March 24, 2019
We slept in but were in time for breakfast in the dining room. The ship remained anchored in the bay by Vaitape for our second day in Bora Bora. There was a bit of a wind, just enough to be cooling in the 29°C heat, under a partly cloudy sky. It did not seem as humid as yesterday, but it could also be due to less sun.
We didn’t even need to get tender tickets, since the excursions were long gone by the time we were ready to leave. Once on land, we turned right, (easterly) out of the gift shop by the pier, opposite to the direction we walked yesterday. There was a group of musicians in the shelter of the gift shop’s patio roof playing ukuleles and singing songs. In the parking lot was a small grey two-seater Avis rental car, like the one Jeff and Susan rented today. We saw a similar designed car when we were in northern Norway. The traffic was light. The variety of traffic was interesting – bicycles, small motorcycles, two-seater cars of different designs, bus trucks, 12 seat vans, pickup trucks with covered bench seating for six and small personal cars like Fiats. We walked along the side of the main road (facing traffic), passing several art galleries, pearl jewelry boutiques and souvenir shops. Once past the town limits, the views of the bay were good. Only a few meters from the shore, there were many small boats suspended just a few centimeters out of the water, in order to prevent salt water damage to the bottom of the wooden and fiberglass boats. As we walked along the road we noticed tupa crabs under hedges and watched them scurry around their ground holes. We were told yesterday that they were nocturnal, although they were in the shade of the hedges.
We could see a few small sailboats enjoying the smooth water. Out by the reef, there were diving, snorkeling and sightseeing boats hovering over the coral reef. We walked about three kilometers, or half way to Bloody Mary’s restaurant, before turning around. We walked down one of the lanes running off the main road and it was residential. The homes were not large, about 1,000 square feet, on 100-foot frontage lots and have large windows to allow the breezes in to cool the homes. We saw many homes with air conditioners, too.
A small air-conditioned café, Iaorana, had opened at noon and we stopped to buy gelatos and sit in the shaded patio before continuing our walk back to town. Once in Viatape, we returned to a souvenir store that sold an illustrated children’s book by a local author, called Lilu and Dudu’s Adventure in Bora Bora. Lilu is a rabbit and Dudu, a turtle, is her friend.
There was a tender boat loading when we arrived at the pier. We got back to our stateroom and found certificates stating that we had crossed the equator on March 20th. After showering we went for Afternoon Tea in the dining room. During the half hour, there were only 11 other guests there. We enjoyed mini sandwiches, scones with strawberry jam and whipped cream, ending with a small brownie and a tiny raspberry tartlet.
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