What a magical place is Bora Bora. The volcanic island (extinct!) has no harbour so our ship moored offshore and we went ashore by tender. When I was a child one of the first long playing records my parents bought was South Pacific and I listened so often I can still sing the entire libretto word perfect. As soon as I saw Bora Bora I felt as if I had landed on that same island and expected to see Nurse Nellie Forbush walking along the sandy beach, washing that man right out of her hair. In fact I understand the film was shot in Hawaii.

I was afraid my upset stomach would prevent me visiting – but I had no trouble on that score. Never one to cope well in heat I found the island one of the hardest to cope with from the point of view of temperature. Boiling hot and incredibly humid. I suspect this may have been exacerbated by having been ill and feeling quite weak. As a result I walked around the island leaving puddles of sweat behind me and my soaking hair and clothes stuck to me! I could have done with Nellie’s shower and shampoo!

I had a couple of hours to kill before my arranged 4X4 trip and wandered around the tiny main street, between art shops and pearl shops. I was not in the mood for conspicuous consumption so resisted even the pareos. I know ‘responsible tourism’ says one should spend money locally to help their economies, but buying things i neither need nor want goes against the grain. Maybe it’s because I’ve done so much travelling in my time and know all too well that most purchases end up in the charity shop.Feeling guilty about hanging around in air conditoned pearl shops and art galleries, I braved the outside again and sat under a tree reading until it was time to meet the 4X4 driver and my small group.

The trip made my last 4X4 trip in Barbados seem like driving around a bowling green in comparison. This was a rollercoaster ride on deeply rutted, almost vertical tracks which were muddy and slippery after recent rain. Our first stop was high up to a lookout point where there are two WW1 cannons, redeployed there in 1942 by the Americans and apparently never fired. There was also a wartime concrete bunker. From this vantage point the views over the lagoon and coral reef were spectacularly beautiful. The sea was every shade of turquoise imaginable, changing as the clouds moved.

The island is lush and verdant and wrapped by white sandy beaches and encircled by the beautiful blue lagoon and coral reef. Our next stop was an artist’s studio at the top of the island. Here the gardens and stunning views over the lagoon made me think again of South Pacific and the house where Emil lived. There were some amazing plants and trees – including grapefruits, breadfruit, date and coconut palms and flowers.

The studio was another inevitable buying opportunity – with a gallery of paintings as well as hand painted pareos. we were treated to a demonstration of the technique for hand painting these before being served with homegrown avocado, grapefruit and coconut slices, while our driver- guide serenaded us on his guitar.

After being shown the nori fruit tree – the source of Viagra apparently! – we ended our trip with a brief stop at Matira beach – just enough time for paddling!

While my reaction to the heat made Bora Bora. uncomfortable, it was such a stunning and beautiful place that I won’t forget easily. If I were to go again I would choose to go swimming and snorkelling – I no longer scuba dive these days!

Possible Writerly Inspiration

My reaction to Bora Bora was so heavily coloured by South Pacific that my first thought would have to be a World War 2 story. The island was used as a military and oil supply base by the US military. While the cannons and bunker I saw indicated it had defensive capability too it was never actually attacked by the Japanese. 7000 men were stationed there. James Michener’s original stories and then Rogers and Hammerstein’s movie told a story of love across racial divides during wartime. Hard to top that!