Nuku Hiva

Hi everyone,

After a wonderful 12 days at Tahuata Island we sailed overnight to Nuku Hiva, the largest island in the Marquesas group.  It was a 90nm passage.

Nuku Hiva!

Here are the usual plots...

Track

Arrival

Graphs

We used the engine for half an hour as we went through the lee of Hiva Oa as the windex was doing 360s and the sails slatting.  But otherwise it was a good beam to broad reach.  On arrival we anchored in 12m over mud.  It's good holding but quite deep, and rolly.  Not as bad as Hiva Oa's Atuona anchorage, but not a place to hang around in.

Farewell Tahuata Island

Hello Nuku Hiva

Early Morning Arrival

Our intentions in Nuku Hiva were to reprovision, refuel and do an island tour.  Once anchored in the we launched the dinghy and headed ashore for a recce.  The dinghy dock is pretty good.  Nearby is a small cafe, Nuku Hiva Yacht Services and a fruit & veg market with another cafe.

Approaching the dock

Kevin at NHYS is a US expat who has been on the island for 17 years.  We arranged for him to run us to the service station to fill our last 4 empty diesel jerries later in the day.  And we discovered he can fill propane tanks.  From there we walked into town.  We paid our Refuse and Water fees at the town hall and visited one of the several small supermarkets.  We also visited the Tourist Information Office where Colette told us about a tour available for the following day.

We returned to the boat with our first set of provisions then I returned ashore with the 4 diesel jerries to be filled.  It was good riding with Kevin to the service station since it was an opportunity to quiz him about his services, the island and official requirements here and in Tahiti.  Diesel was USD1.55/litre but it was good to have all our jerries full and the tank over 3/4 full.

Nuku Hiva Yacht Services

With the diesel jerries stowed aboard I returned ashore again to drop off our empty 10kg propane tank and to then do another supermarket run.  This one was just for UHT milk which we hadn't found in the morning.  The supply ship had arrived just before us and the goodies were being rapidly off-loaded and distributed to the stores.  I also found fresh (unrefrigerated) eggs.

With us in Taiohae were EBBYC boats Apres Ski and Aura.  We arranged with them to meet for dinner ashore at the Le Nuku Hiva Pearl Lodge resort.  We all dinghied ashore and met for a very posh dinner.  Twas a nice evening out.

Tiki in Taiohae

View from the Pearl Lodge

Dinner with NZ sv Apres Ski and Swedish sv Aura

On day 2 we dinghied ashore early to visit the bank ATM.  We had a good coffee and pain au chocolat in the market cafe along the way.  Then we met the Apres Ski crew for an all day tour of the eastern half of the island.

Market cafe

Market fruit & veg

The tour was in a crew-cab vehicle with seats added over the back.  Like a safari vehicle.  We drove to a set of viewpoints with amazing views, to a modern tiki site, to an original village site and to a beach-side restaurant for lunch.

View over Taiohae Bay

Old tikis in the new site

Carved and other items for sale

Waterfall

Nice view

The highlight of the tour was visiting the restored old village.  Until the 1980s the old village had lain abandoned for many decades.  It is now being restored and is one of the sites now used for a 4-yearly pan-Pacific Polynesian arts festival.  It's great that the Marquesan people are reconnecting with their unique history.

Restored original village

Marquesan bread-fruit preserving pit
Every house had one

Banyan trees were central features of villages

The viewpoints we visited were super spectacular.  Amazing geography.

Churches are central features of all major villages

The tour finished with a great lunch at a restaurant overlooking the beach on the NE coast of the island.  Excellent food for a good price.  Overall the tour was great value.  More expensive than hiring a car but we learned so much more about the places we visited and the history of the island.  Twas a great day out, and nice to spend it with the Apres Skis.

On day 3 we dinghied ashore for a final provisioning run and to collect our propane tank.  Nice to have our gas topped up too.  Sadly the town water supply in Taiohae is not potable.  So we'll soon be moving on to a less rolly anchorage near a village with clean water we can access.

Trust all's well where you are!