Well all good things must come to an end. Bora Bora exceeded our expectations. What else can I say but Māuruuru roa!
We moved back to Papeete and a day of touring. Our travel agent recommended Tahiti Discovery to explore away from the coast. Our driver Rocky drove us from coast to coast through the Papeeno Valley in a 4×4 stopping at many waterfalls and few swimming holes. The valley is in an old volcano caldera and is quite hard to access thus the need for a 4X4. Rocky took the top off after a while and we were allowed to stand which gave us a greater view of this picturesque place. He said we were lucky with the weather, this part of the island gets lots of rain but for us it was dry. Rocky also talked about the island culture and how the Polynesians and other islanders are working to preserve the old ways including celestial navigation. I am glad someone is doing this, I suspect it will come in handy down the line.
Lunch was at Relais de la Maroto, a fairly isolated restaurant with stunning views. Then it got real according to Rocky, a bit more like off roading to almost the top of the caldera before we passed through a tunnel to proceed steeply down the other side. The road was rough, and I teased Rocky that he was named after the road. He said the rains have been hard over the past few months to the dirt road is fairly beat up. We got jostled quite a bit and was twas quite the upper body workout. My ribs and elbows took a bit of a beating and later that night the rest of my body let me know how much of a workout I gave it. Sore.
End of part one.
