get settled. Oh, wait. Annette, his wife, pops by to say hello. It's a one-minute conversation, and then the vacation clock starts again. Andre and Annette are very lovely, friendly people.

This cabin feels like a luxury hotel. It's actually an over-water bungalow that they bought from a hotel that went bankrupt. They had to boat it over and use a crane to install it.

Some photos:

Sitting area

Sleeping area

Sunset view from the patio

Finally here!

We have some dinner on the patio, and then get to bed early so we can bike the island tomorrow. Cheers for now.