The Land of Men
Blue Sky's Voyage
George & Michael
Thu 18 Mar 2010 03:53
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Hello
Friends
"8:55.1S 140:05.9W"
[note - there are 2 blogs of todays' date -
in no particular order]
Sorry for the slow blogs: we've been
relaxing since our arrival here and since then we've been adventuring so too
busy to blog, or at least too tired when we returned to the boat.
The Marquesas are 'Te Henua Enana", meaning
' The Land of Men'; maybe because the landscape is very mountainous and
dramatic. Perhaps as the warriors came from here? Maybe a photo from the front
will clarify the environment.
 This is a 'Tiki', one of very many around
the island and this happy looking chap is holding a traditional war club in his
left hand and the head of one of his unfortunate victims in his right. Observant
readers will note that the fine anatomical details are entirely usual for
Marquesan sculpture, old and new.
When Simon and the skipper walked along the
beachfront on the first day, we found that the act of walking was quite a strain
- our legs had given up after a month at sea. Since then we've taken a few walks
and been progressively more adventurous, so are now more or less returned to
normal function.
Last Friday we took a walk along the east
side of the bay, along a carefull prepared and spledid path which had no signs
at all. Fortunately Richard (see below) had explained how to find the start.
Here we are in the light brush...
 As the path continued we were faced with a
sheer rock face dropping down to the sea, but the path zig-zagged up to a col
before the precipice and the locals has throughfully erected a small shelter to
provide a comfortable rest. The cabin boys, ever adventurous, decided they had
to climb right to the end of the cliff along a knife-edge of rock... their
position is marked by the arrow.
 You can see the steep back of the bay which
is the inner edge of a caldera of which this bay is the centre. Blue Sky is
about on the right hand edge of the pic.
After this warm-up, the weekend was
dedicated to the Cabin Boys' epic climb, the subject of a separate
blog.
On Monday, we took an island tour with
Richard, a Marquesan who has been guiding for many years. We had been intending
to tour with him on Friday, but he'd wrenched his ankle playing sports and was
unable to drive - hence the advice for the walk above.
We spent the day seeing amazing landscapes
on crazy roads, having an excellent lunch and inspecting ancient meeting sites,
with many stone carved tikis and other artifacts.
Here's a few pics to give the feel of the
day...
The view from footpath at the col into Baie
d'Anaho in the NE of the island (no roads here)
 The view from the beach at Baie d'Hatiheu
just in front of the restaurant where we ate an excellent lunch...
 and the tree which is at the centre of an
area of meeting place and which was originally hung with countless skulls of the
victims of the Marquesans before missionaries took offence at the skulls and the
cannibalism. This thing might have been the inspiration for the 'home tree' in
Avatar for those who've been to the movies lately.
 This is one of the 'walking trees' which are
raised up on high roots and effectively migrate over time. Alex gives scale to
the view.
There is a festival of the Marquesas every 4
years or so (next in December 2011) where Polynesian peoples meet for a
traditional gathering. This view is another meeting site which was restored for
the last meeting. Again the carvings are
detailed.
 Anyway, we have partying to do tonight, for
reasons which will be revealed in next week's blog, so the skipper must join the
fun.
Just as a teaser for the next blog,
yesterday we visited a place at the SW corner of the island yesterday which was
once of the most spectacular areas we've ever seen, home to the world's 3rd
highest waterfall and some of the nicest people you could wish to meet, all in a
garden of Eden setting. Until the next blog then...
Best Wishes
George, Michael, Alex and Simon
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