Whilst there is not a lot of actually do in Hiva Oa, it is never the less a pleasant place to spend a couple of days. It is made much nicer by the friendliness of the local people. I have made 2 friends, Alex and Claudine.

Yesterday I went into town to go walkabout and take a few photos, before provisioning ready for our departure.

As I wandered along the beach I came across my friend Claudine, sitting under a tree reading.

She joined me and we spent the rest of the day together.

She was telling me all about life on Hiva Oa, as she herself is Parisienne.

 But she was also very informative about the flora, identifying many strange trees, such as Baobaab, Breadfruit, Ylang Ylang (used in the perfume industry) and a Kapock tree. It was very interesting.

We stopped by at Vito’s and had an afternoon drink and Claudine arranged for me to see a Chiropractor (for which I am eternally grateful).

It was very fortuitous meeting both Claudine and Alex, as they both know everybody and most things about the island, so are veritable mine of information.

Having already had a couple of very pleasant evenings at Alex’s with our new Finnish friends, Tom, Selme and Hendrick, from Ever After, we invited them to join us on Beaujolais for dinner. So I went to buy some Prawns. Ironically, they were imported from Thailand.

Claudine was telling that they import their chicken also, from the USA!!! She told me a story of two noisy cockerels near her house. Fed up, she caught and killed them, plucked them and made Coq au Vin! She could not understand the locals not eating, what is a French speciality!!!

I had managed to get some real Brie and pate. So that evening we had a splendid dinner with Tom, Selme and Hendrick, with some very nice wine (supplied by the wine master…Hendrick).

Today I bought a small ‘glacier’ (icebox) to keep my perishables in, so hopefully they will keep for a few days. Fortunately the selection of canned foods was superb, so we should be ok.

The local rowing team were out practising around the bay, very impressive. But the fibreglass canoes were a bit of a let down, I guess that’s progress?

Tomorrow, it’s anchors aweigh and off to the next island…Fatu Hiva. By all accounts very different to Hiva Oa.