Hiva Oa

MALARKEY
Jo & Trevor Bush
Sun 25 Mar 2012 07:35
 
 
Our first taste of French Polynesia has been very positive.
 
It would be easy to simply love anywhere that offers land and a quiet anchorage after a 3 week trip at sea but I can honestly say that the islands are beautiful and are inhabited by smiley friendly people.
 
The locals are a mixture of Polynesians and French nationals. So the language spoken is mostly French, Polynesian and a smattering of English. The Polynesians are easy to spot.....they are the ones that are mostly round, brown, with smiles on their faces and flowers in their hair......and that's not just the women!! They genuinely seem pleased to see you and make you feel very welcome......no wonder they mutinied on the Bounty.
 
There seems to be everything here but in relatively short supply. Being only an archipelago of small islands, most things are supplied by ship and the locals get first dibbs.
 
   
Smiley locals !!                                                                                    Our view from the cockpit                                                                                
 
Fuel is in short supply and we were lucky to get 50Lts. We hope that we will be able to get some more further down the road...but clearly the name of the game is.... ' get it while you can'.
 
We are moving to the next island tomorrow, (Tahuata), where we can swim with giant Manta Rays with up to 20 foot wing spans.....should be cool. We will try to get some pictures.