More Marquesas

Oa Pou & Nuku Hiva

The northermost islands of the Marquesas are a little further away so we have an overnight passage to get to the next island, Ua Pou. After some dinner and rest we head off again at 9pm from Hanamenu, Hiva Oa. Had to motor for a good 4 hours before we got clear of the lee of the island and enough wind to hoist the kite. It was a little twisted from the loft pack, but Keith managed to sort it out and we got it up at around 1am in 10 kts. The repair looks fairly neat and strong. We held the kite overnight, gybing once. It was challenging at times as wind was light and shifty but it was good to see our Parasailor in action again.

ITIKI in Baie de Vaiehu, Oa Pou

OA POU ISLAND

We decided to take a look along the west coast of the island of Oa Pou, rather than going around the east side to another town. As dawn broke we could see land, so nice and novel to do such a short overnight passage! Held the kite until we lost the wind in the shadow of the island and motored close in to take a look at anchorage options. Had huge pods of dolphins come and play with us twice as we travelled up the coast. We ended up in Baie de Vaiehu which is deserted and surrounded by a spectacular rocky shoreline. The water in the bay is a little murky, stirred up by the strong swell and with some foam. Later on we did a tour of the shoreline by dinghy. There are some amazing rock formations, blow holes and caves. Had cocktails to celebrate our anniversary and the last of our Martinique duck for dinner.

A couple of other boats arrived as did Mai Tai so we stayed an extra day, exploring the bay on our SUPs and catching up on news and drinks.

Mai Tai entering Daniel's Bay, Nuku Hiva

NUKU HIVA ISLAND

From our anchorage at Oa Pou it’s a relatively short hop of 32nm to the final island we will visit in the Marquesas. We sailed across most of the way to Daniel’s Bay anchorage, with Mai Tai not far behind. There is quite a swell running, crashing into the rocky shoreline. The entrance to the bay is difficult to spot at first as there is a channel which doglegs around a headland. The channel is well charted and once inside the bay opens up to a spectacular vista. I have used the word “spectacular” a lot to describe the anchorages in the Marquesas I know! The towering mountain peaks that shelter these bays really certainly have the “wow” factor. Here we have all round protection and once we are tucked into our anchorage we can’t see the entrance anymore. The water is clean but is not crystal clear and we see a few small and curious reef sharks around the boat. We are anchored on the eastern side of the bay, where there is a beautiful white sand beach. West of us is another beach which is black sand. Not quite sure how that works!

Hakaui Waterfall

HAKAUI WATERFALL

Dinghied over to Hakeata bay (the black sand beach) to take a walk to the Hakaui waterfall. There is a small fee to pay to access the trail which passes through private property, and the caretaker offers us some juicy fresh pamplemousse for the journey (with a promise of more on our return). Passed a small restaurant along the way so we booked in for lunch on way back. The walk was quite a rugged path, with several creek crossings so we are glad we wore our Tevas. We got to a sign that said “access interdit” and it took a while to figure out where the path went next. We had to cross the creek halfway before we could see the rock cairns up on the opposite bank. Keith slipped and dropped his last pair of good sunglasses into the rapids, cursing as they made their way downstream, never to bee seen again!

​We have now entered a narrow part of the valley surrounded by high cliffs and looking up the sky through a very narrow opening. There is a reasonable risk of rock fall here and we were warned to stay quiet. There is a small rock pool and we can see the waterfall through a crevasse in the cliffs. We walk through the mud, around the pool and scramble up onto a rock to get a better view. You can swim through the canyon to get right under the waterfall, but we decide to watch some others do that instead, eating some pamplemousse to sustain us for the walk back. It's pretty juicy and messy but delicious. The walk back is a quicker as we know where we are going and we are ready for lunch at the local restaurant, Kua et Taikai. The food is delicious. Fresh Tuna marinated in herbs and river prawns, caught this morning and cooked in fresh coconut. We buy some bananas and mango from the restaurant. On the way back to the dinghy we stop at the caretaker’s house and as promised he gives us a heap of pamplemousse and limes. I fashion a makeshift shopping bag from a sarong – these suckers are pretty heavy! What will we have for sundowners tonight? You guessed it – pamplemousse gin.

Overlooking Taiohae Bay, Nuku Hiva

​CIVILISATION AGAIN

After the weekend, and the May Day public holiday it was time for another taste of “civilisation”. Its only 4nm around to the main town of Nuku Hiva, Taiohae Bay. It was pretty bouncy coming out of the bay and still quite rough until we got into the lee off the headland at the east of the bay. The bay and anchorage is huge – there are plenty of boats and lots of room - quite a swell in the bay with surf breaking loudly on the shore. Getting into the dinghy is challenging with it bouncing around and we have to be super careful. We head ashore for a reccie, the supermarkets are dire in terms of fresh fruit and veg, but we find the fresh markets near the dock to be pretty good. We have also managed to organise haircuts, which is a real treat as those selfies are looking a bit shabby!
 
The dinghy dock is probably the worst I have ever seen. A dozen or so dinghies surging back and forth against the high concrete pier - ouch. The fishermen are cleaning their catch along pier and tossing the scraps into the water, which attracts a good number of fair sized reef tip sharks for a feeding frenzy. A couple of dinghies have swung quite close to the fishermen, so I hope they don’t return to find fermenting tuna in their boat!

ROAD TOUR OF NUKU HIVA

Tree planting

​​We have hired a car for the day to do a road trip with Ollie from Mai Tai, and up into the steep hills we go. The roads are windy and we climbed through numerous switch backs. There are regular stops for panoramic views of the bay, and we can almost see ITIKI! In the next valley we come to a village, where there is some kind of school carnival taking place. All the kids and teachers are in colourful, traditional costumes with different groups and themes. We watched a tree planting ceremony which has accompanied by some drumming and traditional singing, all in Marquesan language. This was followed by some dance routines, story telling different teams taking turns. We stayed and watched for a while - such a lovely, chance encounter.

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Back up into the hills again and over the next ridge we came down into the valley to visit a historical site, a ceremonial meeting area of which there are a few remains. The valuable items have been removed but there are some replicas in place. Continued on to another small village, with a lovely church and a black sand beach. Hatiheu Bay is wide looks like a good anchorage surrounded by dramatic cliffs and rock formations along the shore. We stopped for lunch at the only restaurant, Keith had goat and Ollie had pork – both suspected road kill. I had curried fish, much better choice.

Up into the hills again and took another turn off towards the airport for some more winding, switchback roads. Stopped at one view point and then continued on to another, called the Grand Canyon. We are now at the highest point on the island and it is cold, windy and damp up in the clouds. We can see down along a vast canyon into the middle of the island. It is lined with fir trees and all very green and fertile.

​On the way back to we stopped via the one supermarket we had not yet visited and were quite excited to find Aussie WeetBix! Yee haa! Only other cruisers truly understand the excitement and significance of such a supermarket find...

​When we got back we found our dinghy had been moved and the prop was smashing on the concrete ramp. Great! One last stop to get dinghy fuel, pick up a gas bottle and load all of our shopping (mostly Ollie’s beer) into the dinghy and bounce our way back to our boats, thankfully getting all on board without losing any people or goods.
 
We now have to say “au revoir” to The Marquesas as the clock is ticking on our 90 day visas and there is so much more to see. Tomorrow we have an early start to make the 503nm to Makemo, our first atoll in the Tuamotus.