After breakfast we took the tender over to Bora Bora with the intention of using wifi at a cafe in Vaitape village. We sat down, ordered two beers (the usual minimal cost of wifi around the world) and were logged on by the waitress to wifi. It was useless, and wouldn't even open a web page. Fed up with all the Undernet we've been encountering, G got up and canceled our drink order and we left. Apparently what had been fast ten days ago at this cafe was not fast today, and we already have not fast Internet (aka Undernet) on the ship.
We wandered around a bit and debated taking the $5 shuttle to Matira Beach, but weren't dressed for the beach and, frankly, it wasn't a pretty beach day. I did find suitable hair color in a tiny Chinese grocery store in Vaitape (and, please note, when I say grocery store I mean a store that sells food, not a store even vaguely resembling a grocery store at home) but it was about US$ 22 a box and I don't have an immediate need. We've heard rumors of a KMart-type store called Carrefour near the airport on Tahiti, and may try to catch a bus there one day.
Getting a bit weary of being splashed by cars and scooters going by, we returned to the tender dock and went back to the ship. It was almost lunch time by then, so we headed right to the buffet. G got two pieces of pizza and put them down on a table while he went to check out the other offerings. When I arrived at the table there were no fewer than eight flies on his pizza. Gag. After spending overnight in the Bora Bora lagoon, the ship's buffet was absolutely overrun with flies. It's a real issue down here; there's a reason why a huge quantity of items in every store (second only to baby stuff) is rodent and bug eradication devices and sprays. One of us stood watch while the other collected food, but as soon as we were done eating, we got out of there. While flies outside don't bother me too much, inside they are crazy-making.
We retreated to our cabin where we were shocked to immediately see another one flying around. That was it; we'd had it. Fortunately, after encountering a particularly disturbing number of flies in our cabin on the Maasdam after a stop at Martinique in the French West Indies several years ago, G right then and there purchased what we call our French fly (pronounced quickly, like French fry) swatter, and never travels without it. (And how appropriate to use it on a French Polynesian fly!). He dug it out of his suitcase and went to work, tracking down and disposing of our unwelcome visitor. If we're getting flies in our ocean view cabin on Deck 3, the balcony cabins must be getting more than their share. It was only 1pm by then, but the day had been plagued with little bothers to the point where a movie and a nap in our French fly-free cabin held the most appeal. At some point during the afternoon we watched the replay of Douglas Pearson's lecture on Moorea for the first time (again, we take longer to accomplish the things others manage to do in 10 days), and G shocked me by going to the 3:30pm ring toss contest. He won a bottle of Pol Ciment Brut which he gave to the second place winner in trade for their prize of a Princess pen (he got the better deal, but they were thrilled).
We were on Deck 10 for our 5pm sailaway from Bora Bora. Sadly, it was not a pretty one, with Mount Otemanu shrouded in clouds and a windy mist falling. We have several more Bora Bora sailaways to look forward to; but I felt bad for our fellow passengers who don't. It was a formal night, so we dressed accordingly and went first to the Elite Lounge for hors doerves and then took our most traveled award bottle of Veuve Cliquot champagne to dinner to share with friends Mary Ann and Tom from Idaho at the adjoining table. Our new executive chef has added some seasoning to the rice served with the lobster and it's made it quite delicious. G is not a fan of rice at home; I must find out what the change is and try it.
Once again, G was part of a Happy Anniversary serenading crew (with our waiter Jose from Portugal and junior waiter Chai from Thailand to his left). Harious!
The featured entertainer tonight is a female soprano. We sat through the last song of the first show and decided it wasn't for us. Instead we listened to the pianist in the Casino Lounge for awhile before calling it a day. We have an early morning tomorrow on Moorea and another busy day planned. We need to pace ourselves!
