Ua Poa day 2
Zepher
Chris & Lyn Darch
Fri 27 Jun 2008 03:41
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Hi All,
Another day in only what can be described as
paradise anchorage , the clouds cleared from the peaks to reveal columns of
basalt rock rising 4000 ft from the island floor .. magic ..
We spent the morning on lengthaning the anchor
chain to 300 ft , the anchorages are getting deeper the further we explore the
pacific island , we are currently anchored in 14m of water but only have 45m
of chain out , should be nearer 60m ... it ok as there is little swell at
the moment with only 6 knts of wind but its a job that's long over due
..
In the afternoon we went ashore to look at the
village , absolutely immaculate paved roads and well kept gardens , we walked to
the village limits , were it goes to a rough track , there must be a lot of
money sloshing about as they all seem to be driving around in brand new 4wd 110
Landrovers , satellite TV dishes and all the mod cons in the houses, the streets
are lined with fruit trees , Mangos, Lemons , and Sweet grapefruit , along with
bananas it truly is a utopian dream as there is no work and all this wealth is
handed out from the French government , there is no tourist industry or any
other form of wealth creation to speak of, these islands are remote from the
rest of French Polynesia so it is very difficult to get to each island
one in the area , it is so unlike the San Blas Islands were there
was visible poverty of the people as no money was forthcoming from the Panama
government and they had to scrape a living the best way they could from
coconuts and copra exported , here the fruit of all the coconuts just rots below
the trees as there is no market for it, once you have been to the small shops
and seen the price of things , which we all take a second look at , tin of
beans 1.50 pounds for instance it makes one wonder how much subsidy is handed
out here , you weekly shop would be in excess of 200 pound for a family of four
I suspect ..
Anyway we fell privileged to have visited these
Islands by boat and appreciate that really its the only way to see so many in
such a short time , tomorrow we move to the Last island of Nuka Hiva
.
A crew in Paradise
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