We started the day the way we have so many days this year, with an early alarm (5:30am). The sun was already up when we looked out our (large) cabin window, and we could see Bora Bora in the distance. We hurriedly dressed and went up first to Deck 10 to take some photos ('cause the 292 we already have of our Bora Bora arrivals are simply not enough), but then went to the terrace behind the Panorama Buffet for a different view of our transit through Teavanui Pass.
The day was sunny and the lagoon was at its best, showing us its 50 shades of blue. We were surprised to see the Peace Boat from yesterday already at anchor, and the Pacific Princess ended up a little further north in the lagoon, near the now defunct Bora Bora Lagoon Resort on Motu Toopua. It's where we anchored when we were in Bora Bora on the larger Diamond and Sapphire Princess ships, and it makes the tender ride slightly longer.
We ate breakfast in the Panorama Buffet and returned to the cabin to pack for a beach day. We were on one of the first tenders to shore and arrived to a frenzy of activity on the pier. A group of schoolchildren greeted us on shore, welcoming us to the island in song and handing out tiare buds. We were told it was because this was the last time the Pacific Princess would be in Bora Bora. I saw Patrick's daughter Vaitiare, and she gave me a big hug, telling me they would fit us in today if we wanted to do Patrick's tour one more time. It would have been a wonderful end to our French Polynesian odyssey, but we had other less ambitious (and less expensive) plans for the day.
We took a taxi down to Matira Beach before 9am. It was never our intention to spend the entire day there, but we ended up renting two cushioned loungers and settling in. At least in the morning we had some shade, but I applied buckets of sunscreen and made it through the day without a burn. However, someone else forgot that the sun reflects off the sand and water and can burn a face shaded by a Tilley hat. He may feel it tonight!
We spent the day moving between floats on the water and loungers on the sand, watching the many crew and officers from the Pacific Princess and the Japanese passengers from the Peace Boat also having fun. I think that a majority of the crew got at least a little time off today to go to Matira Beach, and it was wonderful to see them enjoying themselves. We even saw some of the ship's senior officers on the beach. It seemed like everyone wanted to have a perfect day in Bora Bora before leaving French Polynesia and five days at sea.
We stayed on the beach until 3:30pm and rode back to the tender pier in Vaitape, never taking our eyes off the beautiful lagoon along the way. It was at that point when it really started to hit me that This. Was. It. and I got a lump in my throat that lasted for almost two hours. We've traveled many places in the world, but have never enjoyed any of them as much as French Polynesia.
Once back on the ship, we got cleaned up for dinner and took a bottle of Veuve Cliquot champagne up to the terrace behind the Panorama Buffet. Douglas Pearson's traveling companion, Beverly, who was on the Pacific Princess most of this French Polynesian season as well as last year's, joined us in repeating our last sailaway from Bora Bora last year. We all toasted a fantastic season and watched as the Pacific Princess turned around in the lagoon, blew its horn repeatedly (answered by the Peace Boat), and sailed back through Teavanui Pass.
For the first time, we saw the pilot boat come out to the ship to pick up the French Polynesia port pilot. One pilot stays onboard for the entire ten days of each French Polynesia cruise, and then switches with another pilot when the ship returns to Papeete. As the pilot boat headed back through the pass to Vaitape, the Pacific Princess again blew its horn several times to say goodbye, and we all stood on the deck returning the pilot's waves. Bittersweet, for sure.
Waving goodbye to French Polynesia.
Sigh.
We went to dinner in the Club Restaurant, excited to see if the menu was a new one for us (it was). I had a crab cake starter and vegetarian korma topped with grilled shrimp, followed by mango sorbet. We went to the Cabaret Lounge for the 7:30pm performance of production show Stardust, the first time the new cast has performed it. As soon as we left Bora Bora and started heading almost due north toward Hawaii, the ocean got rougher than we've seen since we arrived in French Polynesia in late September. It was the first time 5 of the 6 dancers had performed on a rocking ship, and they did a fantastic job. That had to be a scary thing for them; when we stood up afterward to leave the Cabaret Lounge, we could barely walk a straight line.
G is still out listening to music, but duty called and I wanted to prepare this blog post. The alarm clock is turned OFF, and it will stay that way for at least the next five sea days. We are following about a 355 degree course almost due north and will cross the equator on November 22, arriving in our first Hawaiian port of Hilo on November 25. As hard as it was to leave French Polynesia, we're thrilled to finally be coming to America!