Quad biking in Bora Bora

Today we went quad biking.  We were picked up from our hotel at 8 a.m. by Mo and crawled onto benches in the back of a pick up truck.  

We made one stop to pick up more tourists, all of whom were from the cruise ships we saw in the lagoon today.  Some of them were going jet skiing.  First we had to put on lunch lady hair nets.

Then we were given helmets and assigned a quad bike.

We were glad we got Mo for our guide today.  There were five quads and eight people on our tour.  Gayle was our driver and I rode on the back.  Gayle drives a UTV around her farm.  I knew I was in safe hands.

Mo directed that we (the two old ladies) would be the bike behind him.  There was a couple in their fifties, a French guy whose sole purpose was to get out his drone at every stop, and a young couple for whom the whole day was about getting Instagram worthy photos of her jogging down hills and other such nonsense.  

Our first stop was up a very steep hill where we could see down to both sides of the lagoon.  

I thought that was an exciting ride until our next stop, which took us up a very steep, dirt, muddy road where we could see out to two of the American cannons placed here doing WWII and thankfully never used. The view above us toward the highest peak in Bora Bora was lovely.  Actually, every view here is lovely.

We rode along the major road (much of it next to the water) at 50 kph for much of the journey.

Our last stop was up a treacherous muddy road.  Gayle was having a blast.  I was white knuckled, trying not to pitch over the top of her and trying not to squeal.  The plan had been for me to drive half of the way but there was absolutely no way I would have been courageous enough.  This road confirmed for me that Gayle had to do the driving. We were definitely going through a jungle, ducking under branches and hitting them on the sides.  I would love to have taken a photo or a video but I knew if I took out my phone it would fly from my hands.  When we got to the top of the hill we stopped beside two American cannons.  

Mo talked about why the American military stationed people here during WWII, what advances they brought to the island, and why there are now some blue-eyed Polynesians with American last names.  Then he cut us up some grapefruit, unwrapped some coconut bread and gave us mango juice.  Gayle spent every stop taking photos of flowers and plants to identify later.

Before we left this spot I asked Mo if the ride down would be as treacherous as the ride up had been.  He said, “It will be easy for me.”  It wasn’t easy for me.  Gayle went slow to ease my unease but the road was definitely tricky.  We turned in our helmets and quad bikes, got back in the truck with Mo so he could deliver us back to our hotel.  We were sticky, sweaty, dehydrated and just plan hot.  We stripped off our clothes, put on our bathing suits and slipped into the lagoon to cool down and perhaps do a bit of snorkeling.  Again the wind came up while we were trying to snorkel.  We gave up and got out, disappointed but refreshed.

We made reservations for dinner tonight here at the resort for their buffet and Polynesian dance show.  We were hoping for Polynesian barbecue.  It was a large array of food but the most astounding part of the buffet was the dessert section.  We ate our savory food quickly and moved on to the dessert extravaganza.  

Right as we finished the drummers, ukulele player and singer got into place.  

There were five women and four men danced for 45 minutes, with multiple costume changes.

Before it began, Gayle asked if we could figure out how to get the wheelchair out of the restaurant after the performance began.  She was sure she wasn’t going to want to stay for the duration.  But we made it through to the end and with smiles on our faces.  I said I wasn’t going to dream tonight of gun-wielding men in tuxedos trying to break into our room.  I was going to dream of Polynesian men dancing.