Honeymoon vibes

Cathe and I never had a real honeymoon. By the time we formalised things in church we were already deep into parenting and careers. I could have done a lot better in 2001 and this was the time to make amends. 

We aren't normally ones for extravagance in holidays; but this was the time to mix it up. Bora Bora has a decidedly romantic ring. The Conrad looked like the spot to kick off. 

Sydney was awash with stories of cancelled holidays. After the boat being turned back I was ready for the situation to compound with a Covid disaster.  However, we managed to avoid the Vid pitfalls and made it to the airport with wads of paper evidencing vaccinations and negative tests; all of which was a blessed relief.  

French Polynesia defies the cliches and manages to be even more beautiful in person than the best photographic reproduction can manage. Bora Bora was a great place to wash away the 2020/21 blues: except that Cathe had caught the horrid not-covid-but-worse-flu bug from the boys. This kicked in hard in transit and once we finally arrived she spent the first few days in a near coma. 

There were a few rough bed-ridden days but eventually the silver lining emerged. The Luxe experience was pretty amazing. We were in the end hut. 

Sushi and Magaritias worked nicely on the long jetty bar, watching the sun sink and washes of orange, pink, mauve, red, turquoise merge and seep across the horizon, set to the rumble of the the roar of the first big swell of the season smashing on the reef 2 km away. 

Geriatric single gear bikes were the preferred method of propulsion - seemingly salvaged from the 70’s. We had a couple of crazy moonlit bike rides - “keep up ol’ timer” - Cathe streaking past her beloved down the long jetty, doing meandering arcs past moonlit coral flickering under the wobbling timber boards, topped of by in tandem excellent smooth dismounts, 1 foot on pedal, gliding to a discreet stop (Cathe in a full silk skirt.)

We spent one day snorkelling with sharks and stingrays (requiring some thoughtful introspective moments from Cathe). Then we realised the yoga classes were held in the chapel at the top of the ridge... It had been 2 years since the last yoga class. The German yogi was super chilled; sweat gathered and then streamed down skin creating a sucking sound with each chaturanga lift off the rubber mats. 

The next day we went out on the Corad boat to watch the annual round-island outrigger race, whooping- it -up “Allez, ALLEZ, ALLEEEEZ - go, GO GOooooo”.  Six kayaks crewed by 5 Tahitians (4 men / 1 woman per kayak), with 5 in-water change overs. Amazing grace, focus, and strength of the rowers all pulling together, staying tight, traversing fast flowing currents with a motley array of spectator craft all following them. 

The Conrad was a gorgeous couples compound; but the sotto voce murmurings and 1.5 m seating dining felt more like a perpetual Sunday Churchy best vibe, albeit in designer sandals rather than brown shoes.  The Stepford Couples resort perhaps. After 7 days we were ready to move on, light a bonfire + turn up the crazy…

So next we headed off to stay on the main part of the island, after pushing the flights back so Cathe could enjoy a bit more time on Bora Bora post flu. 

We were surprised to hear that Villa Yrondi has been constructed over the last 30 years to faithfully reflect a French Villa. We thought it was 130 years. None of which diminished it's charm. It was a great counterpoint to the beautiful but slightly 2 dimensional Conrad. Geckoes, wasps and bees roamed freely throughout our apartment. It was definitely indoor/outdoor living. 

This was a great venue for chill time and South Pacific acclimatisation, watching the harbour sunsets until the warm tones became indigo blues lit by a rising moon.

We visited a couple of nearby land based restaurants including Bloody Mary's, the famous sailor's bar. It did feel a little like being a pretender, we'll have to return with a sailing boat...  

The whole time I was watching the boys draw nearer on Evenstar via their Iridium Satphone tracker. There was an air of unreality about the whole thing. 

I was still struggling to see how this was all going to pan out.  But despite a few more travails it did.