Nuku Hiva
Serai
Jason and Emily Willis
Fri 8 Jun 2007 20:33
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Note to all - its better to arrive in a Port of
Entry with no paperwork, then to arrive with half the paperwork and the half you
have has a date on it when issued. That was the dilemma that faced us on
arriving in Nuku Hiva. We were boarded by the customs boat whulst in Fatu Hiva.
They issed us with clearance papers and instructions to go to the Gendamerie in
Hiva Oa within 3 days. But Fatu Hiva was so lovely and everyone told us horror
stores about the anchorage in Hiva Oa, that we decided to avoid it and head to
Tahuata, another island in the chain, which just happens NOT to be a port of
entry - is everyone following this so far? By the time we left Tahuata we were 7
days later that we should have been according to our papers and heading to the
wrong port of entry! Ems was having kittens about it all - which meant sleepless
nights for both of us!
And so we arrived in Nuku Hiva, paperwork in hand
and a a nervous smile on our faces. Of course Ems headed for the bank, leaving
me to the Gendamerie! Uh Yeah, thanks Ems! In I walked ready to pretend I
did not speak a word of French, if the gooing got tough! I was met by a blonde
haired 18 year old in pastel blue polo short and blue canvas hot pants. Plainly
I had walked into the wrong kind of place entirely. I enquired where the
Gendamerie might be, at which point he turned around to show me that across the
back of his shirt was the word 'Gendarme'. Only the French! Without further ado,
our paperwork was all signed off and stamped and nothing more was said about the
matter or of our wherabouts for the 7 days since being cleared in by customs -
one can only approve of such a laissez-faire attitude, particularly with a
Nuclear testing station nearby!
Taohae Bay, Nuku Hiva is lovely. There are lots of
smiley people and more importantly fresh food in 3 (yes 3) supermarkets. And ice
cream in the freezers of each of these 3 supermarkets! WOW. I think we had an
ice cream every day we were there! We had 2 packages waiting for us at the
KaiKahuni Inn, but of course they were not there. After a bit of tooing and
froing we tracked them down and so we sat and celebrated our own little
christmas in June, thanks to Ems Mum and Dad and Casey and Jeff.
Word went round the cruisers that there was
soemthing going on in the town one night. Certainly the main hal was being
decorated. We headed in for further investigations and to make enquiries. It was
Mothers Day qnd the town was putting on a Mothers Day celebration. Locals had
paid for tables and would be eating a meal, and there was a bar adn we were
welcome to come along and watch and drink at the bar. Entry would be 10 dollars
per person. Fantastic. The place was heaving at 8 pm, and we headed straight for
the bar. Drinks were a little pricey at 4 dollars a can of local beer- but what
the hell. Quite a few cruisers refused to pay the entry fee - and then tried to
sneek a peek without paying. At this point I'm tempted to get on my soap box,
but I'll refrain and merely say that it was the best 10 dollars I have spent in
a long time and well worth every penny. A dance troupe made up of 8 women
entertained us for many a song and then 20 local children also danced. There was
a live band that banged out some well known Marquesan hits and all of this for
their own, not done simply for the tourists. It was a privilidge to be there.
And the best bit of the night - they had a Mum of the Night competition, in
which various mums competed against one another by having to do certain
embarassing tasks - they were simply hilarious and the language barrier mattered
not at all.
The following day we had yet more on the agenda as
a few of us had decided to go for a lunch which involved yet more of the local
dancing. Once again, we had a great time. A pig was killed and then baked in an
earth over, along with breadfruit and Fei (like plantains but red coloured). We
had lots of other foods I have never had before, but sadly I cannot remember
most of them. We than had a group of male dancers perform for us. There are
shown on the preceeding blog - you may notice that many of the pictures seem to
be of the same guy - strange! Suffice to say, I was not the one taking the
pictures!
We are now in a bay, 5 miles down the coast, called
Daniels Bay. Sadly Daniel died 18 months ago after being turfed out of his home
in order to make an edition of Survivor on the beach here! In our own little
version of Survivor, I caught us a nice Tuna on the way here. Finally we catch a
fish! I think this is perhaps the most spectacular bay I have ever taken a boat
into - You have the normal lovely beach at one end, but then on either side are
the biggest, cragiest mountain cliffs rising straight up from the sea. These are
not ugly grey rock cliffs but instead green moss covered rock with the odd tree
dotted around. Fringing the beach are the normal palm trees, one would expect as
well. Its really is quite breathtaking!
At this point in the narrative I ate something that
did not rest easily in my stomach..if you get my drift, and therefore spent 2
days in bed. Ems meanwhile left the poor patient suffering and went on a hike to
a nearby waterfall. The pictures looked lovely and we will publish them when we
can.
We would have left today, but realised in the nick
of time that today is a Friday, and we never leave on a Friday. So here we sit
waiting for tomorrow to come so that we can depart. A 500 mile trip lies ahead
of us to the Tuamotu archipelago, or the Dangerous Archiplago as it used to be
called. Reading the guidebooks has not made things any easier as one book will
tell you that a certain atoll is easy to get in and lovely, and then another
will tell you its a nightmare and not worth the effort - I beginning to think
they should be called the 'Don't Bother Islands'.
However Fakarava is rated as the one of the top 5 dive sites in French
Polynesia. One dive company offers you your money back if you dont see a shark!
We have to try and go!
Unitl the next time.
Lots of love
J and Ems xx
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