How do you find a trailhead in Bora Bora? My guidebook said Tereia Pont was 5 miles north of the main village of Vaitape. Not a lot to go on there, so a link to alltrails.com was thoughtfully provided. Alltrails.com was no help (perhaps because we had the free version?). After driving past the trailhead multiple times, we consulted the oracle that is the Internet. Finally, some kind soul posted that it was 30m from the Pearl resort ferry pickup. And voila, the trailhead was this incredibly steep driveway, apparently used as a tsunami exit route. However, to exit the tsunami in your vehicle you would need a four wheel drive and courage. But low and behold, we spotted a four wheel drive doing just that. (We suspect a tour guide was at the wheel; don't try this in your rental car).
So we sweated our way to the top of the tsunumi exit driveway, where our guidebook assured us it then "levels out." I think "levels out" is a bit of an overstatement, but we sailored on, because not too away was the point of the hike, to see abandoned WWII naval guns.
After Pearl Harbour, a race was on by the U.S. Army and Navy to provide refueling and safe harbour for sailors and soldiers fighting in the South Pacific. On February 17, 1942, the 1,500 inhabitants of Bora Bora awakened to find over 4,000 American G.I.'s landing on their tiny island. Over the next four years, the G.I.'s constructed an oil depot, an airstrip, a seaplane base, and defensive fortifications. That included finding a way to haul the heavy gun you see here up a steep cliff.
After hauling that gun up, the G.I.'s were rewarded with a spectacular view of the lagoon that encircles the mainland. Steven is admiring the view here next to a concrete lookout. Bora Bora never saw military action. The G.I.'s that landed here spent the war in a safe paradise.
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