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Day 9 (March 24, 2019): Farewell, French Polynesia

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The 4:30 AM alarm seemed to arrive way too soon. We left the hotel just before 6 AM and by 6:30, had returned the rental car and were ready for check-in at the Air France counter. Formalities were somewhat slow, made frustrating by the fact that none of the public buildings in French Polynesia have air conditioning. Even the international airport!  By the time we boarded our packed flight at 8 AM, we were literally dripping.  Once on-board, the flight itself was wonderful. We had a nice chat with one of the flight attendants, for whom this was her fourth last flight before retiring after 35 years. She was so excited to be starting her own food business, selling bottled food of some sort in Tahiti.  We arrived in L.A. half an hour early, zipped through customs with our Global Entry passes, and walked from the International Terminal to Terminal 6 for our Air Canada connection to Toronto. We were soon chilling in the Maple Leaf Lounge. The Air Canada brand really has a way ...
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Day 8 (March 23, 2019): Tahiti - better than expected!

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On Moorea and Bora Bora, people told us, “There’s nothing much in Tahiti.”  So we showed up with minimum expectations.  Tahiti is in two parts - Tahiti Nui (the biggest part) and Tahiti Iti (the small part). To us, the whole thing resembled a fish!  Saturday was all about driving around Tahiti Nui, and if time permitted, to delve a little into Tahiti Iti. We picked up some mango juice and fresh chocolate croissants and headed out around 8 AM, in an anti-clockwise direction around the island. Every kilometre on Tahiti has a cement marker, and every attraction’s location is indicated in relation to the 10th of the closer kilometre marker. It makes it quite easy to find things. One thing we quickly noticed is that weekends on Tahiti are relaxation time - an opportunity to get together with family and friends and to picnic and swim. There are many parks, all immaculately maintained and extremely clean. All over the island, there were roadside signs selling “Poulet roti - sam...
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Day 7 (March 22, 2019): POST UNDER DEVELOPMENT

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After a 6:30 AM breakfast, we decided to do one last snorkel just off the Sophitel Private Island. It is among the top three coral gardens in Bora-Bora, and based on our experience yesterday, we knew we wouldn’t find a better snorkelling site anywhere else.  We finish the morning just relaxing on the beach and taking in the scenery one last time. That’s the Sofitel Private Island where we are staying. We swam from the pier on the top left-hand side of the island, out to the “aquarium snorkelling location”. You can see by the dark spots, how large the coral garden is, and the number of boats anchored there in the satellite photo show how popular it is for snorkeling tours. We were so lucky to have it on our doorstep! Ahhhh... that amazing mountain view from the Sofitel Private Island.  Leaving the Sofitel Private Island for the last time, in  our water taxi to the airport. What follows are several pictures of the highest peak on Bora-Bora, Mount Otemanu (727 metres), enrou...
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