The next morning we awoke at 6:00 AM to the sun glittering off the water outside our bedroom window. They had brought us a fruit tray the previous evening (likely because AJK had mentioned something about super platinum diamond ambassador status in his efforts to get us a room before 3:00 PM). Either way, it made for a lovely breakfast while we decided on the day's plans.
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AJK DDF, on Flickr
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AJK DDF, on Flickr
We knew that by early afternoon we wanted to check-out and make our way across the BOB lagoon to check-in at the Intercontinental Thalasso Resort where we were going to spend the rest of our trip. So we had time for one activity in the morning. Because we had
so much fun with our previous motorcycling experience in a near death encounter in Bali (TR to come!) we decided to give renting a motorcycle another go. [
AJK: Moped, not motorcycle...]
AJK took care of ensuring we had a late checkout, and we had the concierge arrange with a rental company to deliver a bike to the hotel. By about 8:45 AM we were seated on the back of our little bike and we headed off to explore. Seeing as the island has a circumference of only 32 km, and there is only one main road, we just headed off on the main road which you encounter as soon as you exit the hotel property.
While a typical 32 km road can be traversed in about 40 min on a bike, if the views are as spectacular as they are in Bora Bora, then the 32 km road will take you considerably longer. We made our way around the island at a leisurely pace stopping to take pictures every few feet.
DSC05404 by
AJK DDF, on Flickr
[
AJK: Was super hot outside, so we grabbed some water at a local stand.]
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AJK DDF, on Flickr
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AJK DDF, on Flickr
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AJK DDF, on Flickr
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AJK DDF, on Flickr
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AJK DDF, on Flickr
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AJK DDF, on Flickr
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AJK DDF, on Flickr
We eventually made our first loop around and decided we had time for a second. Which meant more pictures
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AJK DDF, on Flickr
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AJK DDF, on Flickr
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AJK DDF, on Flickr
We took the second loop at a bit faster pace stopping off in town to pick up some drinks. Seeing as the two cokes we’d had the previous evening had rung up at $10, which unless the coke is white, powdery and can be snorted, should never cost that much, we bought a six-pack of soda for about $5, threw it in our backpack and jumped back on our bike to head back to the hotel.
DSC05436 by
AJK DDF, on Flickr
At the hotel, we packed up our bungalow and headed to check-out. Our luggage was picked up by a man wearing a skirt, on a bike with a little cart attached to the back. He had about ten suitcases in the back and biked with one hand while he wheeled another two rolling suitcases along next to him. Quite impressive.
I went to the boat dock where the resorts transfer shuttle would take us across the lagoon to the Thalasso, while AJK went to see what he could do about the $20 fee they had assessed us for the hard work they went to throwing a foil-wrapped tin in their oven. AJK joined me ten minutes later... victorious. I’m losing track of the score between us and the Intercontinental Le Moana, but I’m pretty certain we’re winning.
The boat ride across the lagoon is spectacular and a great way to have a little tour of the lagoon. The ride is about 10-15 minutes long and all too soon we pulled up at the dock at the Intercontinental Thalasso.
Some pics from the ride:
DSC05443 by
AJK DDF, on Flickr
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AJK DDF, on Flickr
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AJK DDF, on Flickr
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AJK DDF, on Flickr
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AJK DDF, on Flickr
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AJK DDF, on Flickr
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AJK DDF, on Flickr
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AJK DDF, on Flickr
We were met by a woman who handed us two flower leis which they must have sprayed with floral perfume because they smelled phenomenal. She escorted us to a golf cart parked on the dock. A little red emergency phone attached to a stand on the dock began ringing and she picked it up. After conversing with the person on the other end for a minute she hung up and asked us if we had any food we needed to store in the freezer.
AJK had emailed the general manager regarding our food prior to our arrival and it seems he was pretty organized. We took our cooler with us in the golf cart and while showing us a tour of the property we stopped off by the concierge desk where we were met by the head-chef and the general manager. We quickly explained how the heating up of the POM meals works and we were informed that they had a kosher wine list we could choose from to go with our meals.
We were also informed about the same $10 heating and $10 delivery fee. [
AJK: While I didn't like the fee anymore at the Thalasso, at least they informed us we'd be charged.]
We were shown to some chairs in the check-in area, and they checked us in while they brought us drinks and cool towels. We were then driven to our over-water bungalow. The entire resort, including the pretty grounds, are newer and nicer than the Intercontinental Le Moana on the mainland.
[
AJK: Pictures of the room in the next installment!]
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