Closing the loop on Nuku Hiva.

15th- 29th September 2017

Hatiheu Bay :Towering Peaks & Ancient Sites

It was hard leaving beautiful Anaho Bay, but as always  there is someplace else to see. So we motored two miles west around the headland to the village of Hatiheu where we’d ridden the horses a few days before.

Once again it was a spectacular anchorage, one difference being that we’d  swapped the white sands of Anaho for the black volcanic sand here.

Having already seen the the bay from the shore, now we got to see the picture in reverse which was more the perspective that we are used to. The village, backed by a sea of palm trees dominating the valley behind, looked even more impressive from the water than it had standing on land

Towering way above our mast height were several needle like pinnacles, one of which at 300m was adorned with  a statue of the Virgin Mary wearing a crown of coral.

The statue was erected back in 1872 and how they got it up there is a bit of a mystery, no-one that we asked could tell us how it was done.

We stayed only three days here, our main focus being to visit the archeological sites of Hikokua and the connecting sites of Kamuihei, Tahakia and Teiipoka, all of which are an easy stroll along the main road out of town. Hikokua dates back to AD 1250 and was still in use in the 1800’s. Discovered  by archeologist Robert Suggs in 1957, it took thirty years to restore and is now maintained by the village and their four footed companions.

           

There are nine christian graves near the centre of the site which date back to the missionary era, along with a flat stone that was used for rituals and dances associated with the rites of puberty.  A platform at the north end of the site was, as macabre as it sounds, apparently used for human sacrifices and to display the remains of bodies after the event.

Moving on up the road a ways we arrived at the trio of sites which were discovered during  the late 90’s. From what we have read the importance and number of structures here stands testament to the dense population that once inhabited this fertile valley. Among all the huge basalt stones thrives a  massive 600 year old Banyan tree, the likes of which just astounded us.  At the foot of it was a very deep pit that is presumed to have been used for the disposal of taboo objects and remains of human sacrifices.  Other pits in the area were used to store breadfruit. Further up the hill we found Petroglyphs, rock carvings, depicting fish and  turtles. All in all it was a good day’s sightseeing.

   

       

Personable Pua

Moving on from Hatiheu we continued along the north coast stopping for lunch in an uninhabited bay before continuing on to  Baie Hakaehu  and the village of  of Pua. This too was a black sand beach with the usual breathtaking backdrop, for which the camera never does justice.

 

While here we went ashore  and met Marina and her husband Germane. They own a small farm just back from the beach where they grow oranges, limes, mango, papaya, bananas and breadfruit. They  also own one hundred horses as well as cattle, goats and dogs. Seven other families live in the small community whose  livelihoods also depend on farming.

 

Marina told us that only one other boat had ever stopped in this bay and she was thrilled to bits when we she saw us came in and anchor. The next day our friends from Southern Comfort and Off 2 C also arrived to spend some time. Now she was beyond ecstatic and even rang her daughter to tell her the news.

In exchange for some rope which we’d now replaced on the boat, we were given a goodly amount of fruits which Marina insisted we take.

At  her the invitation we strolled through their farmland  amongst ruins dating back to ancient times. We walked up the hill to their family cemetery  which overlooked the beach and on the way back down provided a a takeaway snack for a rather cheeky horse who had taken a liking to eating breadfruit. Liam had picked one up that had just fallen to the ground and was in the process of retrieving another one from a low hanging branch when the four legged thief casually strolled over and began devouring the first one. It seems that all animals in the Marquesas are quite partial to eating fruit of any kind.

 

       

When you make such short but endearing friendships it’s always hard to say goodbye, but there was still the west coast to explore, so goodbye it had to  be to these sincere and generous Marquesan's.

What Lies Beneath

Next up on the spreadsheet, just kidding about the spreadsheet, was Baie d’Haahopu slightly south of the northwestern extremity of the island.

Before the cross-island road was built linking Taiohae, the capital of Nuku Hiva to the airport, the only form of transport for inbound and outbound passengers was via boat from this bay. The now seldom used dock, except by fisherman, is still up kept in case of  rock or mudslides along the winding  and mountainous road during the rainy season, which would very effectively cut off access to the airport and the outside world.

The bay looked lovely as we pulled in with another enticing white sand beach to laze around on. But looks can be deceiving.  As we were about to drop the anchor a swarm of yellow wasps invaded the bow and yours truly was stung three times on the inner thigh. “Ouch” is way too bland a word to describe the burning pain that these furious creatures inflicted on my nerve endings. It really put a downer on the moment to say the least.

We quickly hightailed it out further away from the shore, dropped the hook  and retreated inside the confines of our insect screen proofed home. Over the coming days the bands of wasps were joined by their equally savage cousins know as bees. The cockpit of GWTW had suddenly become a no-go zone as the hordes invaded. They took a liking to anything and everything colourful including anything white, which means our whole boat!

After three days of lockdown we, metaphorically speaking, waved the white flag, conceded defeat and decided to move on. Mother nature on the other hand had other ideas.

We’d heard a familiar rumbling of the anchor chain a few times  indicating that there were rocks lurking on the seafloor 45 ft below us. What we didn’t realise was that there was a beast down there that had taken our chain into it’s clutches and was not about to release us any time soon. Our windless  and our boat skills were  no match for whatever was down there and no amount of tooing and froing or moving the boat this way and that helped the situation.  We were  well and truly stuck fast.

Luckily our friends on OFF 2 C, who had left the  anchorage yesterday due to the wasp issue, had returned late in the afternoon as the sea conditions further south we not favorable. As they too were pulling up their anchor we radioed them explaining our problem and asked if they could hang a bout for a bit while  Liam donned his scuba gear to investigate the issue. He surfaced saying that it didn’t look good down there. The rock was a big as a Volkswagen and the chain was wrapped around it in a figure of eight that had doubled back on itself as well as on a smaller rock. Not a man to mince his words, “It’s an absolute shit-fight“, he said.

The only way to deal with it was to disconnect our anchor from the chain, something no sailor does lightly, while  our own Lloyd Bridges attempted to unravel the  80 foot cat’s cradle of chain. To do what needed to be done we needed one more body on board, so as Vaughan gingerly backed the transom of Off 2 C towards us, Lesley jumped off and swam over to give me a hand on deck.

Our plan was that after Liam had disconnected the anchor from the chain he would tie a long line to it and we girls would pull it up towards the surface and let it dangle  20ft down off our bow cleat. Then with me on the helm and Lesley directing from the bow as Liam gradually sorted out the mess below, I would  slowly maneuver GWTW forward  so that Lesley could bring in the slack chain, except for the last 20 feet. Liam would  then re attached  the anchor to the chain and we’d pull the whole kit and caboodle back on board and be free at last.

The exercise needed to be executed with extreme caution taking into account that Liam was down alone at 45 ft, which is a real no-no in the diving world. We also had a lee shore on three sides of us depending which direction the wind came from, so once the chain was free GWTW would be drifting as Lesley and I would  both need to be on the bow until it was all back on board and secure.

After the best part of two hours the mess was sorted. Many thanks to Vaughan and Lesley for hanging around and helping us.

This was a classic example of the benefits of carrying scuba gear with full air tanks or a hooker system on board. ‘Cause when the powers that be throw you a curved ball like the one we just had it would really wreck your day without the right gear for the job

A Valley Where Time Stands Still.

With that speed bump now behind us we picked up where we left off and continued down the coast and around to the island’s south side to Baie d’Hakatea. In “cruiser speak” it’s also known as Daniel’s Bay after the man who lived here for many years and befriended boats that stopped here. The west side of the bay is  strikingly steep, we’re talking 1,600 ft high while the east has  a gently sloping white sand beach with coconut palms backed by  some very formidable peaks. The only structure in the eastern lobe of the bay is Daniel’s former house which has now been sold to a gent in Tahiti but is  looked after under the watchful eyes of a lovely couple, Michael and Natasha.

Much to our delight the bay has pretty much 360 degree protection from the sea due to it’s overlapping headlands which makes for a snug, calm anchorage with a nice sandy bottom.

We spent several days here enjoying the peace and grandeur of our surrounds.  Three or four families have homes in the western bay and live the simple life tilling the soil and selling their veggies to the market in town and to cruisers like us. Unlike Anaho Bay on the north coast where you can take a horse over the hill to the next village and hook up with a car to go wherever you want on the island, you can’t do that from here. There are no roads, electricity or cell phone signals and definitely no internet. This bay is an island within an island. The only way in or out is by boat.

As an aside for those of you who follow the  TV “Survivor” show, parts of the French Polynesia series was filmed in this bay.

In company with the crew from OFF 2 C and Southern Comfort we donned our hiking clothes and shoes and took the dinghies to the mouth of the river ready for the four hour round trip hike to the Vaipo waterfall. In hindsight, had we known, it would have been far easier to leave the dinks on the beach in Daniels bay and follow the foreshore path over to the village where the trail start, to avoid walking through all the icky black sand.

Ashore we met Paul who has donned the hat of meet and greeter for those who come to hike. He’s a soft natured fellow who is knowledgeable about the origins of the ruins scattered about in the village and along the trail through the lush Hakaui Valley and further on to the Vaipo waterfall, which at 350m is the highest  in French Polynesia.  Paul offered to bring us fruit from his trees and had them waiting in the cruisers BBQ hut near beach when we returned later in the day.

As of earlier this year a fee to visit the waterfall of 1,000 CFP ( US$10,) was introduced by the small community here for the upkeep of the trail. Paul collects the fee and issues a receipt valid for the length of your stay.  As cruisers we get to visit the falls as many times as we like while our boats are anchored here but for us, doing the hike  once was  quite enough.

Another reason for the fee we assume, is because small tourist boats also visit here from the main town and it’s only fair that the residents of the bay, whose land all the feet stomp across, get a slice of the pie too.

The tourists pay around 7,000 CFP each for the day out, and they don’t even  get to go all the way to the falls! They must have wondered what was going on when the six of us trooped past them and disappeared across the stream in the direction of the falls.

The trail in parts was not as easy as we thought it would be. It was quite rocky and pretty hard on the old knees. We were glad we’d picked up a hiking stick  for some much needed stability along the way and took a good supply of insect repellant with us.  We definitely needed both. There were three streams to negotiate along the way, all of them fast flowing  with rocks and stones that could bring you unstuck with one wrong footstep, so you had to be careful wading through. The last stream  before the falls also had a rather large  and nasty looking eel who poked his head out from under a rock a few times to check out the ankle menu as we passed by!

Finally we reached the narrow canyon at the end of the valley. From this point on it was “make your own path type territory”  until we reached the falls a little further on. Had there been a lot more rainfall recently they would have been far more spectacular but what we saw was pretty good, although the view of the drop  was way better from further back along the trail. 

We’d all brought our swimmers and if the streams we’d crossed along the way were anything to go on, then cooling off in the clear waters would be just what the doctor ordered. Sadly that wasn’t the case.

Liam being the brave one of our group, climbed over some boulders and swam to the base of the falls while the rest of us, not wanting to immerse ourselves in the not so gin clear greenish wet stuff, were more than content to just sit and watch the waters tumble down.

Usually when you go on a trip the return journey always seems quicker, but not this one. By the time we got back it was getting on for dusk.The bugs had come out with a vengeance and we were pretty well stuffed by the time we reached the dinghy. We weren’t alone on that score, everyone was glad to  see our homes bobbing about in the bay  and give our unfit legs and knees a well earned break.

A couple of days later we returned to our starting point of Taiohae Bay, having completed a 24 day circumnavigation of the diverse coastline of Nuku Hiva. We had gone where not many cruisers go. And loved it!

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Circumnavigating Nuku Hiva

6th – 14th September 2017.

With all our ducks now in a row we set off to explore the island and it’s bays. I guess we could have hired a car but as we’d already driven to and from the airport and crisscrossed  the interior twice it would have been a bit of a waste of money.

Baie de Controleur

Turning east as we left Taiohae bay we motored a few miles along the coast  to Baie de Controleur,  which is a  a three pronged bay with long deep fiord-like inlets. Once again the swell was running in from the south which made for a rather exciting dinghy landing followed by a scramble up a rock wall to get ashore. Due to the breaking surf a beach landing, which would have been far preferable, was totally out of the question. The main reason most boats stop here, apart from the fact that the waters are usually quite calm when the wind is from the north, is to visit the  village of Taipivai and  walk up to the waterfall way back in the valley. Many  cruisers attempt the hike but so far we know of none who have been  rewarded by their efforts and actually reached the falls. In light of what those before us had discovered, or more to the point not discovered, we decided to skip that activity.

A more sure bet for us, or so we thought, was to visit the archeological site of Paeke, a short walk out of town and then up a rough trail on the hillside. Being a hot morning we were thankful that a nice family stopped to give us a ride in the back of their ute to where the trail began.

Our guide book said that the site featured two well preserved  me’ae (sacred sites) flanked by a couple of brick coloured tikis. The sign post said that the site was only 500 metres from the main road  but after a long, longer than we thought it should take, trudge up hill along a mostly overgrown and pig foraged trail, we stopped to ask a guy harvesting coconuts if we were actually still on the right trail. He was very friendly and sure looked a cross between Crocodile Dundee and the wild man from Borneo. Not long after we stumbled across the site.

In keeping with the trail it too had fallen into a state of disrepair and was in serious need of a few four footed mowers, namely goats and horses to keep the weeds down to a respectable level. What we could see looked ok, but because of the surrounding waist high foliage, we didn’t risk venturing further afield to the big pit used  to dispose of  post-sacrifice human remains for fear of breaking an ankle or ending up in the pit ourselves. So was it worth the effort? Well unless the place gets cleaned up a bit we’d give it a thumbs down. But ask a local  before you go ‘cause maybe our hoofed friends may have paid the site a visit in which case it would be worth a look.

Having checked out the village, the craft centre and the  various tikis that were scattered around the community festival grounds, we decided that it was time to move on to the bays along the north coast of the island.

            

As we left the anchorage and rounded Tikapo Point we were greeted by a large pod of what we thought were rather strange looking dolphins. Having seen hundreds of dolphins over the years we’d never seen any that looked like these guys. We learned later they were actually melon headed whales which are  a species endemic to the Marquesas, and in particular the  this part of Nuku Hiva. How lucky were we to have seen them and had them escort us along for a while.

Sailing up the east coast the landscape started to change. As this coastline is continually battered by the easterly trade winds the rocky cliff faces have very little  to offer in the form of vegetation clinging to them. What does grow is pretty much just low stunted bushes which is a vast contrast to the lush green hillsides found along the south coast and interior of the island.

Anaho Bay

After a couple of hours we popped our noses around the most easterly point on the island and toodled downwind to the approaches of Anaho Bay. This picture perfect bay is definitely the jewel in the crown of Nuku Hiva. Calm clear waters caress a beautiful white sand beach guarded by rows of coconut palms which in turn are backed by towering mountains. It was a spectacular sight.

We  chose to anchor at the eastern end of the bay which is more sheltered from the prevailing wind than the recommended western side, which would blow a dog off a chain when the gusts are howlin’ through, and howl they did on a couple of days while we were there. The western end does have better shore access but the downside is that a reef runs between you and it and if your anchor lets go,  for sure and for certain, you will be sitting on terra firma sooner rather than later.

We spent eight wonderful days anchored here. It is a remote spot that is only accessible by boat or horse which makes it a cruisers’ dream. Three families who grow and harvest coconuts for the copra industry live on the western shore and keep pretty much to themselves. They have a couple of horses, a few cattle, goats and dogs and small open air church. There are no roads, no stores and no electricity. They live a simple and stress free life in paradise. Oh to be so lucky.

In company with three other boats, Southern Comfort, Off 2 C and Tao we shared many a sundowner, lots of laughs and the odd shore excursion. It was  lovely to have such great company but not be in each others faces all the time.

There were lots of underwater activities for the menfolk as they took to their respective hulls with weapons of mass destruction in the ongoing war against slime and barnacles.

Meanwhile  while we ladies busied ourselves about the house with all the pink  jobs and  spent the afternoons playing in our galleys, creating  master-chef worthy platters of happy hour appetizers for our evening social gatherings.

Having heard of a vegetable farm in the area and with our stocks starting to dwindle, we hiked over the hill to see if we could procure a small supply of whatever they could sell us. As it turned out this was one of the farms that supplies the produce market twice weekly back in Taiohae, so they had lots on hand. We left there piled high with watermelon, papaya, cucumbers, peppers  zucchini, bananas and limes and all for the meagre amount of $12.

We were quite surprised a couple of days later when we saw a teams of horses heavily laden down with sacks  full of fruit and veg head down the beach and into the water. They just waited patiently for a boat to back up and  then one by one their sacks were offloaded. It was a well orchestrated manourver and one that we witnessed twice during our stay. The boat goes around to the village of Hatiheu in the next bay where the sacks are transferred into a ute and driven a couple of hours to the market in the main town of Taiohae on the island’s south side. Market days are Wednesdays and Saturdays from 0530 to early afternoon.Get there early!

Horses for Courses

Our second outing we dubbed “cruiser’s day out” All of us decided to have lunch at the highly regarded Chez Yvonne’s restaurant in the village of Hatiheu, roughly two kilometers to the west. To get there  you follow a well marked trail up and over the steep  218 m high Teavaimaoaoa Pass. With the exception of Phillipe and Natalie from Tao,  the rest of us decided that rather than walk we’d  jazz it up a bit and rent a horse each for the day.

So at 0930  the following morning six horses  all saddled up and ready to go were waiting for us on the beach. The saddles weren’t the most comfortable we’d ever sat in  as they had been carved from timber, but throw a few hessian bags over them and they did the job.

The horses were extremely sure footed and had the steady-as-she-goes attitude which was just as well as the trail got a tad tight and rocky in places. 

We had one walking guide at the front of our posse and one bringing up the rear. Both the guides and the trusty steads must have pounded this beat many times in their lifetimes, I reckon they could even do it in the dark. 

At the summit before descending down the other side of the pass we stopped to take in the gorgeous views of Anaho Bay and beyond. Our boats looked like little specs on the water way down below us.

After another 45mins of  downhill riding we arrived at the village and I think all of us and the horses were glad to have a few hours off the clock before heading back later that arvo.

The village of Hatiheu is only small with one general store, a small school, post office, church and of course Chez Yvonne’s restaurant. Lunch was quiet a treat.The food was typical Marquesasn fare and as usual  there was lots of it. Curried goat, pork, shrimp and a variety of fish dishes including possion cru featured  on the menu .

The thatched roofed restaurant eating area looked out over the beach, the bay and the manicured waterfront gardens. You couldn’t have asked for a better setting.  A few of us wandered around town but as we had planned this bay as our next stop we pretty much were saving the sightseeing until then.

 

Our horses arrived to collected us round 3pm and they looked refreshed  after their swim in the bay  and a bit of downtime.The trip home had one minor hitch one when Liam’s saddle came adrift and he face-planted in slow motion to mother earth, foot still stuck in the stirrup. The well trained horse stopped immediately and just stood still until the guide bolted up to release Liam from his now upside-down view of the world.

No worse for ware he escaped with a just little bump on his head. As far as we know the horse was not traumatized by the event at all. It was a great day out and one we would thoroughly recommend to anyone coming this way.

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