Currency:
Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique - Franc Pacifique (XFP)

Highlights:
The unique setting, the pool, snorkelling, being on a private island.

Our Adventure Summarised:

You know how sometimes in life you worry that you get too excited for something? Take Matric Dance / Prom for example - so much talk and so much build-up that the night turns out to be an anti-climax sometimes. Well that's what Shaun and I had been worried about with Bora Bora and it turned out to be... nothing like that!! Wow - talk about exceeding each and every expectation!

Since Shaun wrote out first blog on Bora Bora, I'm going to give you some insight from my perspective and let you in on why Bora Bora has been such a big dream for us. When I was about 12, I was really into all those surfer magazines and was always tearing out pages to put on my bedroom wall. But my favourite poster that will always stick in my mind is a picture of a heart-shaped island surrounded by the most beautiful ocean with the quote underneath it, 'The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page'. That saying has since become one of the mottos that I live by and the image of that perfect island has been in my head with the lingering idea that that's where I would want to go on honeymoon one day - and of course the island in that picture was Bora Bora.

For Shaun, I think it was a little different. He had heard about Bora Bora from someone somewhere along his travels but what's ironic about that is that he first told me about it during the call he made to me from Thailand for New Years (years before we were back together). We got talking about honeymoons and he said he knew exactly where he wanted to go one day - Bora Bora (without knowing my story). So that basically set the stage for us. No matter what, we were having our honeymoon on Bora Bora and here we are!

It is so hard to justify this setting in words but hopefully our photos can provide better perspective. But basically, this really must be what God intended for paradise. It is by far the most beautiful place I have ever seen - everything from the amazing colour of the water (which has so many different shades of blue) to the unique setting (main island with gorgeous big mountain and iridescent green palm trees and foliage as far as the eye can see - surrounded by loads of smaller islands / 'motu's, each with their own personality). I also love that it reminds me so much of my beloved Hawaii - similar Polynesian culture but it takes some getting used to hearing them all speak French.

When booking our travel package, we had managed to get some great deals from an agent in Newport Beach and being low season, were lucky enough to have our pick of spots. We decided we wanted to try out different hotels mainly to experience different viewpoints of the island so after our few days at Bora Bora Peal Beach Resort, we were escorted by a private boat transfer to the Sofitel Bora Bora Marara Beach and Private Island.

Sofitel Bora Bora Marara Beach and Private Island encompasses both an exclusive private island and stunning white sand beach. Luxurious and expansive, it features 95 bungalows in a variety of styles, including overwater and hillside, plus exquisite restaurant, bar, a cigar cave, wine cellar, day spa, infinity swimming pool and recreational facilities. Sofitel Bora Bora Marara and Sofitel Bora Bora Motu Private Island have merged into one resort, proposing two experiences in one resort.

The Sofitel has two hotels - the Sofitel Motu and the Sofitel Marara (http://www.sofitel.com/gb/hotel-0564-sofitel-bora-bora-marara-beach-and-private-island/index.shtml). We selected the Motu option since it's the only hotel located on its own private island - and we could still enjoy the benefits of its sister hotel as it's just a short 10 minute trip across the water (and you could just call for a boat when you needed one). We arrived to a local Polynesian guy blowing through a conch shell and after our welcome cocktail, were escorted to our luxury overwater bungalow. It sounds strange to say but I was a little disappointed when we arrived as the room wasn't quite as amazing as our last spot but I quickly took check of my surroundings and reminded myself where I was and was very happy again :)

I'm not going to do a daily summary of what ensued as it was basically all the same - some major chill-axing and just soaking up as much of our majestic surroundings as possible. We started each day off with a breakfast buffet and then would head to the swimming pool. And although I usually berate tourists for going to the pool on holiday instead of swimming in the ocean, this pool was definitely worthy of being an exception! It was an infinity pool that directly overlooked the ocean so when you would look out, it would be another layer of blue merging into the myriad of aqua-mariness (and yes, I know that's not a word but it describes it best). Plus it was surrounded by the most comfortable deck chairs ever! So we clocked some serious time at that pool - I'm talking a good 8 / 9 hours each day which led to some major sunburn but was infinitely worth it!

There were also a few hours of activity between the relaxing - snorkelling and paddling. The Sofitel Motu is very conveniently located alongside Bora Bora's most beautiful and accessible coral garden so we could snorkel right off our balcony and come into contact with all sorts of friendly fish and rays. I took some convincing for the paddling but once we were out on the water, the serenity made it all worthwhile and we ended up paddling around the whole island and also checking out the neighbouring island. Another top activity was watching the sunset each evening (we weren't able to see the sunset from our last spot). We felt very privileged to witness some spectacular sunsets - our favourite being from a spot on the top of the island that offered a 360 degree view.

We learnt to venture out to other restaurants rather than sticking around at the hotel as their chefs didn't quite compare to the last hotel (plus one night we had to avoid the 'Miss Polynesia' contest which would have been interesting except that it was only ladyboys competing!). One night we went to a place called Bloody Mary's (http://www.boraboraisland.com/bloodymarys/index.html) which has been around since 1979 so is somewhat of an institution on the island. Steve and Sunny, a couple staying at the same hotel as us, joined us for dinner as we wanted to continue our discussion about diving with them that we had started around the bar. They were from Seattle and had lots of interesting diving and other stories to share with us. Bloody Mary's had a very cool vibe to it - tables set on the sand and a funky bar but the best part was that you knew your meal was really fresh as the way it worked was that you got to choose your meal off the selection of today's catches on ice. Another feature was their interesting bathrooms - both had a rock waterfall functioning as the basin (you had to pull on a string to get the water to flow) but the guys went one step further - to flush the urinal, you had to pull on the big wooden penis - some designer had a sense of humour!

The other night we went to a spot called Kainu Hut which was also highly recommended to us and again, did not disappoint. One of the things the French do really well is cook! All the guide books rave about the breadfruit (still don't know what this is) gnocci so we thought it would be rude to not try it - good decision because it was unbelievable! Pasta + vino + Hinano beer (the local beer which Shaun really enjoyed) = very satisfied customers!

The only non fun time came when we had to leave but we are just so grateful that the wonderful honeymoon that we'd dreamt about for so long really did become a reality. We literally lived the dream...

You can view our photos from these few days here:

Day 1 -
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=356111&id=713415257&l=3a774bb098
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=356117&id=713415257&l=d88a079353

Day 2 -
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=356120&id=713415257&l=c61d53c7e6

Day 3 -
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=356124&id=713415257&l=4d31914b04

Nana,
Leise + Lara