In the two short weeks we had in the Marquesas Islands we
were captivated by their magic. Whether
it was the romance of arriving in this remote corner of the world after three
weeks at sea or the sheer splendour of being able to see these magnificent
islands rise up out of the sea, their dark, bold cliffs and crags entwined with
emerald green and fringed with the blue sea.
Each island we were lucky enough to visit was familiar, yet so unique
from its neighbours. From such beauty
the smiling faces of the people greeted us.
Our ineptitude with regard to language was pronounced and cut us off
from getting to know the shy, but friendly locals. Sometimes however, a giggle and a smile and
much repetition of ‘merci’ was all that was needed to get the message. Most times we were grateful to our incredible
multilingual friends from Pelizeno, La Cigale and Yonder who were able to
communicate, translate and enrich our experience meeting the people of these
islands.
FATU HIVA
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| Fatu Hiva Bay of Virgins |
We first anchored in Fatu Hiva, the south eastern most of
the island group. Fatu Hiva is not
technically a check in point and we were a little nervous about stopping, but we
did not want to miss the opportunity to anchor in ‘the most beautiful anchorage
in the world’. It is an upwind sail from
the nearest check-in point in Hiva Oa, so it makes sense to stop in on the way past. Most times this excursion from protocol is
overlooked by the gendarme and we were fortunate that this was also the case
when we did finally check in.
We anchored in the bay off Hanavave called the Bay of
Virgins, which we amusingly read in our guide books was the revised name of the
bay given by the early missionaries ‘Baie de Vierges’ rather than ‘Baie des
Verges ….’, more literally interpreted as Bay of Dicks. The original name is quite obvious as soon as
you arrive. Nonetheless, it is perhaps
the most beautiful anchorage. Great
volcanic formations surround the bay and the mountains rise up high and green
from the water. It’s a mix of greens and
blues and greys that change as the sun passes overhead.
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| The changing colours of Baie de Vierges |
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| The changing colours of Baie de Vierges |
We had two lovely nights at anchor where we slept
all
night through – it’s the little things in life. Our first day we were lucky to be invited in
to visit the local primary school in Hanavave.
School had finished for the day, but the lovely teachers, Evelyn and
Pierre-Henri welcomed us into the small school that caters for 30 students
between the ages of 3 and 12, all from Hanavave. They split the pupils into two groups, 3 to 7
years and 8 to 12 years. School starts
at 7am and goes to 3pm, but they have a long break of about 1½-2 hours in the
middle of the day where everyone goes home for lunch and a rest.
We celebrated our landfall by having friends over for sundowners as the sun was setting over the bay. Pelizeno, Yonder and SY Rayon Vert joined us for rum punches (for the grown-ups anyway) and a big cheers to a safe passage across the Pacific.
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| A visit to the local school in Hanavave |
On Tuesday morning the peace was broken by a loud call of
‘Good morning Vietnam!’ over the VHF.
Not quite Vietnam, but it was certainly clear that La Cigale had arrived
😊. We
spent the day in the Hanavave with La Cigale and Rayon Vert, our goal being the
walk to the waterfall for a swim in freshwater.
It was hot walking, but it felt good to be moving again after weeks of
being confined aboard RAFTKIN. The
waterfall was beautiful, with a large pool at the bottom that we could swim
in. The water was colder than the ocean,
but warmer than a midsummer Blue Mountains canyon and you could swim right up
and under the falls, letting the water pound down onto your head. There was a small rock cliff we could climb
up to the side of the pool and then jump in from a height of about 4 or 5
metres. Hayley has found a new passion
and she climbed up and jumped in many, many times. The girls were so happy to be reunited with
their sailing friends.
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| Waiting for La Cigale to come ashore after three weeks at sea |
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| Creek crossing enroute to the waterfall |
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| Dave takes in the waterfall |
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| The waterfall |
On the way back down to Hanavave there were many mangoes to be found. You are not supposed to pick any of the fruit trees on the island as they all belong to the local people, who make their income from selling the fruit, mainly bananas, pamplemousses, lemons, limes and green oranges. The mangoes are the exception and you are allowed to pick these or collect fallen fruit from the ground. The mangoes are smaller than the ones we get at home, but oh so sweet. We stopped many times on the way back to collect the mangoes!
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| Hayley in mango heaven! |
In La Cigale fashion we headed over to their boat for a pot
luck dinner on Tuesday night (8
th May) with Rayon Vert, and two
Norwegian families from SY Kea and Cèst le Bon. It was a lovely night to catch up on stories
of the crossing and plans for our adventures ahead.
HIVA OA
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| Dolphins ride with us into HIva Oa |
On Wednesday morning (9
th May) we reluctantly pulled up our anchor and set sail for Hiva Oa. We had strong winds, 20-25 knots, fortunately in the right direction, so we reefed both sails to make the ride a bit steadier. It dropped later off to 18 knots, so we had a good run sailing at 7-8 knots, about 6½ hours sailing. As we sailed closer to Hiva Oa we were joined by a pod of around 50 dolphins that swam with the boat for nearly half an hour. At times there were so many dolphins between the two hulls that it looked like we could have walked (or dolphin hopped, as Megan suggested) from one hull to the other.
Taahuku Bay in Hiva Oa is a very pretty anchorage, but so
very rolly it was only ever going to be a short stay – even in a
catamaran! On Thursday morning we tried
to check in at the local Gendarme, but they had closed for the morning. We used our time in town to get some French
Polynesian Francs and did some shopping to top up our provisions – we even
managed to find carrots! On the walk
back to the boat a local guy pulled over and offered us a lift back,
gratis. So kind! H & M were very pleased about this!
After lunch we walked back into Atuona with
Shawnigan and La Cigale to find the Gendarme open, and we cleared customs with
no drama. We walked down to paepae (stone platform) with palm frond
thatched rooves. Central to the paepae was a large, open grassed area
that was perfect for all the boat kids to cartwheel, run, twirl and play
across. On the walk back to Taahuku Bay
we got caught out by a rain shower, then by the earlier sunset than we had been
used to, so we got back to the dinghy dock in the dark.
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| Walk into Atuona for check in (fingers crossed) |
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| Boat kids hanging out at the paepae in Atuona (Photo by La Cigale) |
Friday 11th May was also a public holiday, just
to bridge the gap between the Thursday religious holiday and the weekend. How could you not like French Polynesia? We caught up on some wifi time in the
morning, but internet speed was slow as it runs via satellite to Tahiti and
then out from Tahiti. I managed to get
three weeks of school work uploaded and Dave got our emails downloaded. In three hours there was no time for anything
more. As soon as we got the last of the
schoolwork uploaded, we hauled up the anchor and happily motored out of the
anchorage. We had a downwind run to the
neighbouring island of Tahuata, with a strong current through the gap between
Hiva Oa and Tahuata, so sailing just under the jib we were able to make close
to 6 knots.
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| Wifi time at Hiva Oa requires great patience |
TAHUATA
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| Approach to Hanameneni Bay, Tahuata |
We arrived in Hana Moe Noa Bay in the late afternoon where
we were reunited with Dol Selene, Bajka, Pelizeno, Yonder, La Cigale and
Shawnigan. There were two other kid
boats in the bay too, Anila and Baloo.
We wasted no time, jumping straight into the water (it’s like a bath at
about 28⁰C)
and swimming over to each boat to say g’day and have a chat. Soon just about everyone was in the water
until we all turned pruney and started to shiver.
We had four full days enjoying the beach, bay and company in
Hana Moe Noa Bay. There was great
snorkeling along the southern side of the bay, with so many beautiful
coloured fish, from black and yellow angel fish as big as your hand to tiny, bright
blue fish smaller than your thumb. As we
approached the end of the reef I saw a school of amazing angel fish. I called Hayley over to show her and as I
pointed them out my eye caught something in the direct line of where I was
pointing – a beautiful white tipped reef shark around 1.2 metres long. Hayley’s
eyes widened and she made a beeline toward the paddle board.
All the kids in the anchorage commandeered two of the
dinghies and a blow up tube. One dinghy
was to ferry the kids around, the other to tow the tube (+ kid). Too much fun!
We had a big beach BBQ on Saturday night to celebrate our Pacific crossing
and, more importantly, Miss Megan’s birthday.
We had a bonfire and watched the sun set slowly into the sea. As it passed below the horizon some of us are
sure we saw the green flash, though it was more of a lime smudge than a green
flash. After dinner, we brought out a
chocolate cake and everyone sang happy birthday to Megan. Then, as if chocolate cake was not enough,
there were marshmallows to toast on the fire.
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| Boat kids raft up and ready to go tubing |
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| Beach BBQ and celebration |
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| Bonfire on the beach |
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| Sunset over Hanameneni Bay |
Sunday 13th May, Hayley and Megan made pancakes
for breakfast and beautiful cards to say Happy Mother’s Day. In the afternoon, the boat chicks had all
been invited over to Pelizeno for an afternoon tea escape, while the dads took
the kids to the beach. A glorious
afternoon of gossip with 8 lovely ladies (and yes, we only drank tea and
coffee!).
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| Dinghy trip to Vaitehu |
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| Beautiful church in Vaitehu |
We took the dinghies three miles down the coast to
Resolution Bay and the village of Vaitahu on Monday. We had a walk around the town and found the
beautiful red spired church, built of stone and wood. The back wall of the church had a beautiful
stained-glass window that caught the light and made the room glow. It was the most beautiful church I have ever
seen. We returned to Hana Moe Noa Bay in
time for Ilian’s (from Bajka) 4th birthday party and spent the
afternoon on the beach.
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| Ordering coffee in Vaitehu (Photo by Dol Selene) |
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| Ilian's 4th birthday beach party fun, Hanameneni Bay |
Our last day in the beautiful Hana Moe Noa Bay we spent snorkelling, paddling, and swimming at the beach with friends. We pulled up our anchor as the sun set to sail overnight to the island of Ua Huka. We had to put the brakes on all night, because the wind that was supposed to die out didn’t and we didn’t want to arrive in Ua Huka before daybreak. At first light we checked on the anchorage at Hane Bay, but found that the swell was still too big, so we decided to pass and kept sailing.
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| Departure from Hanameneni Bay, Tahuata |
NUKU HIVA
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| Anaho Bay anchorage from eastern side |
We sailed through the straight between Ua Huka and Nuku
Hiva, then around the northern point of Nuku Hiva and into Anaho Bay. This amazingly sheltered anchorage is
surrounded by great big basalt peaks, with a golden sandy beach lined with
coconut palms. This is the only bay in
Marqueses where you need to be mindful of the reef, which lies between the
deeper water of the bay and the beach.
Once we were settled at anchor, we explored the bay and caught up with
our travelling companions.Thursday morning we went hunter-gathering, walking to the local
farm, a half hour walk from the anchorage.
The trail went around the bay, then up and over the ridge into the next
valley.
There the farm unfolded before
us, a kind of permaculture style farm where there were the beds were mostly
informal, with citrus trees forming a boundary between different crops. We walked around with the farmer collecting
pamplemousse, limes, cucumbers, beans, eggplant, papaya, watermelon and
bananas. It was fantastic!
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| Picking cucumbers with Niall from Bajka |
In the afternoon we walked back walked back past the farm
and along a trail through a tunnel of trees to the surf beach. The walk took us a little longer than we
anticipated, but we figured that we had time for a 10-15 minute swim to ensure
we got back before dark. The beach was
awesome and it was hard to keep to our time limit. The surf was great for body surfing and the
water was warm. Too soon we dragged
ourselves from the water and made our way back along the trail.
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| Afternoon walk to the beach |
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Amazing rock formations at the
southern end of Haatuatua Bay |
There was a quick turnaround on the boat and we were back on
shore showered and fresh, ready for dinner at the local ‘restaurant’. An outdoor table had been set up under a
mango tree. There was fresh garden salad
on the table with homegrown lettuce, cucumber and tomato. Such a treat!
The meal was goat cooked in coconut milk, with rice, breadfruit and
steamed banana. Just in case there
wasn’t enough goat, there were a couple of dishes poisson cru (tuna marinated
in lime juice). For the kids there was
breaded fish and pasta or rice. The
evening captured the magic of these islands.
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| Dinner under the stars, Anaho Restaurant |
The weather always dictates what we should do next. The forecast was showing a large period of no
wind commencing early the next week, right when we were intending to sail to
the Tuamotus. This meant reconsidering
our plans to ensure we would be able to sail rather than motor. To complicate things, we learned that there
was a public holiday on Monday, so the fuel station in Taiohae Bay would be
closed, further delaying our departure if the weather followed the
forecast. It was looking like we might
need to leave this beautiful bay earlier than planned. A shame, but that’s cruising. The weather always wins.
We met our friends on the beach at 11am on Friday to walk
over the pass to Hatihei Bay. It took
about 1 hour to walk to the top of the pass, including the stops to collect
mangoes along the way. From the top we
looked back down over the beautiful Anaho Bay and beyond, before dropping down
into Hatihei Bay. We soon found
ourselves on a concrete road, walking past horses, pigs, dogs, cats and free
range chickens that feasted on fallen mangoes.
The beach was black sand and around the bay the same bold basalt rock
formations rising up from the sea and shrouded with green foliage.
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| Volcanic spires dominate skyline in Hatiheu |
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| Rustic restaurant for lunch |
Making our way along the waterfront we found the palm frond
thatched roof paepae where there was a restaurant. Another amazing meal after which we were asked
to scrape our leftovers into the creek that ran beside the restaurant. Huge
eels slithered about in the shallow water, fossicking for the food scraps. I would say they were the biggest eels I have
ever seen, if I had never been to Amodeo Bay (NZL). The beach soon beckoned and although the surf
looked small, it was hero surf that let us catch a wave all the way to the
beach. We spent a half hour playing
around before we had to get back on the trail again to ensure we made it back
to Anaho before dark. The kids were
amazing, getting up and over that pass with minimal fuss.
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| Hero surf! |
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| Anaho Bay anchorage from the pass |
We got back to the dinghies at dusk and motored back to
RAFTKIN, stopping by Alondra, a Canadian boat we had noticed with two girls on
board, on the way past. There was much
excitement as the girls discovered they were all the same age and could spend
the next two days playing together, starting with a movie night as soon as they
finished dinner.
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| Girl time on RAFTKIN with Zoe and Naomi from Alondra |
Midday Sunday 20th May we lifted the anchor and
left Anaho Bay. It was a tough, mostly
upwind sail around to Taiohae Bay, but we were treated with two different pods
of dolphins that swam with RAFTKIN. We
arrived in Taiohae not long before sunset, and soon after headed to Pelizeno for
pot luck with Dol Selene and Sojourn II, another New Zealand boat. We came along to make up numbers, as Sojourn
II had their son-in-law on board, who was also Australian.
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| Anchorage at Taiohae Bay |
We spent Monday and Tuesday re-provisioning, re-fuelling, uploading
school work on the tiny scrap of wi-fi available and catching up with friends,
including a wonderful evening on Sojourn II.
The alarm went off at 5:30am on Wednesday morning 23rd May. It was time to get up, lift the anchor and
sail away to Tuamotos, leaving the magic of Marquesas behind us. So very different to all the places we have
been so far.
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| Boat kids at the Big Tiki |
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