Southern Marquesas 2 of 2
Bondi Tram
Peter Colquhoun and Sandra Colquhoun
Sun 19 Jun 2011 16:13
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We walked to the waterfall, about 2 hours to get there, crossing this river
on
the way. The river is lined with mango trees, and we picked the
recently fallen
ones and ate them on the spot.
 The view back down the valley with its spectacular rock formations.
 The lush vegetation, with coconut groves (the locals harvest the coconuts
and dry the meat for copra,
which is exported to be crushed into oil), mangos, grapefruit, orange,
lemons and limes. The grapefruit
are the largest and sweetest we have ever eaten.
 Sandra swimming at the base of the falls....
 ...and taking a shower under 60 meters of falling water.
 The next island we went to is Hiva Oa, a port of entry for French Polynesia
and the second largest
islands in the Marquesas.
  The small town of Atuona is on the right.
 Paul Gauguins grave in the cemetery above the town.
 This grave is that of Jacques Brel, a famous Belgian singer and song writer
who settled here in the
1960s and died at the age of 48.
 The view from the cemetery.
 As we left Atuona we passed the Aranui 3, a passenger and cargo ship which
makes the regular trip
from Papeete to all of the Marquesas, carrying freight and
passengers.
 We anchored in this beautiful bay on the the island of Tahutua, about 6
miles from Hiva Oa. We spent
3 days here, cleaning the hull and swimming.
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