Marquises

After arriving on the 20th of May at Hiva Oa, we spend 10 days at Atuona, which is the biggest village (300 inhabitants). It is here that J. Brel and P. Gauguin finished their lives.

We are slowly seduced by the Marquises: wonderful landscapes, extremly welcoming population, very dense nature... After so many days at sea, we have great pleasure to go hiking again and to discover the taste of fruits and the smell of unknown flowers: grapefruits, Tiare flower, Ylang Ylang, coprah...

Thanks to Stephanie, a french woman installed in Polynesia since 7 years on a beautiful small boat (Inch Allah), we meat many marquisians and enjoy some nice tips she gives us. Nice meeting... with only one regret, we have no picture of Stephanie or Inch Allah!

Our friends, Jean-Pierre and Josy arrive on the 29th of May after 21 days of crossing. We welcome them with a grapefruit and fresh baguette! Because even if we tend to forget it, we are really in France and the shops offer many french specialities: Saucisson, roquefort, cassoulet....!

We leave Hiva Oa and head towards Fatu Hiva, to discover the famous baie des Vierges, an anchorage considered as one of the most beautiful in the world. The nightfall arrival in this narrow bay is a bit scarry, but the wonderful landscape arround us the next morning makes us rappidly forget this.

The contact with the locals is a bit difficult in the beggining since the village is small, isolated and too much used to negociate with sail boats, who after a long crossing, exchange (without considering the consequences) the alcohol bought in quantity in Panama, against fruits that are everywhere... Drinking is a great problem in the village and we are shocked to see young people idle, sometimes agressif or just completly drunk. The money France gives doesn't help the lack of will and the local dynamism. We meet some really nice families with whom we exchange recipies: chocolate pudding against fish in coconut milk with exercices and tasting activity after of course! We discover as well the rich Marquisian art with the Tapas, bone, stone and wood sculpture. Thomas plays volleyball when we are not hiking in the wonderful mountains.

Our trip continues with the island of Tahuata, where we meet with Jean-Pierre and Josy on Bernick, and Jean and Sylvana on Najelys. We meet Richard, a great marquisian. Dynamic and energetic, he takes care of young marquisiens with difficulties (alcohol, drugs...), and makes them work in the nature of his land. He invites us and we spend a great eavening with him and his guys. He prepared very tasty traditional food and we prepared crêpes, pizza and chocolate pudding. We have long discussions and the party finishes as we dance on the Ukulele in the middle of the coconut and banana trees. This is one of our best souvenirs of the Marquises!

After Tahuata, we explore the north of Hiva Oa. At our first stop, in the bay of Hanamenu, we meet Axel, a big teddy bear, wild pig hunter and artist when he has nothing else to do. He lives there six months a year, sometimes other hunters come to visit him but most of the time he is alone. His scupture look really nice, we like them. Rappidly we become friends and we have great fun with him. The next day he offers 2 of his scuptures! We give him some chocolate, milk, pizza... and a poster of the A380 which seems to be really something to him! We leave for the next bay: Hanaiapa. A beatiful village with many flowers: ficus, plumeria, tiare, hibiscus, laurels, bougainvillea,... As we are the only boat, we are warmly wecomed and are immediatly invited to the school festival for the next day. Since it is Helene's birthday it's a great coincidence. We spend 3 days eating and hiking. Small tracks lead us to other wonderful bays and we regain energy in the evening as we discover the local food: civet of wild pig, chicken and goat in coconut milk, mama -a marquisian shell-, poe -banane, manioc or taro poridge-, crabs in curry, raw fish, ... At Atuona we recieve a package with many good surprises: the parents have spoiled us!

After Hiva Oa, Fatu Hiva, Tahuata, it is now Ua Huka that we are going to visit. The bay of Hane gives us some bad nights and some scarry landfalls with the dinghy (we completly capsized!) because of the swell but as well the meeting of great people. The locals are really happy when a boat stops in this very unconfortable bay. After some days of no sleep we decide to move to another, more protected bay, west of the island. Now we have learned how to manage difficult landfalls with the dinghy! We go hiking in many beautiful places. The island is well known for its wild horses and we see many of them wondering around. Dryer than the other island, Ua Huka offers different landscapes. The locals welcome us with warmth and curiosity.

It is with pleasure that we discover the anchorage of Taioahe, on Nuku Hiva, where we can finally sleep... It is a short stop, only to get the credit cards -Helene's was lost in Panama and Thomas' expired- and answer some e-mails since the other islands have no internet.

The next day, we sail towards Ua Pou, of which we saw the very caracteristical mountains from Ua Huka. In the main village, Hakahau, we meet again with Bernick and Najelys to celebrate Thomas's birthday, The locals are great and we make many friends rapidly, especially Lydiane and Youri, a young couple that takes care of us and help us discover many things.There is as well Ismail, a big hearted artist. Ua Pou is great for hiking as we finally can find tracks that are not 4x4 tracks but real hiking ones. The opening of the July celebrations allows us to see some local dances and to meet very nice people. Almost everyday we go hiking 4 to 5 hours alone or with Bernick or Hildi (we meat again in Ua Pou)... what a great pleasure!

The last inhabited island, that we haven't seen, is Nuku Hiva on which we arrive on the 10th of July. The Hakatea bay is a beautiful anchorage surrounded by incredible cliffs. A nice walk leads us to a 350m high waterfall. That is where we are now. Tomorrow we will go back to Taioahe, the capital, to celebrate the 14th of July. Than we hike in the mountains and on the North side of Nuku Hiva, before leaving the wonderful Marquises (snif !) to head to the Tuamotus, and then Tahiti..

We might as well say that our stop in the Marquises was great in many points of view: beautiful landscapes for the nature lovers and hikers and a very warm welcome from the population... It is a bit far from the rest of the world, but it is that that probably preserved these surprising islands.

Local recipe :

Raw fish in coconut milk :

1 kg red thuna, 1 coconut or a coconut milk can, 3 garlic cloves, 3 limes, 2 carrots, 2 tomatoes, 1 green capsicum, green onion, salt, pepper, tabasco, red vinegar.

Wash the fish with sea water (or salted water), take out the fillet and cut in small pieces. Put in a dish, cover with salt water and chopped garlic, and leave 30 minutes in the fridge. In the meantime, slice tomatoes and capsicum, grat the carrots and chopp the onion. Break the coconut, take the white part out, grat it and extract the milk (Put the gratted coconut in a clean and thin linen and squeeze out : the liquid you obtain in the coconut milk) or open the coconut milk can. Remove the fish from water, dry it and squeeze the limes on it. Let "cook" 4 to 5 minutes (lime acidity "cooks" the raw fish). Remove fish from lime juice. Add a few drops of vinegar and tabasco, salt and pepper to the coconut milk and pour this seasoning on the fish. Stir. Add vegetables and cover with onion.