We were surprised to wake up and find a cruise liner in the bay, we were glad to be leaving today. Rowan went off to the Gendarmerie at 9:30 and got all the paperwork sorted out with Nevil and Cepa. We were free to go. Nevil had asked us if we could give a friend of his a lift to Ua Pou so Rowan picked Ed up. We then had to refuel at the main dock, there had been a few scary stories from boats as you have to anchor and reverse in stern to and try and avoid hitting the dock in the swell!. Luckily the two Argentinian lads, Simon and Juan offered to help, Imanol the owner of Mororo also came over in his dinghy to help. It was quite a performance getting the huge fuel pipe on board to our tanks which are at the front of the boat. We couldn’t have done it without them, they are amazing crew, neat, tidy and so organised. Unlike poor Hamish who came along for a free ride and just has true Irish gift of the gab to offer!
We set sail for the island of Ua Pou, to the anchorage at a little place called Hakahetau. It was a good 4 hour sail over with winds mainly in the mid teens. This is where Ed was going to stay with a local family, the father Jackson is a walking guide. Ed was fascinating, half French and half Mexican, grew up in France, he is a Wealth manager, but for 5 months of the year teaches at the business school in Papeete the capital of Tahiti. He has toured around the many islands in French Polynesia doing a lot of walking, he was full of good advice. He met Nevil when Nevil last circumnavigated with the Arc as crew in 2019. He has subsequently visited Nevil in Switzerland and they have kept in contact. Ed has travelled all over the world, with many interesting trips all over Africa. We finally arrived around 4pm and were stunned by the amazing scenery of the spire like rock formations, towering high into the clouds. Rowan dropped Ed off at the dinghy dock. We asked Ed to see if Jackson could take us on a walk that Han had read about that goes up the mountain close to the spires.
During supper Ed confirmed that Jackson would take us on the walk at 7am, a 6 hour walk. We rushed to bed early with the thought of an energetic early morning walk.
A cruise liner arrived over night
Leaving Niku Hiva
The amazing landscape of Ua Pou appears
The dry desert like terrain on one side, hopefully not created by the enormous amounts of goats about. In order for the Marquesas to get their World Heritage certificate, they need to eradicate the wild goats, we have seen many clambering around precipitous slopes, they also need to get rid of the accacia bush which has taken over, but have no idea how they will achieve that.
Another stunning anchorage
Looks like something out of Lord of the Rings
Sunset light catching the spires, the top peak always under cloud
Another lovely sunset
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