Emailing: Marquesas 032
Ariel
Thu 15 Jun 2006 00:07
Hi Chris,Sarah,Ev,Dean,Jo,Van James,Gran and Pa and All,
I am running rather behind with updates,for all sorts of reasons (or
excuses), but now have decided to sit down and see if I can put it all
together to give you a bit of a picture of what has transpired over the past
two weeks.( Time really does seem to fly when you are cruising around these
exotic places with not much else to do but take in the scenery.)
It must have brought a wry smile to the face of earlier sailors,that did not
have modern sophistication, to see land starting to appear where it should
be after a lengthy time at sea.And so it was with us, as at 2.30am,1/6/2006
a dark lump (Ua Huka)started to appear on the port forward quarter, just
where it should have been.It was reassuring that the Gps plotter,the Gps and
charts all agreed where it should be after three weeks at
sea.Nevertheless,to see it really was there, (and not straight in front) was
a sight for the proverbial sore eyes.This meant only about 8 hours to go to
the next island (Nuku Hiva) where we could finally set our feet on land at
Taiohae,which is the main town for the island chain.
A few hours before arrival into the bay we were again greeted by
dolphins,which seems to becoming a tradition and may be a good omen? The
entry into Taiohae Bay was straight forward, so we picked a spot close to
shore and not too far from the dock so we could have quick trips into town
as needed.So,we have taken 21 days 4 hours,which is a relatively quick
trip,but not the 19 days we were looking at when the breeze was holding.But
the main thing was that it was behind us and this had broken the back of the
long journey home.They would all be relatively short hops now and
logistically much easier to manage.
First we had to go and see the local gendarme to clear-in and let him go
through our passports.This is usually an interesting exercise as they all
seem to have a different attitude and requirements as to what they want to
see.(The additional info seems to be boat papers.Some seem to require this,
I guess to see if you really own it,others don't seem to worry.)
So armed with Sebastian (fluent in French) we set foot on land for the first
time in three weeks.And yes after that length of time even the land rocks.It
was a simple process to find the police station,due to the various guides
that we have, all this information is readily available.Plus the fact there
is basically only one street and not a lot of built up area we were able to
locate the police station in about 10 minutes.Out initial introduction to
this stern fellow was not what great first impressions are made of,but I
gave him the benefit of doubt as he seemed to be attempting to photocopy
something that took about 7 mins.Anyway after about 30 mins Sebastian had
him smiling laughing and joking.He is quite an operator this fellow and is
no doubt going to con his way around the world on various yachts and con his
way through life generally.But he does it with great style and people I
don't think generally know that they have been had,besides he is on our
side, so that makes it a pleasure to observe.We seemed to have passed with
flying colours and apart from myself needing to go to the bank to place a
bond (approx $1000.00 U.S.),so he set us on our merry way.(Euro citizens are
exempt [now Swiss] from this.But being an Aussie,even though I was the only
one that had a significant investment in the boat and getting it out of
there, I had to cough up.I get this back when I leave,less a fee,less the
exchange rate back and forward.)There is also a fee when we leave.
After,such a lengthy time on canned and packet food we were all keen to try
some local junk food and I particularly wanted some local fresh juice.There
wasn't a lot open and the guide book (for probably a free meal) recommended
a hotel by the name of Keikahanui,which turned out to be a bit exclusive,a
bit expensive,right at the other end of town,but they did have hamburgers on
the menu.The hamburgers with chips was about $10.00, but in our state worth
it.The fresh local fruit juice,straight out of a cardboard carton was cool
and wet,so it wasn't a bad substitute.We investigated the rest of the town
after lunch,which comprised of two main (small) supermarkets, about three or
four restaurants and half a dozen miscellaneous shops.The thing that struck
me was the number of cars running up and down their main road.It really
wasn't all that far to walk from one end to the other,so I was a bit puzzled
why all the traffic.( About a car a minute.)I later found out there may be a
bit of a subsidy from the French Gov (legacy of the nuclear testing) and
cars are seen as a prestige symbol,not the house.
The population of Marquesas (6 small islands and 6 larger islands)seems to
be between 6,500 and about 10,000 depending where you get your information
from.The islands are from about 1300 to 4000 feet high (I have been dealing
in imperial too long)and are covered in lush vegetation.The water in the
postcards of this bay show it as a clear blue colour,but there seems to have
been some recent rainfall,which has left the bay murky.Water is very
difficult to obtain that is drinkable,even the police warned us of this,but
we were able to have a cold shower on the dock.We managed the last three
weeks on a bit less than 300 litres and have 290 left including emergency,so
I have decided to make do at this point as we have only 2 weeks before we
arrive in Papeete.
Friday 2/6/2006
After spending an afternoon over a takeaway lunch with a local identity,
Michel, on the glamorous dock,he kindly invited us for a tour up in the
hills no charge in his Toyota ute/truck.Local hire charges for a car are
about $140.00 U.S. for the day and taxis are worse.So we greatly accepted
the offer and arranged an appointment for 8.00am the next day.
SATURDAY 3/6/2006
As arranged Michel arrived at the dock to take us on our guided tour and he
must have been particularly keen as he was at least 20 mins early.So the 5
of us (including Michel) jumped into the Toyota and set off down town.First
stop was the local supermarket for the day's sustenance,which comprised of a
tin of peanuts,niece biscuits and a unhealthy quantity of beer.Then off to
another shop for some ice.Finally we were on our way up a very steep
switch-back road,through the village with chooks running everywhere,dogs
yapping and pigs tethered to stakes.
Time for Michel's first beer,I guess it was all the talking in French made
him particularly thirsty.He turned out to be a non-stop conversationalist
but unfortunately Sebastian was only able to translate bits and pieces as
Michel gave him little interlude between sentences.It was obviously very
entertaining stuff,certainly for Sebastian.I gathered later it had something
to do with his 2 wives and many mistresses.
We were just into our second kilometre and second beer when Sebastian
translated at this particularly nasty corner with a horrific drop from above
that Michel announced his son was killed here in his car 5 years ago.Drunk,
his car left the road directly above us and landed just in front of us.The
next sentence he told Sebastian about his nephew that committed suicide by
jumping off the top of the cliff.
It was starting to rain quite steadily and I was beginning to wonder if
Michel was over the recent tragedies in his family or had he taken to his
third can with something else in mind.A couple more kilometres up the road
and we pulled into a paddock that had a young filly tangled up around a
stake.This property turns out to be Michel's with his modest house hidden in
the distant bush.Michel apparently owns a great deal of property in Nuku
Hiva,I gather inherited from his parents.He also told us that the foal's
mother died a few days ago,so he had to burn the remains yesterday,which
explains the stench we smelt down in the boat in the late afternoon.My
explanation at the time was that someone must be burning off rubber.I only
hoped,as Michel started on another beer that he was coping with all this
death in his family better than his unquenchable thirst seemed to indicate.I
reasoned he still had 2 wives,7 or eight children and various mistresses to
live for.It was also encouraging that he talked about being bored on the
island and was thinking of moving away.
We set off again up the road with plenty of drizzle and nothing at the side
to stop a slide off the edge with his rather dubious front tyres.I suggested
to the others we best help Michel with his beer consumption to even up our
chances.It was probably only another 2 kilometres up the road where we
pulled over at a lookout to take in the view,which now was becoming pretty
spectacular.After the obligatory photos we set off again,with Michel fishing
out another beer from the esky.I figured he was doing better than one beer
per kilometre.I guess if he is an alcoholic (which was starting to look
pretty obvious), this rate of consumption was probably not going to effect
him for a while yet.
By now we had just about reached the main lookout at the summit and the rain
had become quite heavy.We got out of the vehicle and headed for the shelter
of the lookout so we could take in the view overlooking Taiohae Bay.The rain
cleared enough to get a few shots,though the quality is not great.(As the
one attached testifies.)It is quite a spectacular view from here and it was
a real pity that the weather wasn't a bit better so we could take some
better photos.
Anyway it was back in the truck to another destination with another beer
firmly in hand.He certainly wasn't showing any signs of being affected,so we
shall keep our fingers crossed.If anything his driving was now a bit
smoother.We drove to the other side of the mountain to a lush valley,where
it is quite famous for the tribal cannibalism in years gone by.Michel,also
owns a great deal of land here, and I was beginning to wonder about the
connection,particularly as he made mention of the last white fellow that was
eaten had red skin just like mine.It again was a great view of a small town
below sitting on the water front of a very impressive bay,which would have
been the first bay we saw coming into Nuku Hiva.
We set off back to the main town again (Michel had run out of beer by now)
for an uneventful trip back down the mountain.We had promised to shout
Michel lunch for his generosity,but all the restaurants were closed. So we
ended up back at the Petanque competition for a BBQ.After last nights cow
heart on a skewer I decided to go for the deep fried New Zealand
chicken.That was the best we could offer Michel but he didn't really seem to
want anything in return, he was just glad of the company.
Next day he delivered to us as promised three very large bunches of green
bananas,papaya and grape fruit.He seemed to be very sorry to see us leave
and said he would be in Papeete about the same time as us (some court
matter) and promised to catch up with us then to take us around to the
better priced shops.
Michel also tells us that he is going to give up drinking in the near
future.It will be interesting to follow his progress particularly since we
gave him about 10 cans of beer and a bottle of rum.
We left for Daniel's Bay early afternoon,it was only 4 kls away,which should
have been a very straight forward matter,except just as we were about to
enter the bay another brief tropical storm came through,so we had to sit
just outside the entrance as it passed through.The entrance to this bay is
very obscured and does not open up until you are about 100 metres away,when
it sweeps to the right and opens up into a relatively small inlet with the
usual steep volcanic escarpment.It really was a spectacular refuge for
yachts and we had the company of just three others.A French,a Canadian,an
American (Jim) and us.
Apart from the scenery of this rather unique bay,the main attraction here is
a relatively famous water fall about 2 hours walk from the water's edge.I
had to decline the walk the next day due to a chest infection.The reaction
from the others was enthusiastic from Sebastian to subdued from Nick and
Patricia.So I wasn't overly disappointed,though it was an opportunity that I
won't have again.
Next day(Tuesday) we are off to Tuamotas,which will only take us the 4 days
and after our last three week passage 4 days sounds pretty good.
Regards to all,
Bern
