Marquesas –Nuku Hive 24 May 2024 – The Island Tour

The night was quite rolly in the bay and I got up a few times to check all was ok. We held without issue but the swell was entering into the bay.

I woke early anyway and we all had a help yourself breakfast as we had to be ashore by 8.00am as I needed to see the Yacht Services man and our tour of the island which we had arranged was due to start at 8.30am. We went ashore and I went to see the Yacht Services guy called Kevin. I took my gas fittings as he was struggling to fill our gas cylinder and needed help with fittings. I also am arranging to have a duty free certificate for fuel. It is worth it if you are buying more than 60 lts and in the months that I will be in French Polynesia I will exceed this. I need 400 lts at least now and will need more in Tahiti. I have also asked about cleaning the hull and I think I will pay for someone to do this rather than do it again myself.

The guide was there on time at 8.30am and this was a pick up truck where they had converted the back bit to seating. There was therefore the front seats, rear seats and the back seating outside. Our guide was Vincent who was born in Paris. His mother was from Paris and his father from Nuku Hiva. He had grown up in Paris and then worked in 5 star hotels in Paris, Spain, Switzerland and Bora Bora and then having travelled and studied in Australia he decided to return to Nuku Hiva where he now lives. He describes it as a paradise and loves the life out here.

We clambered into our tuck and started our tour of the island. Vincent explained that about 2,500- 3000 live in Bahia Taiohae and there are a few hundreds here and there but it is not a densely populated island. We climbed up from Taiohae up the hill ridge behind the bay and we were soon beyond the small houses and the landscape opened up and we were in very lush, jungle like scenery with huge large trees and lots of lovey shrubs and flowering shrubs and frangipani trees with their lovely white flowers. The scenery was quite dramatic and steep as there are lots of ridges and gulleys and valleys. There were chickens and dogs beside the road which was concrete and had only been completed about 15 year ago. There was little traffic and we continued to climb with the dramatic steep landscape opening up above us. We eventually got to the top and at a viewpoint we could see the bay below with the boats bobbing at anchor (including Stormbird) and the curve of the hills enclosing the bay with its green verdant foliage.

We carried on over the top and down to another viewpoint overlooking Baie Controller – which is the bay south of Taiohae. It has 3 limbs to it and we could see two. It had a beach at the end of the bay which is gravy brown due to the sediment of the rivers which flow into the water. In the bay was a Hallberg Rassy with 3 spreaders and I wondered whether it was Yaghan – the 62 we net in Shelter Bay. However even taking a picture and zooming in I could not see the name. We then drove down to a village called Taipvai which was a flat area with some huts. The tradition is that villages or tribes have a central flat area where everyone could go and meet and dance and they have these sort of huts which are open all sides but they have two roofs which are at different angles. This gives shade and shelter but are open so that  the wind can pass. These huts are raised on stone plinths and people sleep on these plinths and under the shelter. These flat areas also have Tiki’s – stone statues which depict statues of ancestors – which are to remind of the traditions. The whole area was surrounded by a wall with Nuku Hiva patterns on it. Vincent showed us a grapefruit trees and took 3 large ones and cut them up and gave is them to eat. They were about twice the size of normal grapefruits we get at home. They were the same yellow/green colour but did not really taste that sour and they were refreshing and fruity. There was a craft centre nearby selling carvings and jewellery etc.

We continued on toward the sea to a small place called Hooumi -where there was a freshwater river running alongside the road which meandered through the lush vegetation and eventually led to a beach at the end of a bay. During our drive there were chicken beside the road along with stray dogs and horses – most of which are free to roam, although some are tethered. This area was quiet and untouristy but beautiful.

We then retraced our steps and took a road over the hills toward the Northeast of the island and toward a seaside resort called Hatiheu. The road climbed through green and lush vegetation and then we reached to top and saw ahead of us a jagged rock formation overlooking a beautiful round bay. We then started to go down and were within the greenery again and we came to an old, populated site called Te Moui. This was quite a powerful site in that it was heavily populated about 500-600 years ago and there were lots of old stone ruins and old huts and different levels. There was also one of the largest and oldest Banyan trees here reported to be 600 years old. Apparently in old times when the Polynesians died their head was cut off and buried under a Banyan tree and the rest of the body was left in a cave. No one lives here anymore as there are so many mosquitoes and Noseeme flies.

We carried on down to Hatiheu which was a lovely calm bay with a gravy brown beach, but the houses and gardens and foliage were well kept. We had a good lunch in a restaurant set back from the beach. A freshwater stream came down beside it and there were some hug eels in the water there. After lunch we went up the hill toward the ridge toward a village called Aakapa. We did not go all the way but had some magnificent views of the bays and scenery in that part of the islands.

We returned over the hills and ridges to Taiohae enabling us to take in more of  this beautiful island. Vincent calls it paradise and in a way it is. However, the pace of life is very slow and finding permanent work is not easy. There is no high school in the Marquesas, so all children have to go to Tahiti where eyes are opened and many do not return but seek their career and life elsewhere.

It had been a very interesting day, and we now have a good feel of the island. It is special and unique and very beautiful  and lush which means it rains a lot. You have to be prepared for the pace of life which must change depending on the seasons. It is a special place and so remote.

Vincent agreed to wait whilst we visited the supermarket so he could transport our provisions back to the dinghy. We returned to Stormbird and invited George a Dutchman who came to say hello for a drink. His wife had to return to Holland and he was on his own. He has visited a number of the Marquesas Islands. He has also taken 4.5 years from Holland to get here!!

Ian unfortunately has to return home tomorrow, so we wish him a safe flight home. After a few days we are now getting a feel for the island.

Crewing Opportunity

We have arrived in the Marquesas in French Polynesia and will explore these islands and then move through to the Tuamotu’s before getting to Tahiti about the end of July 2024. There may be some space on Stormbird during this period should any sailor/reader be interested in joining for this period or part of it in what must be one of the most distant and beautiful places in the world.

Year Two

In addition, in year two I will be going from New Zealand in early January 2025 across to Sydney and up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and probably across the Indian Ocean to Cape Town and I will need some more crew.

If there is any interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

The blog will continue as we move through French Polynesia and beyond.

If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com  I can only upload one picture a day and visit our website www.stormbirdgoesglobal.co.uk