Tahuata, Marquesas

A short jump from Hiva Oa (Atuona) is Hanamoena anchorage on Tahuata island (10 miles). It is a beautiful anchorage with great holding, white sand beach lined with coconut palms. The trip there is almost guaranteed to land you at least one yellow fin tuna in the pass between Hiva Oa and Tahuata. We used this as a great excuse to meet all the boats in the anchorage and invite them to a beach BBQ that night. 

We had a great pot luck the first night and met some new and interesting people. Our friends from Just Drifting and Minnie B were there, along with the guys from Black Pearl. The fish was great too.

We heard about the fabled manta rays that frequent the bay and on one lovely still calm morning, we could see their fins waving at us to come join them. So we promptly did. I am loving our under water camera now and don't know how we lived without it before. Admittedly Sally is the master of the camera as she takes better photos than I do.

Wade (Just Drifting) and I went trolling for yellow fin (they often fed just off the point and could be seen leaping out the water as they nailed the bait fish). Wade, using cedar plug and me with a spoon, trolled up the coast towards the channel and then on the way back Wade got a good strike which we lost and then 5 minutes later a large 28 yellow fin decided to invite itself to dinner! Unfortunately Wade's cedar plug was lure of the day. I did not even get a strike :(

Dinner was on board Just Drifting that night! Although the filet that I got I gave away to a couple boats in the anchorage as it was so big (and we did not want tuna for the next 4 meals).

We were about to leave when our friends arrived and we had a "Very Marquesan Evening" (see other post). We spent some time with Dolphin before heading to the southern most bay on the island as we wanted to get a few fresh produce before we left for the Tuamotus. 

Hapitoni is a beautiful little bay and in stark contrast to Hanamoena with its white sand beach. Instead this had large black rock boulders on the shore and steep cliffs. The anchorage is about a mile from the town dock, so there is an unspoilt view of the shoreline that is decorated with coconut palms. All the palms (like in the San Blas have been planted for copra production).

As we arrived into the anchorage we were greeted by a large pod of dolphins playing in the bay. As soon as we had dropped the anchor we paddled the dinghy in their general direction taking photos along the way. We hopped in the water and tried swimming with them. They did not come very close, but we could see them in the water (water was very murky due to a lot of rain) but the most amazing thing was listening to them. You could even hear them when we were on the boat.

Post the swim with the dolphins, we headed for the waterfall no more than 6 metres from the shore.

Fantastic.

Just Drifting joined us in the bay and we went ashore with them. Interaction with the locals was aided by Maureen who used to teach French! What a bonus having her along.

We discovered that a large cruise ship was due in the following morning and that all the carvers (for which the place is famous for) will have their wares on display. 

We came ashore the following morning just as the tourists were being shuttled in. Unfortunately many of the carvers had packed up their good works ready for a Festival of Art in Tahiti where they display (and sell) their wares. In saying that, the stuff that was on display was fantastic. We even tried to barter for a paddle. I think the proprietor was shocked when Sally tried to trade him some booze for his paddle as he probably thought we were from the cruise ship. He did give us a good discount though and we are now the proud owners of a beautiful carved Toa (type of wood) paddle.

As part of the show put on for the cruise ship there was traditional singing and dancing. The men would do a very aggressive sort of war dance / hakka which was juxtaposed by the sweet singing / dancing of the woman doing the follow up dance and song. Even the little kids got involved and were singing.

We made friends with all the local kids. They would crowd around us when we arrived and follow us through the village babbling in French to us. My bulk standard response to most things was "Oui!". This got me into trouble when they asked for a ride in the dinghy. I responded "Oui" and they all lept into the dinghy. Sally, Wade and Maureen could only stand on the dock and wait in the rain while I zoomed these little grinning faces around the bay. Sally had a fan named Valencia who clung to her side every time we came ashore so one day, Sally presented her with a pencil urchin wind chime that she had made. Valencia's little face was a picture as the rest of the kids crowded around admiring. They disappeared into her house and came out again with a big flower brooch complete with real orange feathers. This was then pinned to Sally's cardigan and the cooing continued.

As the next bay was within walking distance and we had not done much stretching of legs, we decided to walk there with Just Drifting. The promise of internet in the next bay was an added bonus, although not really for me as I was the arse carrying the laptop (and the water, and the snacks and the…you get the point). The locals swore that it would only take about 2 hours to walk there. Comedy must be another one of their main exports as after 3 hours (there is only 1 road, we were not lost!) we still seemed to be miles away. We finally ended up hitching a ride in the back of a pick up the remaining mile and a half. Sally's feet (as usual) had blisters that were making my eyes water, but stoically she just deals with it (every time). 

Our knight in shining armour

After a good internet (read - Maureen and Sally perusing Facebook, while Wade and I went exploring) we were ready to leave. Only thing is that it is now 5pm and Sally and Maureen were swearing blind that there was no way they wanted to A) walk back and B) walk back at night (the road is a dirt road with loads of ankle twisters along the way due to the recent heavy rains and rock falls). A "taxi" we are told would set us back $120. A "hostel" room for the night would be about $120 per couple. So that left us wandering around the town trying to negotiate our way home (which as the crow flies is only 2 miles by the way). Eventually we managed to get a ride in a fishing dinghy (large one) for $60 and one of my prized bottles of Scotch. All in all a good day out but we were very tired upon return. Would we recommend the walk? Yes, but plan that it will take a full day to walk there and back and take proper walking boots.

Local kids following us on the trail

As we were off to Tuamotus direct, we wanted some fresh fruit for the trip. We asked the woman in the store (she only sells potatoes and onions as all fruit just drips off of the trees and locals seem to share everything). She said to bring the kids some stuff and they would collect fruit for us. 

So the next day we came in to town and the same group of kids came bounding up to us carrying large boxes filled with pawpaw, pamplemousse and mangoes. They had obviously been out picking fruit that morning for us. Very sweet.

We gave them a few school supplies and sweets etc which they all seemed very happy with. As we departed in the dinghy the kids jumped into the water and clinged to the side yelling 'don't go', 'we love you', 'Sally I love your boyfriend' and other amusing remarks in English and we don't really know if they knew what they were saying. Fearing we would run over a local with our prop, we floated about prising fingers off handles and waving profusely as we disappeared into the distance with Nintendo DS' snapping our mug shots.

We now had this huge supply of mangoes (ripe ones that had been picked off the floor). The only proper thing to do is call a happy hour! Sally and I sat there peeling and squeezing the mangoes (by hand) until we had about 3 litres of juice. We went round to Just Drifting for dinner as I had caught a large Mahi earlier that day when Wade and I trolled off the coast (in the dinghy) and drank fresh mango and ate fresh Mahi. 

The following morning we wished Wade and Maureen farewell and headed for the Tuamotus.