Day 161 – 18th / 17th April – Auckland – Papeete (Tahiti)

We checked out of the hotel in Auckland at midday and waited in reception for a little while before we got the bus to the airport. Our flight to Papeete was at 4:20pm. The flight was about 4 1/2 hours but as we crossed the international date line we actually arrived at 11pm the day before! We picked up our bags and were met at the airport by the travel agency and got our tickets for our trip and our transfer to the hotel in Papeete.

Day 162 – 18th April – Tahiti – Moorea

We got up and had breakfast before checking out and getting our transfer to the airport at 8:25am. When we arrived at the airport we went to the domestic check in desk to check in for our 10am flight to Moorea, which is an island close to Tahiti. We were looking forward to a bit more of a relax for the next few days after New Zealand. When we were checking in, the lady notified us that the flight we thought we were flying on had been booked for the day before! Our relaxing holiday was starting to become a bit stressful. The lady said she couldn’t do anything as the flight was ‘blocked’ so we had to go to the airline ticket counter and move the flight to today. The queue was massive and so Dan tried to contact the travel agent in Papeete as well. Their office was in the centre of town so wasn’t that near to the airport. We managed to get hold of the travel agent who said they would sort out the problem but said we were more likely to get the flight at 10:35am rather than 10am.  As we thought this was sorted we gave up our number in the queue and went back to check in. This was a mistake as they said we needed to rejoin the queue at the travel desk as they needed to change the ticket. We explained that if we had to wait in the queue again we would miss the 10:35am flight as we had previously queued for 45 minutes. The check in people didn’t seem overly bothered at us missing the flight so back we went again to try and sort out the tickets! Dan tried to ring the travel agent again with no luck and who now seemed to be avoiding our calls! I went back to the check in desk to see if by some miracle we could check in but the lady said we now had to pay $80 as we missed the flight yesterday. I tried to explain that we weren’t even in the country to miss it but she replied with ‘that isn’t my fault!’ So I went back to join Dan in the queue at the ticket desk. Check in closed at 10:15am and at 10:12 our number was called. The lady Dan spoke to was very helpful and even though 10:15 came and went she managed to get us onto the flight at 10:35! The airport was tiny and we went thought security and then joined the queue to board with everyone else. The plane was small and had propellers and open seating. We were last to board but managed quite easily to get seats together. The flight was also the quickest flight we’ve been on and after 7 minutes we landed in Moorea! After all that stress is didn’t seem worth it for 7 minutes however the views of the sea and the reefs when we were flying were pretty impressive. When we landed we were greeted by our transfer who took us to the hotel in Moorea. We were staying at the Sofitel which was only a five minute drive from the airport and so very convenient. We filled in the paperwork but couldn’t check in for about couple of hours so we went to explore. There were some overwater bungalows which looked great as well as sea front and garden bungalows. The sea was also incredibly clear and many people were swimming, snorkelling and using paddle boards and kayaks. We went to have some lunch in the bar and a beer! We knew that French Polynesia was known for being extremely expensive so we tried not to be too shocked as we looked through the menu.

We could check in at 2pm so after lunch we got taken to our garden bungalow by golf cart with our bags as well. We had a brief nap and then got ready for a talk at 5pm on the Tahitian pearls. We mainly went as it included a free cocktail! We didn’t spend much time in the shop afterwards! It was happy hour until 6:30pm so we made the most of the ‘cheaper’ prices and then had dinner in the bar area.

Day 163 & 164 – 19th & 20th April – Moorea

We made the most of the buffet breakfast which was included in the price of our room and spent both days by the pool. Dan did a lot of reading and I did a lot of snoozing on the sun lounger! We skipped lunch both days and had a cereal bar that we had brought from New Zealand instead! Both evenings we had a couple of drinks in the room. Our mini bar was included in the room rate so every morning we hid the contents and so it got totally refilled every day! We used the soft drinks as mixers for our duty free we had brought! I wonder why Yorkshire people have the reputation for being a bit tight!! Both nights we ate in the main bar area as one of the restaurant was closed as they had a buffet on but that was £65 per person without any drinks. It also didn’t look that great and the fancy restaurant was ridiculously expensive! The food in the bar was more expensive than you’d pay at home but not hugely and it was tasty. After dinner we went back to the room and chilled!

Day 165 – 21st April – Moorea – Tahiti – Bora Bora

After breakfast we finished packing and checked out of our room at 11am. Our transfer picked us up at 12:15 for our flight to Papeete. We were a bit confused at why we were flying back to Papeete and then onto Bora Bora when you could fly directly to Bora Bora from Moorea! However we boarded our flight and 7 minutes later we landed in Papeete, picked up our bags and then went to drop them back off for our next flight to Bora Bora. We had about an hour to wait before we flew and the flight was about 45 minutes. We landed in Bora Bora and were greeted with garlands of flowers by the hotel staff and asked to show our bags and then board the boat. The airport is on an island so everyone has to get a boat transfer off the island. There were two other couples on the boat, and we were all excited about being in Bora Bora. We set off and were amazed at the colour of the water and how clear it was as we sailed.  Bora Bora is the definition of paradise! We passed a couple of other resorts before we arrived at Le Meridian which was where we were staying for the next four nights.  We were greeted by the hotel manager when we arrived at the hotel and a separate member of reception took care of each of the couples. We checked in and had a tour around the resort before being taken to our overwater bungalow on a golf buggy! The overwater bungalow was incredible, it had a lovely balcony that overlooked the large lagoon, steps down to direct access to the sea and a glass bottom so you could see the fish swimming underneath. It didn’t take us long before we were both in the water cooling down and snorkelling.

A bit later on we had a couple of drinks in the room as the prices had dramatically shot up in Bora Bora and listened to some music! It was a good thing we had a half board package at the hotel! We went for one drink in the bar before having dinner and sat watching the mountain and the sea. We decided to go to the buffet as this was the only night it was on during our stay. Dinner was lovely and we had a table on the edge of the lagoon so you could see the fish swimming around as we ate. It was pretty special!

Day 166 – 22nd April – Bora Bora

We got up and had breakfast. It was in the same place we had dinner and we had a spot around the outside of the lagoon so we could watch the fish in the water while we ate.

After breakfast we went to the turtle sanctuary that was onsite. The hotel works along side a separate company who rescue injured turtles and release them back into the wild when they have recovered.  First we had a presentation about the different types of turtles and how they can get injured and end up at the turtle sanctuary. Unfortunately most was the fault of humans, whether that be in terms of poaching or the turtles getting trapped in fishing nets or the turtles eating the large amount of plastic that is in the sea. It was a really interesting presentation and after that we went to the ‘turtle hospital’ and fed some of the injured green turtles. They all had the correct amount of fish weighed out for them and we were given gloves to pick up the fish and drop it in their bowl. It was great to see some of the turtles responding well and almost ready to be released back into the wild but also sad to see some of the turtles so unwell. After spending some time feeding them we went back to our overwater bungalow and spent the rest of the day there jumping into the water and relaxing on our balcony.

In the evening we got ready and went to one of the bars for a drink before dinner. While we were there we saw a couple who we’d met on the boat across from the airport. We ended up having a lovely dinner with Bree and Eric from California who were on their honeymoon. After dinner we went back to the bungalow and turned the underwater light on and watched the fish swimming by!

Day 167 & 168 – 23rd & 24th April – Bora Bora

We spent two very relaxing days at the resort. After breakfast we got a sun lounger at the pool and spent the morning chilling and admiring the views. In the afternoon we went to the beach area and swam in the lagoon or off our overwater bungalow.  In the evening we went to the bar for a couple of drinks before having dinner.  It was lovely to do very little and just soak up the atmosphere and appreciate the paradise of Bora Bora.

Day 169 – 25th April – Bora Bora – Tahiti – Los Angeles

Today was a travel day and we had quite a lot of waiting around. Our check out was 11am and Dan rang reception before breakfast to try and use his charm to extend this. The new check out time was 11:30!! We then went and had our last breakfast by the lagoon. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t good today and it was raining quite heavily. We decided to go back and pack and hope the weather would pick up a bit so we could go in the water. After packing the rain was still coming down but Dan went and had one last swim off the bungalow and tried to spot some fish! Our luggage got picked up about 11:40 and we went to reception to check out. The rain hadn’t eased so we took shelter for an hour or so and then went and sat by the pool for a while. We then went to use the transit room to shower and get ready as we were getting the boat back to Bora Bora airport at 3:20pm. Our flight was at 4:40pm and took around 45 minutes and we arrived into Papeete at approximately 5:25pm. We then had a long wait until our flight to L.A at 23:45pm.