On Passage: Marquesas to Tuamotus
So, we're off again. After our short but enjoyable cruise northwards
through the Marquesas we arrived in Nuku Hiva (Taiohae) on Fri 30th Apr.
A
run ashore that afternoon provided much needed laundry but no showers
worthy
of the name, but also revealed the lovely Catholic cathedral, a modern
open
plan building with spendid wood carvings on its door posts and interior,
set
in a lovely close with cut lawns and bougainvillia and an elaborate
gatehouse.

Next day, following advice from a fellow traveller who had reached the
island ahead of us, we sailed west for 4 miles to Daniel's Bay. This is
set
in dramatic volcanic scenery, the precipitous west side of the valley
being
over 2000ft high. Landing at the mouth of a small river we walked up
through a gogeous little village. It was spread out over half a mile and
each house stood in its own grounds which were all beautifully tended;
flower beds, cut lawns, flowering shrubs, and unlimited fruit trees,
providing Papayas, Mangoes, Breadfruit, Bananas, Lemons, Grapefruits, and
occasional Pineapples. Bizarrely, on the side of the little track through
the village was a public telephone box - and it worked!

Beyond the village the path wound on through the bush along a very
substantial but evidently ancient permanent way, running parallel with the
great wall of cliffs which bordered the west side of the valley. After a
maybe three miles we came to the ancient ruins of a stone built village,
perhaps the forerunner of the one we had just passed, but evidently a
larger
settlement. As the population of these islands dropped from a peak of
around 20,000 before the white man came to around 6,000 today, following
the
decimating impact of white man's diseases in the 18th century, it is not
surprising that this should have been quite a big place. Beyond the ruins
the path led us to the foot of an immense gulley. When sufficient rain
has
fallen this becomes an 800m high waterfall, but today there was but a
trickle falling into the deep pool at the bottom. It was nonetheless a
hugely dramatic place.

Returning to the boat we had a quiet night and returned to Taiohae.
Andrew
and Nick left us that afternoon for a night of civilisation in an hotel
before flying back to UK on Monday. I hope they really enjoyed themselves
as much as they claimed - clearly for Andrew at least it had been a very
novel experience. On Tuesday we were rejoined by Tim, who had come with
us
from Panama to the Galapagos, and his wife Pim. Despite the long journey
they were in fine form and managed to find us without the benefit of a
working mobile phone, and the following day we returned to Daniel's Bay so
they could see it.

We were again very taken with the charm and generocity of the villagers
when
we went to buy some fresh fruit for the passage. After stating our needs
and
paying a trivial amount for quite a lot of perfect fruit, we offered a
small
gift and we were immediately loaded with more than we could hope to eat
before it went off, so now we're rolling down the Trades once again, with
the boat smelling like a rather exotic Covent Garden.

Our next destination is the Tuamotus, an archipelago of coral atolls
stretching for a thousand miles and reported to be a site for fabulous
snorkelling. We've about 600 miles to run to our first atoll so we would
hope to be there in 3-4 days.