Well, our final port of call has arrived…… the island of Nuku Hiva located in the Marquesas archipelago. There are twelve "high" islands in this group but only six are inhabited. They are spread over 217 miles with limited inter-island connections. And because of that, their customs and dialect are unique to each island. There are no coral reefs or lagoons here, but stunning landscapes and rugged-beyond-belief mountains. It may come as a surprise that Nuku Hiva is the second largest island in French Polynesia with Tahiti being the biggest. With all of the Marquesas combined, there are 9350 natives on the six islands.
The population of Nuku Hiva is 3025 people living on an island of 854 square miles. There are eight villages, with Taiohae being the administrative capital of this archipelago. The most scenic part of this island has to be the entrance into Taiohae Bay. And we happened to be up early enough to watch our entrance where the views are spectacular. We were promised a 100% rain-free day, so we sure hope the cruise director got it right this time. In fact, the surrounding cliffs showed that there has not been a lot of rain here recently as they were drier than we have ever seen them. Like a desert.
There was only one tour offered which took the guests on a three hour ride into the Taipivai Valley where their growing fields are as well as the site of where Herman Melville created his book Typee back in the late 1800's. This tour was in private 4x4 vehicles with a driver/guide who may or may not speak English. The price was $140. This excursion can also be done independently for a lot less we have heard. It has been explained to us that doing these tours on your own do not provide the extra insurance needed to cover you in case of an accident. On our first visit here years ago, we did this tour. Back then, the price was $50. Inflation we guess changed that.
We went off of the ship by 10:30am, when we figured most of the folks had already left. It wasn't crowded on the tenderboat, and we left within minutes of boarding. In some of the ports, we had to wait until the boat was completely full. And that seemed to happen when it was the hottest and most humid days ever. This would be our last time to tender and last port to visit.
When we landed at the cement pier, we had a drummer and two tattooed Marquesan fellows dancing for us. One of them was handing out tiare blossoms. Directly on a knoll near this landing was a sculpture called Tiki Tuhiva. It is a towering statue of a tiki that resembles something from outer space and a Marquesan warrior on the backside. A few shops and a café are in this area, but they were full of shoppers already. Further up the road was a combination produce market and a dining area with tables and chairs under a roof. There were a few tables of souvenirs set up here. Most of the items were seashell necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. Some pendants were being sold as well. One table had some miniature wood carved tikis….something for the guys.
There are two separate huts here. One had more trinkets for sale, and the second one was the information center with convenient restrooms. There were a few black pearl vendors, but this was not really the place to buy them. The pearls are not farmed in these islands at all. No lagoons? No pearls. We continued up the main road walking by the shoreline. There were several stores, a bank, and some cafes along the way. Many places were not opened. Some local fellows passed by on their Marquesan horses, which are much smaller than a regular horse. None of them had saddles.
The tide was up, so we had to be careful where we walked. The wave action was unpredictable and if not watching, you could get a soaking. There is no beach here to speak of….only rocks and murky water. We had been warned not to swim here for several reasons. One good reason is the fact there are sharks. And we are not talking harmless reef sharks. These are the grays and sometimes great white sharks. On a previous visit, we saw these sharks in action when a fisherman baited a rope with a fish head. The sharks came from out of nowhere trying to get the large fish head. It was quite an experience seeing these sharks close up. They are powerful creatures. The other reason for not swimming in these waters is the fact they are probably not safe due to contamination from seepage from the village. When the tide is low, you can see the pipes going out into the bay.
Further up the road, we passed by the Monument to the Dead, a solemn tribute to the fallen French soldiers. Near to this spot, is the road that leads up to their famous church, Notre Dame Cathedral. We walked up the street about the same time as a tour group had arrived. We were able to take plenty of photos inside and out before the place was mobbed. The wood carvings in this church are made from wood that came from every island in the archipelago. It is a very pretty setting, although the voices of many local children wake the place up. There is an elementary school here. Today the youngest ones, kindergarten size, were being picked up in a school bus to go home.
Back down to the road, we turned right and made our way to Tohua Temehea, a restored ancient ceremonial site which we have seen being built for the last three visits here. There are new sculptures created by artists of the islands. Besides a grandstand and stage, there were new covered buildings for food tables and covered pergolas to sit in the shade. It appears that a separate building will be restrooms for the crowds that gather here. We do know that there are yearly concerts with bands competing from the six islands of the Marquesas. It is a huge event for the locals.
A little further up the road, we came across the Paanatea cemetery and the spot where a monument was dedicated to the writer Herman Melville. Eventually this monument deteriorated badly, and now it is gone. In fact that was the reason one of us decided to find this book, Typee, in the library and read what it was all about. Very interesting, whether some of it was fact and some made-up, it put a whole new light on the history and people of this ancient island.
The road eventually turned into a rocky gravel road before it came to a dead end. A museum used to be on this end, but seems to be closed now. This is where we turned right, and hiked up a steep road to the Le Nuku Hiva Pearl Resort. We saw a tethered cow on the side of the hill too. Expecting a crowd up there, we were surprised to see one couple from the ship relaxing at a table and swimming in the small pool. We had a very nice lunch with two Hinano beers each and a shared cheeseburger. Dessert was a volcano cake with rich creamy vanilla ice cream which we shared. And we can say for a fact that this meal had to be the most expensive one of the entire trip. It gets first prize for being close to $90 USD. It was no surprise, since we knew it was expensive, but well worth the treat. Alcohol is pricey in French Polynesia and consisted of half of the bill. The breeze was blowing across the patio and it was difficult to have to leave. But all aboard was 4:30pm, and we did not want to be that late in getting back.
We did take our sweet time walking, even though it was not as hot as it usually is. At this end of the road, there is a dark sand beach where the locals come with their families for a BBQ. That normally happens on the weekend, so today there was no one on this beach. In fact, the tide was so high, we could not walk on the sand this time like we always do. It was under water. So it was back to the road, past the high school, where kids were playing basketball, and past the concert site. One thing we did remember was to bring double the water with us. It came in handy, and was way better than what they call lemonade at the drink station at the pier.
At the info hut, we did find a good pamphlet on the island, and also checked out their treasures. Already having this different type of jewelry, we did not add anything to the collection. A tender boat was just arriving, and we loaded on with a handful of guests and crew members and were off to the ship. Good to be back in the coolness of our room.
There was a complimentary wine and cheese party on he Seaview Pool deck at 4:30pm, Sail away time. Knowing what a fiasco that can be, we skipped it and spent two hours on our veranda as the ship left the harbor before 5pm. Captain Smit came on with his updated talk and said that he and the crew were happy that this was the final tendering of this trip. It is a big job keeping us all safe boarding these boats. We now face six days at sea with 2824 nautical miles to go to reach San Diego a week from now. He needs to maintain a speed of 18 knots or more to achieve this mileage. Then he warned us that we might be facing 3 to 4 meter swells or up to 12 foot seas, the highest we will have on this whole trip. Tomorrow he expected morning showers with a temperature of 77 degrees. Lastly, the clocks will go ahead ½ hour this evening. Now we are only one hour ahead of Pacific Time.
Dinner was good with two different salads, a bowl of chicken noodle soup, and a shrimp taco. Mains were one rigatoni with chicken meatballs, and one prime rib plate with a baked potato. One scoop of pecan ice cream and one of mint chocolate chip finished our meal just fine.
Like we said, we will now have lots of time to relax as well as think about packing for home. And by the way, we never got rain…only a few sprinkles at the cathedral. Guess the cruise director got it right this time.
Bill & Mary Ann
