CANNIBALS, PIGS AND SHARKS
I believe I naively claimed we had crossed the Pacific in my last blog. I stand corrected...at that point we had crossed a bit of the Pacific and made it to some islands - The Marquesas. Since then, we have been crossing the rest of the Pacific, but with the benefit of more small places to stop off en route.
I absolutely love looking at the Pacific on google earth. When I see all the underwater volcanoes, mountains, ridges, canyons and plains, I marvel that we have sailed above them, sadly oblivious to the mysteries of what lies below. We have concluded that there aren't many fish though, at least fish that are happy to be caught by us.
The Marquesas are majestic, breathtaking mountainous islands. After weeks at sea, we were excited to experience this exotic place with a reputation for cannibalism and strongly protected Polynesian culture. The people are friendly and generous, very proud of their islands and rightly so. Everyone stops to give you a lift into 'town' and back with your shopping. Hive Oa had a supermarket which was eye wateringly expensive as everything is more or less flown in from France apart from fresh tuna and the most amazing Pamplemoose.
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| We are anchored down there somewhere |
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| Stunning scenery this was approaching Bay of Virgins |
Ed went into full entrepreneurial mode in Hive Oa. A stream of boats were arriving daily from Panama and Galapagos including the ARC fleet, all with these weird jelly creatures clinging to the bottom of the hull, and a skirt of green slime at the waterline. Before we knew it he had a boat cleaning business up and running, was inundated with work and started employing people to help him out.
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| Even got his speaker dangling over the side for music while you work |
It's a short lived tourist season in the Marquesas, with a flurry of boats arriving in March but largely moving on to the Tuamotos and Society Islands within a few weeks. It's understandable that the locals are not that interested in tourism for tourism's sake, and after a couple of seasons of lock down to boot, it's not their main source of income.
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| Tikis are everywhere |
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| Red is the wedding colour for guests We had the pleasure of observing a local wedding |
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| This lad was leading the horse procession for the wedding. Loved his headdress |
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| Fab surf in Hiva Oa |
One night Ed went into town and was walking back in the dark when he stumbled across an abandoned puppy. Ed decided it was going to get run over so he smuggled it into his cabin. Look at Greg's face when he spotted it the next morning! He was temporarily called Trouve before being dropped off at the police station. I didn't think his chances were good as boy dogs are unwanted, we were later told. Lovely as he was, having a pet on board in the Pacific is not sensible.
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| Not sure what I was expecting really |
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| Upeke ceremonial site |
We visited the remains of the ancient ceremonial centre of Upeke near Ta'aoa. Ed decided to recreate being readied for the cooking pot on the sacrificial stone. We don't believe there is much in the way of cannibalism going on in the Marquesas other than a rumour about a German tourist in 2011. That doesn't stop the Pacific islands from selling cannibal forks to tourists though. If you look on Wikipedia under 'List of incidents of cannibalism,' it makes terrifying reading about cases across the world but no mention of the Marquesas.
TUAMOTOS
The recent rain in New Zealand found us holed up down below watching back episodes of the Blue Planet, we suddenly turned to each other and shouted 'Thats Fakarava South" at the point David Attenborough showed us the 'best snorkelling on the planet' but refused to say where it was to avoid too many people going there. We are confident that the very small reach and age of our blog readers is unlikely to cause a surge in the tourist trade, so we are risking sharing the secret here. Let's be honest unless you have a sailing boat, it's unlikely you will get there. But if you do - it is out of this world.
Fakarava is one of the 80 islands of the Tuamotos. These are coral atolls, the southern ones, most famously used to test nuclear bombs in the 1960s. People are still seeking compensation for those atrocities. These islands are very sparsely populated, low lying and subject to storm damage.
They are infrequently visited by supply ships, so provisioning is more challenging here. Eggs and even bread were like gold dust and don't get me on the subject of tomatoes. You could have been mugged for tomatoes and a six pack of beer in Fakarava North after the supply ship had come and gone. It was like shopping in a swarm of locusts. Luckily I have many years of experience in Marks and Spencer on Christmas Eve, so we managed.
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| Ed on Bomie watch - looking out for coral heads - the waters are treacherous and the charts are not always accurate. We only grazed one. |
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| I actually ventured into the crystal blue water before I realised how many sharks there were |
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| Sharks everywhere, even in the shallows |
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| Good lobster - Sunday lunch cycle ride in Fakarava North |
SOCIETY ISLANDS
We spent most of our 90 days (thank you Brexit) in French Polynesia in the Society Islands. Tahiti was a big hit as it offered a bit more sophistication after months of either being at sea or in remote anchorages.
The sea is so blue here and it was sunny all the time we were there. The Society Islands provide a good mix of restaurants and shops as well as secluded anchorages and excellent snorkelling.
Headdresses are worn a lot of the time by local people and many of them are stunningly beautiful.
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| Our waitress at the yacht club in Huahine |
Inappropriate cultural appropriation
Papeete in Tahiti has an interesting financial model for its marina. The marina is constantly full but it doesn't take bookings. There seems to be just one person working in the office taking money and a cleaner for the toilets. It's a word of mouth experience getting a berth. People already in there find out who's leaving and tell their friends to come at a certain time to get the space. Friends take lines for each other so no need to pay any dock staff. Genius business model.
Papeete was where we met up with lots of friends who we have met during our travels. We were very pleased to help Rowan celebrate his 60th and thank him and Jenny on Pole Pole for getting us into the marina late at night.
Love the boats with outriggers and the amazing design work.
There are lots of rum distilleries in the Society Islands. It must be a French things as there was lots of rum in Martinique as well. This lady could spot a rum drinker and good customer when she sees one as Greg entered the distillery shop!
Here we are anchored in Taha'a which was absolutely beautiful. Thats Bora Bora you can see through the pass. The coral was lovely here - and no sharks spotted!
The Society Islands are famous for their black pearls. Pearl jewellery is everywhere and very beautiful. We spent an interesting couple of hours at a pearl farm in Taha'a. Greg asked the guy how he learned to seed the pearls which was a very delicate job. He immediately said 'Youtube' which was very funny.
Fully recommend O Belvedere restaurant in Papeete which is high in the mountains. Fantastic views and great music and food. This is the toilet!
Watching the Vaas (canoe) racing in Huahine
COOK ISLANDS
Who knew it rained so much in the Pacific - certainly we didn't. I think all the movies set in the South Pacific may have coloured our judgement.
Apparently there is a phenomenon which circles the globe and brings wet weather every 35 days in the tropics. We managed to travel with it from French Polynesia, to the Cook Islands, to Niue, to Tonga and to Fiji before it got sunny again. It was a pretty wet experience after the blue skies and sunshine of Tahiti and the Society Islands.
We had booked in to Raratonga harbour in the Cook Islands for a couple of nights and were due to arrive at midday. Unfortunately a piece of metal on the lever arm of our auto helm broke on the journey from Bora Bora and we had to hand steer for 48 hours. We were a bit slower than anticipated and arrived tired at about midnight. Greg called up the Harbour Master who didn't answer - obviously everything was closed, but the harbour was well lit so we went in and tied up.
Within a few minutes a chap on a motorbike turned up and told us we couldn't stay there because it was dangerous to come into the harbour at night. We pointed out that we were already in safely, had booked and had tried to contact the Harbour Master. He warned us we would be fined $10,000NZ which we couldn't believe as it didn't make much sense. He went off to consult the Harbour Master, and returned with a more forceful message that we had to go back out to sea and float about all night on watch then come back in the morning. We were incredulous, but left with no choice, we spent another night at sea hand steering in the rain.
We admit we were sulking and didn't bother to call in the next morning; we just kept motoring backwards and forwards across the harbour mouth. Eventually in a game of who blinks first, the Harbour Master called us up on the radio and told us to come in. When we arrived it was a bit tense to say the least.
I asked him if he knew where we could get our auto helm welded and he professed no knowledge that we had this problem, despite us telling his assistant the night before. 'If only he had known', he said, we could have stayed. To make amends he arranged for our welding to be done by a team that were working on the dock for him, so we were fixed and ready to go the following day.
We had to leave for Niue after only 2 days as the harbour is untenable when the winds are from the north which was a shame because after our unpleasant welcome, we actually really liked Rarotonga its restaurants and markets.
NIUE
Nuie is an interesting island. It has one bay for 16 boats to anchor on mooring buoys. You need to book ahead to secure a buoy. It's a small place and so they work on the basis that people are moving through after a few days releasing buoys for the next boats. Sadly the weather was so bad that some boats refused to move on, so people were arriving and the buoys they had booked were taken. Our friend Jacob and crew on Finisterra and the crew on Nutmeg arrived in the evening after a three night sail to find all the buoys had been taken. They had to circle for another night until they could lay new buoys for them when it got light the next day.
In order to get to shore in Niue, you go in your dinghy but there is nowhere to tie up as the waves are quite ferocious, so there is a self operated crane to lift your dinghy up onto the dock. It's interesting the first time, then it's a bloody faff. It definitely doesn't encourage eating out on land in the evenings as the thought of reversing the process in the dark in rough seas is not appealing.
On the one day where it only rained intermittently, we went with the crew from Second Sun in their hire car to view the natural arches which was definitely worth the trip.
Ed decided to dive in and swim in the channels between the rocks. Later we discovered this is the home of numerous black poisonous water snakes! Luckily Ed was unscathed and oblivious to the danger at the time.
We also went to a small market fair on the other side of the island. You have to hitch everywhere as there is no bus service. We were fascinated by the big coconut crabs that were tied up like dogs on a leash, to stop them running off.
TONGA
The weather continued to be bleak in Tonga which was a pity as there were many bays and anchorages that we didn't see. As we arrived at dawn we were excited to see several pods of whales including mothers with young close up. It's a breeding ground for sperm whales and you are allowed to actually swim with them, which is unusual. We didn't do the swimming tour as the visibility was very poor but friends who arrived later had better weather and a great experience. It's definitely a place we probably need to go back to, hopefully with better weather.
We did explore on bikes and did quite a lot of walking.There were several noticeable things about Tonga.
Watch out for dogs. They run wild and are savage unlike the dogs we encountered in the Marquesas and Society Islands. I was almost knocked off my bike by a pack of horrors, but luckily a resident hissed loudly through this teeth at them and they scattered. Apparently that is the most effective method to stop them in their tracks. I tried it myself later and it worked.
I was struck by the way they look after their dead. The cemeteries are full of graves wrapped in duvets and blankets, tended with masses of flowers and huge signs with messages about how loved the deceased has been. I wonder whether people make their own quilts for their death beds, like sewing your own shroud used to be common.
Tonga is however a very poor country. The market is useful but uninspiring and produce availability is very varied. The supermarkets are small, poorly stocked and undeveloped. As you have to declare all foodstuffs to biosecurity on entry and they remove fresh food, you are then dependent on whatever is available. Part of the charm of Tonga is its lack of sophistication, but it is clear that many people are struggling and seemed less happy than the people we met in other Pacific islands.
I felt very sorry when the cruise ship arrived. There was great excitement the day before in the market but after the ship had gone I asked one stall holder if she had had a good day and she almost cried. She said no-one had bought anything. We immediately bought a few souvenirs and lots of vegetables.
Unfortunately that seems to be a pattern with the cruise ships. The very same thing happened in Hiva Oa in the Marquesas. The tourism manager brought people from all the different islands to Hiva Oa with their carvings, jewellery, pictures and fabrics. There were huge expectations, but not a thing was bought. The women were devastated afterwards.
There are pigs everywhere in Tonga. They run wild and have litters trailing behind the many sows. We didn't see any boars. We guessed that the need for boars is small, so they probably get eaten first.
FIJI
We moved on to Fiji quicker than we had intended in search of better weather really. Fiji didn't disappoint. Yes we had a few rainy days at the start, but mainly on the island of Vanua Levu. Once we got across to Sava and The Yasawa islands things got much better.
We met up with lots of other cruisers in Fiji and our social life picked up. It was great to reconnect with people we knew and to make a few new friends as well.
We met up with Mel and Brian (Sava now Go) who we first met when we were in quarantine in Bonaire in 2020 and Darryl from Medea was there - so we had to have a battle for the Farkle cup of course. Jacob from Finsterra was initiated into the game and won the cup!
