10 Years and Bora Bora

I finally have all the pictures downloaded and almost all the video from Jennie and I's trip to Bora Bora so I figured it was time to post them. Jennie and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary on June 16th and I surprised her with a trip to Bora Bora for just the two of us. My mom was kind enough to fly into town and watch the kids while we were gone for the week. While the travel was very long the trip was well worth it. It took us the better part of an entire day each way as the island is down in the South Pacific. It is probably the most beautiful place we have ever seen and while we love our kids, it was nice to have a little break just to ourselves. We got to do some snorkeling, took a safari tour of the island, rode jet ski's around the lagoon and just spent some time relaxing. The island is truly a honeymooner's island as you knew there were lots of people there but very rarely saw that many of them at any given time. I think just about everyone that we talked to during our trip was on their honeymoon. I would love to go visit again but think I would pick one of the other islands to stay on. It was crazy because after about 6:00 at night it was completely dark and there is no night-life on Bora Bora. I heard from some of the other couples that the different islands offer different activities and some have more to do than others. Anyways, here are some of the better pictures from our trip. The water was absolutely amazing and Bora Bora is tabbed as having the most beautiful lagoon in the world.

This is a show that was put on at the hotel we stayed at in Tahiti. Tahiti is the main island in the French Polynesian islands and the one that all flights arrive and depart from. The one night we stayed there they had a local tribal dance show which included a lot of fire and song. It was a great show and I wish that we could have seen more.


Here is our resort from the plane ride in. It is crazy because you fly into a little army airstrip which sits right next to the actual airport. The airport is basically an outside bungalow that is no bigger than our house. You then catch a boat and it was about a half hour ride to our actual resort. That was one of the most breathtaking half hours I have ever seen. It was nothing but turquoise blue waters and little remote islands.


Here is the view out of our bedroom. I wasn't going to go to Bora Bora and not stay in an overwater bungalow. We could jump right off our deck and snorkel in the lagoon. The room also had pieces of glass in the floors so you could look below and see the local fish swimming underneath you.


One of our excursions was a snorkeling trip that took us to feed and pet the stingrays as well as swim with some sharks. The stingrays were like puppies and would rush up to you as soon as you entered the water. In most spots the lagoon is only a couple of feet deep so you could walk for miles in the water. The stingrays would swim all around you and come up right out of the water to see who was there. It was pretty amazing because the guide as feeding the stingrays by hand and would get kisses from them. There were some really big stingrays but they were as gentle as could be.


Another day we took a half day tour around the island on jet skis. The guides then took us to a coral reef where you could walk around and see the coral life. It was a great way to see the whole island while riding in the most beautiful water I have ever seen.


Jennie sitting on the dock as we watched the sunset. While it was disappointing that the sun set by 6:00 every night, the view was amazing.


This was a safari ride that we took of the island. The guide took us to the top of the mountains on the island and showed us all the hot spots. This was a hill that you drove on top of and could look out over the entire lagoon. He decided that it would be fun to park on the middle of the hill on the way back and take a picture. This hill was almost straight down as were a lot of hills and roads on the island. It was amazing some of the roads that he drove up on to get us to different remote parts of the island. The guide was extremely funny and gave us all the good facts about the island and its history.


One of the safari stops was a top a hill that was home to a couple of US Navy cannons. During World War II the United States set up posts and camps on Bora Bora to keep an eye on the Japanese. They installed 8 cannons on the island to cover each side just in case. The cannons were never fired but still sit there to this day.


This was on the way down from the cannons and is a great view of the little cove and a small town on the island. Just another amazing shot of this beautiful island.


Here is Jennie just outside of a little art shop that we stopped at up on the middle of a mountain. There is just a little white house in the middle of no where and the couple who lives there are artist and sell various paintings and clothes out of there home. It was kind of cool because they have quite a few pictures in the store of Pierce Brosnon, who is a big fan of their work. He visits Bora Bora quite regularly and always stop by their shop when in town. Jennie bought a couple of wraps for herself and Brooklyn, which were made by their 7 year old daughter.


This is the view from the floor in our room. There were glass squares all throughout the bungalow that let you see into the lagoon and the fish swimming below. I decided to go snorkeling and see what type of picture that Jennie could get.


This is the view from the top of our resort and shows all the overwater bungalows that they had. I think every resort of that island had overwater bungalows and they all seemed to be full with people. A very popular commodity and the best way to stay on the island. Nothing else quite compares.

Well those are the best of more than 500 pictures that I took. I am hoping to get some of the video posted in the near future. I got some good video of the tribal show as well as us swimming with the sharks. I took an underwater camera and got some good footage. If you ever have the chance to get over the The French Polynesian islands I would definitely recommend it. It will be the trip of a lifetime and is well worth the day of travel to get there. it was so nice to have some alone time with Jennie and just being able to relax and do whatever we wanted. I am grateful to my mom for sacrificing her vacation time to watch our kids for the week. I know that she had a very busy week and was probably out of her comfort zone but I also know that the kids had a blast and are still talking about her visit. She had activities planned for them every single day and I don't even know if they really missed us. We hope that everyone's summer is going well and will be updating the blog with all that we have been up to this summer. Now that we have a little break in the kids sports there will be some more time to catch up on some other things.