Nuku Hiva
MALARKEY
Jo & Trevor Bush
Tue 10 Apr 2012 00:00
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08:55S 140:06W
Well.........what can we say..........its been
great.
We have swam with giant manta rays, frolicked
under giant waterfalls and fended off giant sharks.
Firstly, we took a short hop from Hiva Oa to
the nearby island of Tahuata. A very pretty little island with a picture
postcard bay called Hanamoenoa. The water was crystal clear and on our very
first dip we were visited by a manta ray.
 Fortunately these creatures are harmless. They
don't have teeth, which is fine by me, because these beasts are
impressive, especially close up. They suck in plankton through their huge
mouths and sieve it through some weird gill things behind their jaws. I guess
the worse injury they could inflict is....... a nasty suck. Still, on first
contact, you tend to keep your distance until you realise that these shy
& graceful creatures are just that......shy & graceful and not in the
slightest bit interested in wide eyed snorkelers like us. It was
a first for us and we hope to see many more Mantas further down the
road.
Next hop was to Fatu Hiva. This island was billed
in the pilot book as the most strikingly beautiful in the Marquesas and not to
be missed......They weren't wrong.
 The deep indented valley was surrounded by curious
obelisks of rock formed by volcanic vents. At the head of the bay was a sandy
beach backed by coconut palms. It was all very lush and very
pretty.......Sorry, as always in these situations, my photo doesn't give the
place justice.
We went exploring with the crews from 2 other
boats, (Ocean Lady & Victory), by foot to a waterfall found high up in
the forest covered mountains.
  It wasn't the tallest waterfall we had ever seen
but it was still quite impressive and well worth the climb. The swim in the cool
fresh pool under the falls was particularly nice. The water was not only cool
but deep too.......that's me in the middle drowning under the weight of the
water falling from above.
Next stop........Ua Pou.
 All these islands have impressive
landscapes............little green stippled meringues floating in an
azure ocean with fluffy whipped cream clouds dressing the peaks....very
poetic.
And just like all good fairy tales, there is always
a beauty and a beast.........
We had just caught a nice tuna on the way in and
were bleeding it down the side of the hull, when a black tipped shark attacked
our little fishy.
 It was quite persistent. Once it had the smell
of blood in its nostrils it wouldn't give in until he got a feed. The
shark only managed to bite off the head of our fish before fearless
Jo fended him off with an evil eye and a broom. It also helped when we stopped teasing the shark by
pulling our fish out of the water!!.... It was an exciting moment
captured on film and we still had enough tuna left for a fish
supper.
All the islands are covered with many types of
tropical fruit and foraging for fruity tit-bits is both enjoyable and
rewarding, provided you don't get caught scrumping.
  We collected a bucket load of limes, and bananas,
grapefruit & mangos are plentiful. The big green ball outside the bowl is
bread fruit. Underneath the tough green skin is a white starchy flesh, rather
like a soft potato. We deep fried it and produced great chips to go with
our tuna, to have 'Fish n Chips', Polynesian style.
We've just arrived in Nuka Hiva, the most northerly
and last island in the Marquesas. From here we will sail to the Tuamotu's, a
large low lying archipelago of small desert islands in the middle of
nowhere.........real Robinson Crusoe territory.
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