Day 5 (March 20, 2019): Bora Bora!

Moorea is a special place - amazing topography, lots to see and do, wonderful hospitality. It is always sad to leave a place that has touched your heart and soul. But hey, we’re just heading to another part of the country, so I’ll cut the drama! 😉

We were up with the sun - literally - again. One last breakfast at the Intercontinental, one last scout around the resort, and a 9 AM pickup for the airport. The ride along the north coast of the island towards Moorea’s tiny airport was a hearty meal of Moorean scenery,past the two large Bays (Opanuhu and Cook’s). By 9:45 we had checked in for our Air Tahiti flight to Bora Bora, although we found the Air Tahiti staff abit nasty about the fact that our carryons were 2” too long and a kilo over the limit. So we had to rearrange things between carryons and suitcases. (There was a ton of free space in the overhead bins once we boarded, so it all seemed to be a hulabaloo over nothing!)

The brand new ATR-72 aircraft touched from Pape’ete to the minute and we quickly boarded for an on time take-off. Most of the 68 seats were filled. The flight provided breath-taking views of Moorea and its lagoon, as well as Raiatea and, of course, Bora Bora. We were quickly off the plane and inside the tiny airport where a representative of the Sofitel Private Island met us with fragrant leis and made arrangements for us to be transported to the resort which is on a small island in the middle of the lagoon. A 20-minute boat ride and we arrived at the hotel’s pier, where a staff member heralded our arrival by blowing into a conch. Cold coconuts provided relief from the humidity. We were soon shown to our bungalow, which is set on a hillside overlooking the lagoon. It is one of only 31 bungalows on the island.

We spent our afternoon walking the small island, which has a great hill in the middle with sweeping views, and snorkeling. The Sofitel Private Island sits in the middle of the best coral gardens in the lagoon, within minutes of stepping off the beach, the best of Bora Bora is right there!

We had a refreshing drink before dinner and then enjoyed New Zealand rack of lamb for dinner. By the time we were finished, the day’s excitement has rendered us exhausted.

As we turned out the lights, I had to pinch Pam, and she me, to make each of us believe that we were finally Bora Bora, an island like none other on Earth.

My last Moorea sunrise on our patio.

One last walk around our beautiful resort.

The view of Cook’s Bay, enroute to Moorea Airport. Captain James Cook sailed into the adjacent Opanuhu Bay, but the locals refused to name it for him, as its existing name held sacred meaning for them. So they named the above Bay for him instead.