Tahouata Island
Serai
Jason and Emily Willis
Mon 28 May 2007 03:28
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09:54.5S 139:06.3W
Whilst at Fatu Hiva we decided to stretch our legs
a bit. First we hiked up to a waterfall, which was more a waterpiddle than a
waterfall. But still it was nice to walk and then even nicer to swim in the
freshwater pond at the bottom of it. Well, that was until the freshwtater shrimp
got a little annoyed and began to gang up on us. I was sat on a rock with my
legs in the water when all of a sudden I felt someting nipping my foot. Upon
closer inspection, and moving quite quickly now, I saw that a large freshwater
shrimp was attacking me over terratorial rights to the rock. It won and I
launched myself into the water prefering to swim around than be attacked whilst
motionless. Of course the water was freezing, but still it was refreshing. Like
something out of a Timotei advert, one of the girls brought along some shampoo
and conditioner, so with that the girls were all posing in the water, washing
their hair and tossing it back.
The following day we made good use of the nearby
freshwater stream to wash our sheets. The truth is our sheets walked there of
their own accord, realising that it might be a while until we managed to get
them to a washing machine. We chased after them and then gave them a good wash,
whilst being watched with some degree of wonder, by 3 of the local Marquesan
women.
Following hot on the heels of our waterfall
adventure, we decided it was time to explore some of the rest of the island. We
had been told that the only other village was also very nice, and that they were
more generous in their trading, ie. we could get more for less over there! It
all sounded wonderfull. The only fly in the ointment being that the other
village was 17 km away, with a large mountain between us and it. Not to be put
off, we rose at 0600 and headed out with another English couple. About half an
hour in to the walk, the heavens opened and it then proceeded to rain for the
entire 17 km. To say we were wet is an understatement. We were drowned. There
was so much mud that we passed a lorry on the side of the road that had slipped
off the road. The other couple were forced to remove their sandals and walk
barefoot for most of the way. We had mud cakes on the bottom of our shoes, the
size of snow-shoes. It took us 4 hours to reach the other village. We were
fortunate to pass loads of mango trees on the way, and it seemed a shame to see
the mangoes on the floor go to waste, so we gorged ourselves on fresh mango, not
having had fresh fruit in quite a while! This, however, was the highlight of the
entire trip. It felt like we had arrived at the village on a sleepy Sunday, but
infact it was a Saturday. There was no-one about. The museum was shut. We were
told they only opened for tourists. When we pointed out to the lady that we were
not infact Marquesans from the other village but indeed 100% tourists, she said
that the museum only opened for the cruise ship tourists. Have I ever pointed
out in this blog my feelings on cruise ships - here again verification as to why
cruise ship tourism is bad tourism.
Of course I had also been persuaded that this
village was THE place to trade, so not only did I walk 17km to get there, but I
walked with a rucksack full of stuff we felt we could trade, bottles of Rum,
shampoo, Conditioner, Body Lotion and fish hooks. This added some serious weight
into the equation, but seemd worth it when one considered all the things that
could be traded. Only once did we get the opportunity to get out our gear, and
to say it was met with disdain would be an understatement. Suffice to say we did
not manage to trade for anything.
Actually thats not quite true, as we now needed to
get out of this village and back to our boat. Needless to say none of us fancied
the 17km walk back, and so we needed to get a ride. As I stopped each driver who
came past, of which their were suprisingly few given that there is only one road
on the whole island, they all said that it was impossible as the road was
impassable. This was usually followed by them asking how we got there, and us
replying that it was by foot. This in turn was met by laughter and mirth. Unsure
why, we decided to move on to try to get a boat, as our boat was only 3 miles
away along this coast. After a lot of searching, and in the end also obtaining
the services of the islands Mayor, we secured a boat that would take us back.
The cost? That would be 65 US dollars, more expensive than a NY cab and even
more expensive than a London cab. Luckily the guy enjoyed a rum or two and
agreed to take us for 2 bottles of Rum. Halleluliah!
And so we decided it was time to leave this little
island paradise. We sailed 40 miles to an 18 mile long island called Tahouata.
We are now anchored in a gorgeous little bay called Hanamoenoa, with a long
beach at the far end and surrounded by only 4 other cruisers, all of whom we
know. Last night we had a bonfire on the beach and a few drinks. This afternoon
I did some boat jobs and then we snorkelled along one side of the bay. It was
great to see different fish to those we had got used to in the Caribbean.
I think we'll stay here a few days so that we can repaint our hull, and then
head up to Nuku Hiva for a few days to get fuel and some provisions (at vast
expense).
Till the next time.
Lots of Love
J and Ems xx
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