I think Val and I finally managed to drift off into sleep by about 4, when Dave woke us up – “Quick, they’re all moving out of the covered area.” So we scrambled up, picked up our tent by the 4 corners + carried it inside to use it to stake our claim. We were unaware that we were arriving in Bora Bora this afternoon, + thought we might have to endure another night on deck. If so, we wanted to make sure it was better than the previous one. In any case, it was more comfortable inside, + we could grab a little more sleep. This stop was Huahine, then later Raiatea, finally arriving at Bora Bora at about 2. We dragged our bags to the nearest patch of grass, + sat down to grab a splendid lunch of bread + cheese. Asked some back-packers who were leaving where was the best place to camp, + then tried hitch-hiking to it. Eventually a bus stopped, + tho’ he made it clear he wanted paying, as we were so laden down we agreed. He stopped in town, just 3 or 4 kms on, but told us he was carrying on in an hour, so we could carry on with him if we wanted. This suited us fine, as we could grab a bit of shopping.
The camp-site was very attractive, a strip of green right on the beach. Not a proper camp-site, just lush green grass and coconut trees. And 3 or 4 other tents. We pitched our tents – that was what I forgot to say yesterday, we managed to find the address Bernadette had given us, + Dave bought her tent, so now he was well set-up. Chatted for a while with Paul, an English guy, circumnavigating in the opposite direction to us. Then we tried to light a fire, with no success whatever – the wind was far too strong, + kept blowing it out. Still, we had our trusty stove to rely on, so we cooked up rice, veg + corned beef – filling, but bland. And then… collapse.
So, despite my previously declared antipathy to beach living, here we are again… on a beach. Not much of a beach, it’s true – all of the islands we have visited here have just a thin strip of sand between land and ocean, but it did for us, most notably because it provided free accommodation.
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