TftSP Part XIV: The Finale (Finally!)

Tales from the South Pacific
Thursday Night/Friday, May 26-27th - Bora Bora

Alas, we arrive at the last night of our vacation... really hard to believe.  Out of food options, we decided on ordering...room, err excuse me bungalow service.  We are really not room service people, but believe it or not, here it is an economically viable alternative.  We ventured out for happy hour, where we once again ran into this French couple that we shared the hotel boat with upon arriving in Bora Bora.  The husband is really quite cute, wearing tanks and muscle shirts... but we still had not been able to catch him on the beach to check him out... but I am sure we would not be disappointed. But anyhow, we returned to our bungalow and ordered up some food.

Earlier in the week, we picked up some Hinano beer at the local grocery store... Hinano is pretty much the Budweiser of Tahiti (we even picked up Hinano beer glasses and t-shirts as souvenirs)... so we had that to enjoy with dinner.  Then, after dinner we drank our last night "tradition" of downing a liter of Tahiti Drink - fortunately we were able to find that in the store as well!  The food was just fine (steak and fries) and the alchohol combo let us effortlessly ramble on about all the good memories we had made over the past week... we also enjoyed another great night of star gazing and watched the moon rise up over the ocean/lagoon.

But our vacation was not totally over... although we had to check out at 11am, our boat to the airport did not leave until 5 pm.  Fortunately, the hotel lets you hang on and offers small changing rooms that you can freshen up before your flight.

So we packed our things in the morning.  I did a last round of snorkeling just off our bungalow and then it came time to give up our room.  I tend to take the end of vacations pretty badly... and despite trying to prepare myself for this moment and try to remain stoic... it did not quite happen.  I got emotional on our bungalow deck... getting ready to leave the room... leaving the room... oy, I am such a wuss.  I stopped short of what Oprah calls the "ugly" cry but it was pretty darn close.

With a lot of time to kill, we walk back up to Snack Matira for lunch.  Despite being tempted to order something new... I go back to the very tasty "known" factor of the mahi-mahi sandwich.  We hit the beach for much of the afternoon.  The sun is out more than it has been since we arrived and the winds seemed to die down as well. We could be bitter that it wasn't like this for our entire stay here... but it is hard to not just want to relish these last hours. 

We clean ourselves up in the changing room and have time for one more happy hour... on cue, our French couple is at the bar as well.  We finally engage in some conversation... she starts off in French to which we respond with sad faces that we "no speak"... then, of course, she launches into English.  Arrrgh, silly "don't speak any other language" Americans!!  But as we head off, we wish them "bon voyage" and they seem genuinely appreciative at our little attempt at the French language.

We head on over to the dock and get ready to leave.  The staff gives us "goodbye" leis of seashells (bite lip, bite lip) and before we know it we are on the boat and waving goodbye to them.  With another couple on board our boat, I force myself NOT too look back as my emotions are still teetering on the breaking point.  But I do manage to hold myself together and manage to look back and snap this picture.

But it was just very sad to leave... we had been looking forward to going to for such a long time... the hype and expectations were very high... and somehow these islands somehow managed to exceed those expectations in almost every way.  Todd has tried to comfort me in my "moments"... but I tell him, despite what it seems on the surface, this is the best possible reaction that I could be having... sure these are not happy tears... but they are coming from deeply happy place. 

This vacation has simply been a dream... and there are not too many times in life that you feel like you are actually living them out.

Comments

[Scott-O-Rama]

Sounds like you had a great trip. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[Beth]

Awww. Your regular blog readers know this time was long coming. You truly had (and have):

I got starlight/I got sweet dreams/I got my man/Who could ask for anything more/Who could ask for anything more?

You still have it all! :D

[jen]

sheesh - you just put my (lack of) travel reporting to shame! enjoyed reading about the trip.

[Scott C]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. I enjoyed reading every word, and shared it with my partner, so we have added Bora Bora and Morea to our list of destinations to visit. I also shared our blog with a co-worker, who just got back from a Honeymoon on Morea and Tahiti. I will be interested to see how she compares Morea.