Fatu Hiva, Marquesas, French Polynesia ( Leg 7 Part 2)

(8^th to 12^th August 2022)

We arrived at 22.20 local time ( there is a half hour time difference between the Tuamotus and Marquesas) on the 8th August and thankfully we had a ¾ moon lighting our way, so with no reefs to be wary of there was no need for flashlights as we moved slowly into the anchorage. We were the only boat here. How wonderful.

The following morning….wow!!! The scenery ….. is…… stunning!! Don’t you just love that? Arriving somewhere in the dark and being blown away by the natural beauty of your surroundings when you get up in the morning!? This bay is called “Baie Des Verges” ( Bay of Penises) as there are several phallic peaks amongst the towering cliffs, but it is also known as Baie Hanavave ( the nearby village) or more recently Baie Des Vierges ( Bay of Virgins – the missionaries that landed here didn’t appreciate the former name so added an “i”!) After a passage of several days, time is always needed to get Imagination back into a “liveable” state, so while Ally did the clean up and reorganisation, Shawn changed the water maker filters and fitted a new pump. After lunch, clouds had formed on the top of the peaks and we awaited the downpour that never really happened…so instead of going ashore, we decided to do something we hadn’t done in a while and have a few drinky poos together and relax whilst listening to Ally’s “ absolute faves” playlist. We especially raised a glass to two friends of friends and future crew members who were going to join us in Vanuatu in 2023, tragically and very sadly killed in a motorcycle accident in Canada the previous weekend. We are still struggling to get our heads around that! Our hearts and thoughts go out to their family and friends.

Ally decided to use the hair clipper attachment she had purchased ages ago…..the long blonde but dry and brittle hair came off…and it’s great…ish! With all the diving/snorkelling, sailing and exploring shorter hair is far more practical, and uses far less shampoo and water! Shawn, who had been growing his hair over the last 18 months or so followed suit a couple of days later.

We had read about a 5.5 hour hike up and over to the next village and back along a winding road, so on the 10^th, we got up and set off to visit Omoa which is the main village, whilst taking in a waterfall on the way and also hopefully finding some petroglyphs on the other side. We donned our hiking boots and left the small, very pretty harbour area in Hanavave and asked for directions several times to make sure we were on the right route for the waterfall. We found the turning which took us “off road” and we trekked through trees and undergrowth on a trail marked by rock piles. The waterfall was 300 metres high but as it is dry season, wasn’t as spectacular as it would be in rainy season. We went back down to rejoin and follow the winding road to Omoa…..only it was steep…really steep, really, really steep……did I say it was steep?? …and it went on and on and on. It was hard work ( for one of us) and we had to stop many times to catch breathe and bring heart rates down. Just as we thought we’d reached the top, around the next bend was another steep incline. At 14.15, with hips, backs and ankles aching we decided to head back down to Hanavave as we would arrive too late in Omoa to make it worth while and we would be returning in the dark. The descent was much quicker, but equally as painful and we have since discovered that we had only got about half way and that the 5.5 hours mentioned was just for one way. The review we had read had been very badly written! Had we known that, we wouldn’t have even contemplated it and would have just visited the waterfall, but it did mean we saw some spectacular views and also came across lots of gorgeous limes, ready and waiting to be picked. On our way out of the village that morning, we had passed a property lined with pamplemouse laden trees and on the way back, we were saying how wonderful they looked when the lady came out of the house and called us into her garden where she cut off 4 big fruits and handed them to us. We were so grateful and we tried to chat with our limited French and her limited English. She asked if Ally had any clothes she could have, so the following day, we returned to her with a few items of clothing Ally no longer wears, a bottle of perfume and some hair ties and after chatting again about her making grass skirts for a dance festival in Hiva Oa in 2023, she gave us many bananas and a few oranges. We also got around 10 free small mangoes from Therese, a lady we had asked for directions on the way up, who owned the shop we bought some well deserved icecream from when we got back to the village – she asked if we liked mangoes and then just gave them to us out of a box full sat behind her. We offered to pay, but she wouldn’t take anything for them. Our fruit basket was overflowing for the first time in a very long time!!

There is no public wifi here in Hanavave, and even the private wifi isn’t very good we were told by a young lady we got chatting to at the Mairie ( Town Hall) . They have fibre optic 4G over in Omoa which seems a little unfair, but maybe it will be coming here too, sometime in the future. So, once again, we have had to go without internet which has been frustrating, but in some ways, it’s nice to not have that distraction where hours can be wasted doing not very much. Our time here in this most gorgeous of islands came to a close and we set sail for Nuka Hiva on the morning of 12^th August. We were going to leave at around lunchtime but we needed to make some phone calls on our satellite communication unit and the connection was being hindered by the high cliffs of the valley, so we left at 08.30. The anchorage has some wicked gusts howling through at times as they are funnelled down the valley and they were very strong this morning reminding us a little of the “Christmas Winds” in the Grenadines. The sea was pretty choppy for the first few hours, but settled later and we had a good crossing, having very quick visits by two lots of small dolphins.