Monday, Day 17 - Jan 22 - Noon to 8PM, Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia

These islands have been inhabited by Polynesian explorers since 150 BC. Many visitors have been enthralled by this gem of French Polynesia including Jack London, Robert Louis Stevenson, Herman Melville and Paul Gauguin. The largest of the Marquesas Islands, Nuku Hiva is a beautiful volcanic island with mountains topping 3,700 feet high, with jagged walls that suddenly plunge into the immense ocean below. Melville called it “a country that no description could fit the beauty” Waterfalls and stone “tiki” statues are hidden in the forest and Hakaui is home to the third biggest waterfall in the world.

We don’t arrive at the Nuku Hiva until noon and the tour leaves from the theater at 12:30PM. We have a big breakfast since the tour is during the time we have been eating lunch. Dick goes to the lecture. He says it is interesting; about an air force plane that crashed in the 70's. There is no craft class this morning so Carolyn reads and then watches sail in from the balcony.

It is a sunny day, about 80 degrees and the seas have really calmed down. We remember the island as being a green jagged mountain popping up from the water. Today the lower elevations of the island look very dead from where we anchor.  

We were here in the Fall of 2010 on a HAL South Pacific cruise. On that cruise there were no ship’s tours offered. We did a privately arranged tour. Today we are doing the free ship’s tour, "Visit to Taipival Valley," starting a 12:30PM and lasting 3 hours.

We arrive and anchor on time and watch the lead tender head off to shore before we head to the theater to claim our “get off the boat tour pass." The timing is tight to get all the tours run before dark so everyone has to have a tender ticket with the 12:30PM and 12:45PM tour groups having priority. We are in the first group.

There is a little glitch in that the authorities want to come aboard and clear the ship first before anyone is allowed on the Island. They are telling us it will take up to 45 more minutes!!! At 12:30PM the island agents have not arrived on board yet! Then about 10-15 minutes later we are allowed to board the tender. The joke going around is the Captain took the agents up to Prime 7 and offered food for a fast pass!!

The tour is conducted caravan style in groups of approximately 15 to 20 4WD vehicles holding a driver and four passengers  with only one tour guide for the whole group. First, we visit the Notre Dame Cathedral. All that remains of the original 19th century church are the the doors and a portion of the walls that now form the entry to the church complex. The current sanctuary was built in 1977. It is lovely, a semi open air wood and stone structure. The church fittings are carved form the native wood and reflect the influence of the native culture. 

 

Next stop is Temehea Tohua, a traditional meeting platform next to the bay with the ship in the background. A big wig from France is coming in a day or so and there will be a big meeting so everything is being spruced up with tents being set up for the community representatives. 

Then we drive up to the top of the mountain for a nice view of the bay and the ship before heading down into the Taipivai Valley, one of the richest archeological sites in the Marquesas Islands. It was made famous by the American writer and former sailor, Herman Melville (1819-1891), who deserted his whaling ship and hid in this valley. Captured by the indigenous natives, he lived in the Taipivai Valley for three weeks, during which he observed their way of life. This experience was the inspiration for his novel, Typee.

This area was most recently made famous for being the base camp for the Survivor TV show filmed here in 2001.

We travel through valley’s lush vegetation and great view points seeing small villages, churches and sacred temples, and finally stopping at the site of Te A’Aitua, an ancient gathering spot, to enjoy light refreshments of island fruits before heading back.

The tour is interesting though three in the back seat of a small truck is a little tight. Regent should insist on only three guests to a truck. We remember it as being terribly hot and humid, but it is pleasant today as long as we are in the shade and there is plenty of that. We do learn that the dead look to the island is the layer of dried up seed pods on one type of tree. The tree underneath the pods is green so once the pods fall all be green again.

We are back near the tender dock shortly after 4PM, glad to get out of the cramped truck. We do a little shopping but find nothing of interest. The waiting tender fills before we get to the head of the line and have to wait about 30 minutes for the second tender to return us to the ship. At that point we head straight for the bar to get a Crown and coke to take to our room. Sure does taste good!

We sit on the deck in our skivvies watching the boats come and go and then get dressed for dinner. Our plan is to head for Sette Mari and grab an outside table so as to enjoy the view and the breeze as we sail away. But, we meet Maria and Glenn, California friends from the party at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. We agree to share a table but Maria does not want to sit outside so we get an inside table in Gaia’s area. Gaia is a late 20s something from Italy and she is lots of fun as well as being a very good waitress.

Maria and Glenn live in the Sonoma Valley and love red wine. They put away most of a bottle of Zinfandel before the main course arrives and Dick helps them with a second bottle. Phil and Monica, Australians we met that first night also, take a table by us and the six of us have a lively conversation. They are well traveled as are Maria and Glenn, having recently returned from a luxury, adventure cruise up a river on the north side of New Guinea and Phil regales us with tales about that trip!

By 8:30PM we call it an evening and all go our separate ways. We stop for a few minutes and listen to Clive’s lively after dinner routine in the Navigator Lounge before adjourning to our inviting, comfortable bed!  We are such Party Animals! Carolyn had contemplated going to see the show tonight, Tuxedo, but Monica reminded her we would have several more chances.