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Our Honeymoon

Bora Bora (part A)

The next leg on our trip was to Bora Bora -- an island that (to me at least) seems to embody all that the South Pacific is all about. Bora Bora's lagoon is considered by many to the be the most beautiful in the world (and we wouldn't argue!). Everywhere you look, you either see about a million shades of blue & green in the water or you see the impressive sight of Mount Otemanu - the central core of Bora Bora. Like Moorea, Bora Bora is only developed a few hundred hards from the shore, with inner points only accessible to off-road vehicles or hikers. The people are friendly, the attitude is casual, and the world just seems more relaxed. Bora Bora has more development on "motus" than Moorea has -- motus being small islands surrounding the big island. Both the airport and our resort were on some of these motus.

The flight from Moorea to Bora Bora was largely uneventful, but we did catch glimpses of some other islands.

We arrived on Bora Bora via plane. The airport on Bora Bora was the first in French Polynesia (and perhaps one of the first at all in the South Pacific). (It was built for military purposes.) It seems that designers just looked for a place with enough flat land for a runway. All of French Polynesia is beautiful, so I guess it shouldn't have been such a surprise when we saw this view from the airport!

We were greeted with traditional flower leis -- these were made of some fragrant red flower, various leaves, and of course, tiare flowers (they smell like gardenias and are used *everywhere* in F.P). I'd argue that our hotel had the nicest leis. :)

Considering that the airport is on a motu on one end of the lagoon and our hotel is on a motu on the other end of the island, we knew we'd be traveling via boat. We didn't know, however, just how nice a boat ride we'd get... Matt had to tell Becky (who's mouth was probably stuck open and who was probably drooling) to "pretend you do this everyday." We had quite a few "pretend you do this everyday" experiences on Bora Bora -- and quite a few more when we were both incredibly thankful that Matt's employer got bought out just before we booked the honeymoon! :) In other words, we were blown away with so much during this part of the trip.

We stayed at the Bora Bora Nui Resort. We initially were going to be at another Intercontinental resort, but a "rogue wave" hit the island, knocking that hotel off-line for several months. We were incredibly satisfied with the Nui! If we return to Moorea, we'd probably pick another resort. But, if we go back to Bora Bora, it would be hard to not stay at the Nui. Professionalism, luxury, and beauty are words to define our experience there. Here's the reception area - built over deep water and surrounded by fish.

We had an overwater bungalow again. This picture makes them feel close together (and they are, somewhat) but the bungalows don't feel at all crowded. We were told that the hotel was full when we were there, yet we were never in a crowd.

Our bungalow was huge -- bigger than Becky's apartment. We had a living area, bedroom, and bathroom (the bathroom alone was almost larger than Becky's entire apartment). In the living area, there were two side tables by the sofa that you could open up and use to feed fish. There was a light to attract the fish, then you could throw down bread or something for them to eat. The living room & bedroom opened onto the patio.

These pictures just hint at our great deck. The upper level had a glass area in the middle, so you could see what fish were underneath. The lower level had a shower for after swimming and a ladder into the water. And, we were truly over water. You could grab the snorkeling gear from the closet (yep, every room comes equipped) and just step outside for a quick swim. Our room faced out towards the lagoon - with another motu in the distance.