Once Heather left, the rain arrived. We had two straight days of rain followed by a third day of occasional rain. Many other boats had arrived in Bora Bora, the last stop in French Polynesia before officially checking out of the country and heading west to Tonga, via the Cook Islands, or north to Hawaii.
As usual when there are boats moored near each other, there was lots of socializing. Most of us were on mooring balls at the MaiKai Marina. It is the closest to town, were the Heiva festivities were taking place (plus groceries, banks, fuel, propane, etc.). We would often gather for drinks and appetizers on a boat and then all go to the Heiva. Or using the internet at the marina bar would turn into a party.
With Chuck and Lauri, from Free Spirit, we rented a car to tour the island. There are some beautiful views of the central mountain as well as the stunning lagoon and the motus that ring the island. We stopped at the Sofitel resort for fancy drinks and a fabulous view then continued on to Matira Beach to enjoy our picnic lunch. From the beach we could see sting rays. We all jumped into the crystal clear water with our snorkeling gear and swam with them.
Our visas for French Polynesia were expiring so we topped up our diesel, water, propane and gas for Tubby, provisioned and spent about 20 minutes doing our official check-out with the Gendarme. That evening we watched the Heiva finals for individual dancers and orchestras and left Bora Bora the next morning.
