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My trip has come to an end, but what an amazing trip it was! It’s time to summarize:

View out the private deck of my bungalow

After Bora Bora I went to Raiatea (“distant sky” in Polynesian).

Tasty Tahitian Rum — I liked it!

Toyota dealership – a tent and 3 cars

Raiatea is much less developed than Tahiti of course.  There’s only one small town, Uturoa. I only spent 2 days on Raiatea but I feel I accomplished a lot. One day I took a tour of the island including the Botanical Gardens.

This is supposed to be the face of a woman. Do you see it?
			Almost looks like a moai
			Pearl farming house

The octopus represents all of the Polynesian islands from New Zealand (both islands) to Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, to Hawaii and even to Rapa Nui! Over a hundred islands. It represents a sort of map, though not scale (a scale map would be totally impractical). Rather the Polynesians thought in terms of island chains represented by the legs of the octopus. The islands are drawn on each leg in the order you would encounter them by following the recommended island hopping route. So it’s much more practical than a Western-style scale map would be given the navigation techniques the Polynesians had at the time, which although they had no modern technology, were still quite sophisticated.

Closer view of the octopus:

Here the head of the octopus is named Havaii, because that was the original name of this island. It was later changed to Raiatea to avoid conflict with the other Hawaii.

Raiatea has the most important of the marae [1], called Taputapuatea. As the head of the octopus, it contained navigational markers to aid in voyages to the other islands.

From the UNESCO site:

At the centre of the Taputapuātea marae complex is marae Taputapuātea itself, dedicated to the god ‘Oro and the place where the world of the living (Te Ao) intersects the world of the ancestors and gods (Te Po). It also expresses political power and relationships. The rise in the importance of Taputapuātea among the marae on Raiatea and in the wider region is linked to the line of Tamatoa ari’i (chiefs) and the expansion of their power. Taputapuātea was the centre of a political alliance that brought together two widespread regions encompassing most of Polynesia. The alliance was maintained by regular gatherings of chiefs, warriors and priests who came from the other islands to meet at Taputapuātea. The building of outrigger canoes and ocean navigation were key skills in maintaining this network.

[1] Marae are sacred ceremonial and social spaces that are found throughout Polynesia.

I didn’t know there was a Heiva on Bora Bora too so it was a pleasant surprise to find out that there was one during the time I was here!  I had already been to the Heiva in Tahiti and thoroughly enjoyed it. Now here was a chance to see it again on a different island and compare the two.

It was smaller than the one in Tahiti of course but in some ways that made it better. It was more intimate, and photography was allowed during the show. I got several pictures and videos of the dancers.

Couples dancers Elona and Raimoana

Couples dancers Raihani and Rai Teara

This incredible 15 yr-old dancer Tetaumoana is carried  by her proud father after winning Best Female Dancer overall!

Bora Bora (really Pora Pora) is only about 40 kilometers wide, so I took a bike and rode around the whole island.

When I got about half-way around, there was a World War II historic site with a lookout tower and a large cannon.

Bora Bora was a major US supply base in World War II

Most scenic cannon in the world!

 A few miles before completing the whole island loop, I got a flat tire so I had to walk the rest of the way!

When I woke up this morning I went out onto the deck of my bungalow and saw this:

What is this canoe and why is it coming to my bungalow?

It was a HUGE breakfast because it was for minimum 2 people!

Setting up my table for an outside breakfast in the sun!

Bye Bye Breakfast Canoe!

Today I went kayaking, one of my favorite activities. I got a kayak, paddled UNDER my bungalow and out into the lagoon on the North side of Moorea island.

But very soon to my great joy and surprise, a whole pod of dolphins swam right next to my kayak! They swam around in big circles around the bay. They were apparently feeding but they were also clearly having fun. They would dive down for a few minutes, then come up for air at an unexpected place so I had to keep scanning around for them. Usually when they came up one of them would leap out of the water and do a flip, spin, or other acrobatic move. But I kept missing them on camera. Finally after many attempts I caught them on my camera. See the end of the video below!

[1] A va’a is a Polynesian style outrigger canoe

Bora Bora, part of the Society Islands group of French Polynesia, is sometimes called the “Pearl of the Pacific” [1], due to its white sandy beaches and giant lagoon. It consists of a central island surrounded by an atoll creating a giant lagoon.

From Moorea I flew to Bora Bora.

Flight to Bora Bora

The Airport sign is on its own island

Most airports have a line of taxis outside. Bora Bora airport has water taxis.

The original Polynesian name was Pora Pora, but it was mispronounced by Europeans as Bora Bora.

For accommodation I rented a room in a beautiful French Villa with my own private terrace overlooking the bay.

If Bora Bora is “Pearl of the Pacific” the surely the nearby island of Tupai should be called the “Heart of the Pacific”.  Why?  Just look at its shape!

Heart-shaped island of Tupai

[1] I think it should be called the “Black Pearl of the Pacific” due to its black pearls!