Once again, I've woken up before sunrise (this surprises me since usually I hit snooze a million times before I start the day). By the time Curt woke (another shocker since he's usually the one shaking me awake), I had done a sufficient amount of blogging (trying to limit the time I blog to early morning, after our daily excursion during down time or late at night - also didn't realize how long I'd spend uploading video & photos to add to the blog).
We made it to breakfast by 8:00AM & were able to snag the gazebo that many people reserve for a private meal. The gazebo is located on the beach in front of the restaurant & overlooks the lagoon. We both opted for salmon & herb omlettes & coffee. Of course we also helped ourselves to chocolate croissants; fresh fruit; bacon & their quiche of the day (we've been filling our bellies up on breakfast since it's included in our package & are able to skip a sit down lunch, with only a light snack before dinner). We stayed as long as we could in our private gazebo before heading to the main dock for Vaitape (the main town on the main island).
We arrived at Vaitape & were a bit confused on where/how to find our guide for the excursion. We wandered around and asked many locals where we should wait. They directed us to sit on the bench and hang out until our guide picked us up (most likely he was running late). I am still getting accustomed to "island time" & am still operating on USA speed - making me a bit impatient. As time goes on, I'm learning that I no longer live in fast paced NYC, SF runs on clocks, Moss Beach runs close to "island time" but still gets things done in a timely fashion - I just got to learn to chill out & wait. I would later learn a phrase that local Polynesians will use with tourists/Frenchmen: "You have a watch, but I have the time..."
Eventually our guide found us & informed us that we'd need to wait for 3 more guests to arrive from the cruise ship anchored out in the lagoon. We waited & waited, but eventually they showed up. We met three Hungarians that were eager to start our tour. **I instantly wished I had remembered some of the Hungarian that my Aunt Andrea & her sister Katie had taught us when we were younger. The only words I could remember were Tsitsa (honey) & egan (yes if I recall correctly). **Sorry Andi if I'm butchering Hungarian spelling.** I'm afraid I would have gotten really strange looks by these strangers if I used a term of endearment with them, so we just interacted in English.
We all hopped on a boat & headed out to the reef, where our yellow submarine waited for us (obviously I began to quietly sing "Yellow Submarine" in Curt's ear - it seemed very appropriate haha). Our French tour guide popped out the top of his submarine, greeted us and assisted us down below.
Down below our guide explained how he prepared the sub to descend & instructed us on what we should do in the event of a sub emergency (similar to how to exit a plane in case of emergency, but he added in the event that he was incapacitated we'd be on our own to successfully exit the submarine). We began our descend to the bottom of the reef, which was about 150 feet below sea level. Inside the sub, everything appears smaller & our guide comforted us by letting us know that sea life would be sufficiently scared by our gigantic appearance due to the magnified appearance (ie: sharks would be scared of jolly green giant sized Nicole & Curtis). In actuality, much of the sea life was attracted to the sub because our guide feeds them from an opening in the submarine. We attracted many kinds of fish, black tipped sharks & a group of lemon sharks.
Among the lemon sharks we saw one female shark that was extremely pregnant. I was not intimidated when they swam straight at us bearing their huge toothy grins (as we were thankfully protected by extremely dense windows & I learned that Lemon Sharks are almost blind, so they only hunt for food at night). We also got to see divers along the reef. This was a great experience that Curt & I enjoyed immensely. The entire time submerged was about 40 minutes.
As we prepared to come back up, the captain kept checking in with our boat driver. Apparently, it stormed while we were under water. Once above the sea, we got back on the boat, put on our foul weather gear, said goodbye to our captain & headed for shore. Awesome, awesome experience!!
Once we got back to the Vaitape dock, a taxi was waiting to take us to the Bora Pearl Company. I was pretty excited to see how they harvested the oysters & made the pearl jewelry. When we got there I wasn't sure what to expect, but was surprised that there were no other tourists at "The Farm." We were greeted by a guide that showed us how the oysters are harvested and how they ensure that the pearls (99% of the time) come out in a desired Tahitian pearl form.
A nucleus is placed inside of the shell & it cultivates over 7 years. Once they harvest the pearl it is sent to Tahiti to check how thick the pearl is. If it is given approval, the pearl center in Tahiti sends it back to the pearl company. If it doesn't get approved, the pearl is crushed. Curt & I learned all about the different grades (A is the best), shapes (round is the best), luster & how to tell if a pearl is legit (using weight and temperature).
After we learned about the pearls & watched them design jewelry, the guide brought us into the showroom. She put some of their most expensive pieces on me. I was stunned to see how much pearls could cost. The three necklaces I'm wearing below are ticketed at $70,000 USD (EACH)!!! For pearls!!!
I absolutely wanted to leave Bora Bora with a piece of Tahitian pearl jewelry, however the price tags on these pieces were outrageous. We scoured the store & found a B grade, baroque, 9mm pearl in their loose pearl collection. It wasn't too expensive, so we went for it (I sort of had a nagging feeling that we were totally ripped off, but everyone told us if we wanted to see the farm this was the place to go). **We'd later find out that we paid way too much for what we got. Curt is still convinced that the BPC pearls must be slightly better quality & thickness.
After we left the farm, we went back to the main town & wandered around a bit. Perfect day to walk around the island since it was overcast (with the occasional sun shower). We decided to pop into Pearla (another jewelry shop that we already knew about).
FLASHBACK to Sunday, July 24th: I completely forgot to mention a special encounter Curt & I had in the Papeete airport. I spoke at great length about how I cried on the Air France flight & my suite mate had requested quiet & slept the entire time. This gentleman was only awake for breakfast and landing. We wished each other great trips on the way off the plane, but that was the extent of our interaction on board.
This is Laurent catching some Z's!!!
While Curt & I waited hours in the airport for our connection to Bora Bora, this gentleman (who would later introduce himself as Laurent) stopped by our table to chat. He apologized for sleeping through our honeymoon flight ordeal & told us he lived on the main island. He gave us his card & told us he was the designer for this company (Pearla - a pearl jewelry store). He asked that we get in touch with him if we wanted any recommendations, etc... and we thanked him for chatting (but hadn't ever actually planned on giving him a call because we figured he was just being hospitable).
JUMP back to July 26, 2011:
We walked into Pearla (with our Bora Pearl Company bag buried deep in my shopping bag) & spotted Laurent at a desk in the back. When he spotted us, he waved excitedly & numerous saleswoman rushed to assist us. We told the women how I sat next to the designer on our Air France flight. Laurent was busy with a customer & the other women showed us gorgeous strands of pearls.
Virgine (most likely the manager) insisted that I try on pieces and spoke to me about how to purchase the perfect pearl. She insisted that choosing the color & perfect pearl was an emotional process. Apparently the perfect piece speaks to you (I was already eyeing up the necklace she had on, which was exquisite). We only had 15 minutes before our shuttle left to head back to the St. Regis.
Laurent came over to say hello & told Virgine the story of how we knew each other. He told her he was so happy to see me smiling & insisted that whatever we wanted was 50% off, as a wedding present to Curt & I. It was then that he told us he was able to give us 50% off because he in fact owned 4 Pearla boutiques and was the CEO of the company. We had 5 minutes to make it to the shuttle, so we told him we would be back when we had more time to pick out the perfect set of pearls.
When Laurent walked away (after giving me kisses - Euro style), Virgine told me I was a very lucky lady & that Laurent never gives discounts to people like that. I was excited to go back and hopefully pick something nice out. When we hurried to the dock, Curt & I couldn't believe what just happened. Curt thought he said 15% discount & when I corrected him (50% percent) he said we were definitely going back to "drop some cash." I've never heard Curtis speak like that & was cracking up.
Turns out we were actually an hour early for the shuttle, so Curt told me we were going back to Pearla to get me pearls. Virgine was thrilled to see us again & Laurent told her to show me whatever I wanted (I felt like a celebrity). We were definitely getting the royal treatment. I tried on strand after strand. Virgine was obsessed with my eye color & said we should find the perfect set to compliment them. The ones that "spoke" to me were actually the ones on her neck (which thankfully she didn't own). She took them off & put them on me (she said she wears a different set from the store everyday depending on her outfit). That was it - I was in love!! Virgine told me they were $16,000 & my heart sank. I thought for sure we wouldn't be able to get this set. Virgine said she'd speak to Laurent (after Curt had given her the max he would/could spend). Laurent said, "Yes, Yes" to the proposed offer & the pearls had a new owner (we received a much greater discount than Laurent had initially proposed). Laurent gave me many kisses & congratulated Curtis & I again. **This stunning necklace is part of my wedding gift from Curtis, my birthday present & part of my Christmas present - I was informed by Curt after we left.**
Virgine was stunned! She kept saying over & over that I was incredibly lucky to get the pearls at that price. She said she has never seen anyone get that significant a discount. I left Pearla walking on air & wearing my new Tahitian pearls. We waited for the shuttle & headed back to the St. Regis.
We had about an hour & a half before our romantic candlelight dinner, on a private inlet. Curt splashed around in the lagoon & read for a bit, while I popped in my core Kettle Worx DVD for a quick workout.
At 6PM, we were shown to our candlelight dinner location. The sun was setting right in front of us as we were greeted by our favorite island server (this time we learned her name - Meledie - pronounce Mi lady). When she left to get our bottle of wine, Curt turned to me and chuckled. With a name like, Mi lady, she definitely fits the trannie bill (I would have to agree with Curt because of the fact that she is tall & slender, whereas majority of the Tahitian woman are very round & stout thanks to Westernization). .Regardless, she did a fabulous job ensuring our night was perfect
Our dinner was incredibly romantic & the food was superb. After we sufficiently stuffed ourselves (once again), we headed back to the room. We were pleasantly surprised by the turn down service (which has been great thus far, but tonight extra special). Our bed was honeymoon appropriate - complete with flower petals.
After today's long, exciting day we were exhausted. We had to be at the main dock by 8:30AM the next morning for our full day excursion and fell asleep by 10PM.
Thanks again for all the fabulous email responses from all our family & friends - we greatly appreciate it!!
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