Day 7

The day began with feeding fish of the swim deck. Surprisingly, there was a great variety of fish, even just around the overwater villas. Earlier this trip, we had heard that someone saw an octopus near their bungalow. We have yet to see any said creature. Regardless, feeding the fish is fun. Some were nibbling on Scott’s toes :)

After stuffing the fish with our stale cheez-it party mix and leftover baguettes we decided to go hang at the beach. Today, we decided we’d take the special chairs that were over the water. Not bad eh?

After our brief scuba adventure the other day, we were enticed by the tropical fish and wanted to see more. Before I go on, I need to make a few corrections:

-          last scuba was only about 6 meters for 30 minutes. This was with a company known as Top Dive

-          when we went to the Lagoonarium, we took a fourth stop on our way back to Vitape to see some giant manta rays. We snorkeled on the top of the water and looked down to see if we could find any. We soon spotted some. They were probably 20 meters down, and huge, at least 10-12 feet across. They were incredible! Scott dove down towards them, I refrained.

-          SO I had eluded to the fact that they brothers and the French guy who were our guides were a riot, I’d just like to jot down a few of their sayings here so that we do not forget their silliness: YUM YUM time, pee pee time, no shopping time…

Ok, so back to today’s scuba with Bora Bora Diving. Today’s dive took us just outside of the reef. We went down about 12-15 meters and there we stayed for 35-40 minutes. It was awesome! We saw so many fish of course, but the highlights were the sharks. That’s right, sharks! We predominantly saw black-tips and lemon sharks. I thought I might get scared, but they were so graceful and not at all intimidating. HUGE, they were. We saw some 7-8 footers! There was even a pregnant one. It was swimming towards us. I got a little nervous and appropriately positioned myself directly behind Scott and our instructor (is that bad?!). Scott even got to drive the boat as our instructor refueled, while driving. That was fun for Scott, I think. OH, and we bought a throw away underwater camera, so we’ll have some pix to share when we get back.

I have yet to reflect much of the cultural aspects of this trip. I believe I will do so while we are at the airport as there is so much I do not want to forget. I will say that there are many French and other Europeans vacationing here. French Polynesia, duh! Scott is especially fond of all the hanky panky speedos that they men wear. The Hilton staff has been incredible! We’ve learned a couple Polynesian words (can’t spell them but I can say them). We’ve chatted and love the blend of cultures here. It makes the trip exciting and unique.

We spent time watching the sunset atop a hill, near the Spa. Absolutely breathtaking –nuf said! We continue to be memorized by its glory.

Dinner tonight was a buffet (at the beach site) containing traditional Polynesian dishes, along with local fish, and food from the various cultures represented at the resort. It was delicious. I mostly preferred the sushi. YUM YUM Time! For our enjoyment, there was also a Polynesian dance show for us to watch. Scott failed to warn me that one of the male dancers was approaching our table from behind. With a tap on the shoulder, I was taken up in front of the crowd to shake my hips and show off my moves. Good thing we had a couple cocktails beforehand or I may have gotten shy. Scott said my dancer boy was ‘high as a kite.’ Regardless, I shook my bon bon and all was well. At the end of the show, Scott was a good sport and took a picture with the dancers. Thanks babe!