The Travelling Life of Silvan Colani
December 2006 - Honeymoon to New Zealand and Bora Bora (cont.)
To get to Tahiti from New Zealand we were going to test the theory of time travel. Yes, we were going back in time. A full day. Friday, 15 December 2006 will be remembered as the longest day of my life – a full 48 hours. We spent the entire 15th in NZ as described earlier and were scheduled to fly out at midnight (in fact the flight was delayed and we took off at 1am on Saturday) – only to arrive at 6am, Friday 15th at Faa'a (!!!) International Airport in Papeete, capital of French Polynesia, to re-live the entire day once more in Tahiti.
Papeete is what you would expect from the capital of any remote island paradise: a distinctly non-idyllic bustling mess with lots more traffic than I would have expected from a small island nation. It’s mostly French of course with lots of Renaults and Peugeots, Total gas stations and French radio. It is primarily a gateway to the more idyllic and remote parts of this vast archipelago.
| French or British?
Funny enough, Tahiti was first discovered by the British – on 17 June 1767 by Captain Samuel Wallis of the Dolphin. The French only arrived on April of the following year, but eventually proclaimed the island to be a French possession. I haven’t studied the historic significance of why the English did not claim Tahiti as a Crown Colony, but I imagine it being of little strategic value and bereft of natural resources (no tea!). As far as my own theory goes, the French being French saw the natural beauty of the place instead and maybe Capitain Bougainville was more smitten by a few bare-breasted Tahitian beauties. Anyway, 240 years on we can benefit from a vastly superior cuisine and a charmingly laid-back and mildly chaotic French lifestyle. For once, I’m glad they did not raise the Union Jack instead! |
We spent the night at the Radisson Tahiti, which is a nice enough place with a cool infinity pool and fantastic surf on the black beach out front. I had lots of fun riding the waves alongside the local boys who were trying to impress the assembled Tahitian beauties until I got knocked over seriously by a massive wave and hurt my shoulder (I’m still aching writing this report some two weeks later).
A strange dinner buffet at the Radisson was followed by the customary local show, which I normally do not enjoy, but I must admit that I was well impressed by the bum shaking skills of the “native” girls. It distracted me from the pain in my shoulder which was getting a bit annoying. I decided to have it checked out at the local hospital next morning – just to ensure nothing was broken.
The hospital obviously didn’t look too inviting form the outside but the French doctors and nurses inside were most helpful and efficient. Two x-rays and a short consultation later I was given the ‘all clear’, a few pain killers and an improvised sling to rest my shoulder.
We made it in time to the airport for our onward flight to Bora Bora. We took off on what must have been my shortest flight ever – a 10 minute hop to Moorea from where we picked up some more passengers. (Not to be confused with Mururoa, the atoll that was used by the French for atomic tests in 1996 and led to widespread condemnation around the world, including at the Rugby Sevens in Hong Kong where the song “Stand up, if you hate the French” was born).
From Moorea it’s another 45 minutes flight to Bora Bora, across the bluest ocean I have ever seen in my life. Bora Bora is a squarish shaped lagoon consisting of several “Motus” (islands), with the main island dominated by the majestic Mt. Otemanu (727m). The airport – built by 4000 American GIs in WWII after the bombing of Pearl Harbor (Operation Bobcat; fortunately Bora Bora never saw any combat) – lies on the north-western corner of the atoll on Motu Mute. Since it is on an island, the only way to and from the airport is by boat.
Bora Bora is unbelievably beautiful – I’ve honestly have never seen a more beautiful place in the world. As you’re whisked to your hotel across the crystal-clear turquoise waters with the lush greenery of the volcanic mountain to your side you can’t help but wonder whether this is just a dream.
Our resort, the Bora Bora Lagoon Resort & Spa is also the most beautiful place I’ve ever stayed at (probably also the most expensive, of course). Our overwater bungalow was simple, yet superbly stylish and beautifully appointed with all natural materials. The terrace faced the open lagoon with a small stair leading straight into the water – your own private coral reef on the door step. The coffee table in the room has a glass bottom and you can see the coral fish swim underneath – throw down some bread and you have an instant exotic aquarium right under your house! The hotel provides you with a mask and snorkel and so you’re instantly off to greet your fishy neighbors.
Life really doesn’t get any better than this!
There was a host of activities, but they all cost a fortune (priced in euros – this being a part of France and all…!) So we stuck to the basics: snorkeling (free), paddle boating (free), sunbathing (free), drinking the wine we bought cheaply in NZ (smart) and contemplating life as a married couple (scary!)
On the night of our arrival there was a big concert in “town” – Vaitape, the ‘capital’ of Bora Bora is not much more than a church and a couple of houses. Nevertheless, the entire 7000 inhabitants of ‘Bora’ – as the atoll is locally referred to – seemed to come together for this event organized by the local council to promote ‘positive attitude’ for young people – no alcohol, no smoking, no drugs – but plenty of local singing stars. We took the opportunity to enjoy a typical local meal from one of the ‘roulottes’ – vans converted into mobile restaurants. Ours offered ‘steak avec frittes’ and ‘chow mien’ that night. We ordered both, which was a mistake because one portion alone could feed a family of four. No wonder so many locals are obese!
On some of the other nights we tried a few of the ten or so independent restaurants (i.e. not part of the 14 hotels on the lagoon) dotted along the 32km road that circles the main island. The best by far was the Bora Kaina Hut, a small place with a handful of tables in the sand serving fantastic French cuisine with a Polynesian influence. The breadfruit gnocchi are a culinary masterpiece and the Mahi Mahi with Lemon and Olive Oil was a gastronomic delight. And the warm chocolate cake beats any I’ve had before. The French surely can cook!
Other than eating and sleeping, we spent most of our five days in paradise snorkeling among the fish on our doorstep. Although I brought my PADI license along there was simply no point to go for an expensive dive trip when you could experience more aquatic life than I’ve ever seen before in knee deep water!! There were fishes of all sorts of colors, shapes and sizes – from tiny reef fishes to schools of zebra fish to a large trigger fish that looked a bit menacing. The best time to enjoy this massive aquarium was in late afternoon with some leftover bread from breakfast. You could hold the bread in your hand and the fish would go for it in a mad frenzy, occasionally nibbling at your fingers by mistake. They were so busy fighting for the bread you could easily touch some of them. And wherever we swam around the lagoon we were surely followed by a colorful entourage of curious and fearless fish.
The best moment came on our last afternoon, however, snorkeling out to our favorite fish feeding spot when Mei suddenly spotted a giant sea turtle gracefully floating through the corals – barely 10 meters from the last bungalow in less than 3m deep water! The turtle was about a meter in length and did not seem much disturbed by our presence. We followed it around for a while and chanced upon it again on our return. Absolute magic!
Bora Bora is a special place – unreal and magical yet pure and simple. It is possibly the perfect place for a honeymoon and of course we weren’t the only newlyweds in the resort. Being in the middle of the Pacific Ocean the weather can be a bit of a gamble, but the occasional rain shower usually gave way to more sunshine quite quickly. And when it rains, well, there’s billiard, Scrabble and lots of Hinano beer in the resort…
After five days in paradise we flew back to Papeete where we spent another night – and ate Fondue Bourguignon in a Frenchman’s mountain hideout. Then it was back to time traveling as we flew from Tahiti to Auckland via Raratonga (Cook Islands) across the date line and in the process lost almost the entire 23rd of December.
We spent Christmas Day in Auckland where almost everything was closed. However, I did promise my wife a proper Christmas lunch (roast turkey, etc.), which eventually managed to find at Mecca (best salmon I’ve ever had!). We also had an excellent dinner at Wildfire, which specializes in Brazilian ‘churrasco’ – freshly grilled meat on a stake brought to your table by Russian waitresses claiming to be from Southern Brazil (… never mind, the food is excellent!)
Our final honeymoon activity was a two hour sailing trip in the Auckland harbor on the America’s Cup yacht NZL41 (www.sailnz.co.nz). This is an 80-foot Kevlar and fiberglass race craft used in the 1995 qualification for the America’s Cup. Although you obviously pay for the trip they also make you work the grinders – eight guys pulling up the main sail is hard work, trust me. The trip was good fun and well worth the money. The funniest part however was that the engine broke down and we were thus unable to motor back to our berth. We had to call for some extra help to pull us back in alongside – which is actually what the real America’s Cup boats do since they have no engines to save on weight.
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