Back to the
Marquesas…..we arrived in Taiohae Bay, Nuku Hiva in the early afternoon on
Thursday 24 May. We had a big sleep that night and the next morning rowed the
dinghy (our crappy second hand outboard has spat the dummy and Ivan likes the
exercise) to the dock and walked up the pretty little street, passports and
boat papers in hand to check in with the Gendarmes. The Gendarme who checked us
in had only arrived on the island from Paris a few days prior. Apparently they
have to do a 3 month stint in a French outpost every couple of years. We said
he must have felt very lucky to have been posted to such a beautiful place. He
looked at us like we were crazy. I guess the Marquesas are a bit quiet for a
boy who’s grown up in Paris!
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| Approaching Nuku Hiva |
My brain
and belly have both switched gears since leaving the Galapagos. I have caught
myself on more than one occasion saying “gracias” instead of “merci” or “hola”
instead of “bonjour”. It’s hard to shake off months of Spanglish, replacing it
overnight with rusty schoolgirl French. Still, it keeps the brain plastic they
say! As for my belly –baguettes, brie, pate and chocolate mousse – I was in
heaven! A big topic of conversation amongst cruisers is food – what is
available and where and when to get it. It is extreme in the Marquesas (and the
Tuomotus) where fresh food is hard to come by. We love visiting markets
wherever we are, but having to get to the Taiohae Bay market at 4am just to get
some veggies is ridiculous! By 5am it’s all sold out. We did it though and came
away with avocadoes, lettuce, tomatoes, bok choy and some fruit while others
who arrived later came away with “nada” oops “rien”.
We did a
tour of Nuku Hiva with another couple. It was really interesting to learn the
history of the island from Richard, our guide, as well as hear about current
social issues they face. The island only schools children up until abut year 9.
After that they have to go to Tahiti to continue their education. Richard’s
daughter is only 6 years old now, but he is already worrying about sending her
off on her own to Tahiti as a 14 year old.
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| A pretty top view |
We celebrated Ivan’s birthday in Hakaui (or Daniel’s) Bay. It is a relatively calm anchorage, surrounded by towering mountains and the feeble bleats of wild goats. A handful of families live in the bay. They grow fruit and some vegetables that are shipped to Tahiti every couple of weeks via the cargo/passenger ship Aranui. We asked a local couple to prepare a Marquesan feast for us and 8 others for Ivan’s birthday. It was a great afternoon featuring shrimps in coconut sauce, taro, green bananas, manioc, a salad of watercress and cucumber and banana turnovers for dessert. There was also a coconut husking session - it's not as easy as it looks!
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| Let the party begin! |
From Hakaui Bay we day sailed across to the island of Ua Poa and spent a couple
of nights in quite a rolly anchorage there. The dinghy landing there was a
challenge as there was a huge swell at the dinghy dock. We just had to leap out
very quickly and then drag the dinghy up onto the dock before the surge dragged
it away from us. The village here was a little larger than the one at Hakaui
Bay and even boasted a primary school and a shop. We were met at the dock by a
guy who led us up the road to his family's fruit farm where we spent a couple
of hours, talking, watching him make coconut milk and finally purchasing some
fruit. It was nice to be able to have a freshwater shower at this village, even
if it was just a stream of water coming out of a pipe in full view of everyone
next to the dinghy dock!
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| Ivan chats to the neighbours while the granite looks on |
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