Hiva Oa. Marquesas.

April 25-May 2, 2014

Hiva Oa

Once we were safely anchored, Marie, Bruno and I went to shore. Bruno stayed with our inflatable boat and the sharks, while Marie and I went to check things out inland and find a cold beer for Theo. If you have been on a boat for 20 days and suddenly go on land…you feel like you are floating. It is okay if you keep moving, but if you suddenly stop, it can be unsettling. This lasts for an average of four days.

Marie and I walked to what looked like a bar area and went in… It was someone’s home. They had a lovely large lawn with Roosters sprinting from one side to the other. They enthusiastically waved us in; we introduced ourselves and told them what our goal was for the evening. The Marquesians are very friendly and helpful.  One of the women drove us to an ATM to get cash so we could by Theo’s beer (No Euros or Dollars here) and then told us that her husband would meet us tomorrow morning at the marina to take us to the Gendarmerie. This is like the Coast Guard and Customs combined. We returned to the boat with cold beer and a frustrated Bruno who, in his efforts to secure our inflatable boat, met with a shark. After a bit of cursing, deep breaths and beer, all was good.

Theo and I set our alarms so we would be on time to go to customs in the morning with our arranged driver. We brushed our teeth, dressed and made the morning coffee. Then we were joined by Marie, who told us it was actually 4 am. We stayed up anyway, drank our coffee and talked until it was time to go. Bruno was the only smart one who stayed in bed until we woke him. When we reached shore, our shirtless and shoeless driver was waiting for us smoking his morning cigarette.

Customs turned out to be fairly simple (other than having to hold on to the desk or sitting down because I was unable to stand in one spot and not fall over). The dogs are another story. They will have to stay onboard until a veterinarian in Tahiti can see them… We were pretty sure it would go that way. This is actually fine. I can only imagine the scene when Mambo and Isabel see all of the wild poultry running around everywhere.

After customs, we went to a restaurant and had a traditional breakfast. Beautiful warm baguettes, butter, fresh Mango and Grapefruit, homemade fruit spread and strong coffee with real milk… Merci!

Theo and I wanted to go back to the boat to check on the dogs. As we were walking, one of the locals offered us a ride to the marina so we hopped in. He explained to us that it was unusually scorching hot for the island. We believed him. The heat is like nothing I have experienced before. I am sweating profusely at all times. My clothes and hair are wet. There is no escaping it. Usually we would just jump in the water, but the sharks make it not worth it here. Once our local friend dropped us off at the marina, he gave us three very ripe, gorgeous papayas. He kept telling us that they were Bio (organic). We thanked him very much and continued on to by freshly caught Wahoo for dinner. We bought it fresh off the boat and 2 ½ pounds cost us 5 US Dollars. Wow…

Grilled Fresh Wahoo. Amazing tasting fish!

The next morning we woke up without any alarms. We went onshore to see Sandra. She is in a small building overlooking the marina and she answers any questions you may have, does your laundry, will drive you anywhere…etc. She is a very popular lady here. Merci…

Local Tourism office

Local Launch Ramp...

Amazing Picture of the coastline with our boat in the harbour.

Chicken everywhere!

When we returned to the boat, Theo and I decided to eat the organic papayas from the friendly local yesterday. We sliced them in half and devoured them with some limes.  We said it was the best thing ever and ate more. While I was eating, I saw something move. Worms… HHHMMMM. The papayas were definitely organic… I just hope we chewed it up properly… That’s all I have to say about that.

The next day, Theo finally figured out the problem with the water maker. He is sooooo happy. I always knew he would fix it. The parts would have taken a long time to get to us here, so it is a huge relief. We can use it until Papeete and then order parts to arrive in Tahiti. Shower tomorrow!!!!

Isabel helping Theo fix things

Marie- Jo is another very popular lady here. She drives us everywhere and is lots of fun. The first time we met her, Theo was still struggling with anchoring the inflatable boat onshore. When he appeared to get into the car, he had accidentally fallen into the water and was soaking wet. Marie-Jo said he could not get into the car like that. Theo took his shirt off and started squeezing all of the water out of it so he could sit in the car. All he got was a side wards glance and a disapproving expression. He finally said..” I am going with you!” So the compromise was to dust off a dirty floor mat from the car and have him sit on that. By the time this was figured out, he was dry and I was profusely sweating and completely wet…but no one seemed to notice. I need to expand on this and explain that this is an island where it is no big deal to see a grown man peeing behind the tourist office, poultry sprinting freely everywhere and horses tied to the back of moving pickup trucks.

Marie Jo and our boat in the background

The next day, we called for a ride to go to a very nice hotel on the island for dinner. It has the most amazing view and food. When our driver came to pick us up, it was Marie-Jo again. She told me I looked beautiful and then took one look at Theo and scrunched up her face.  His shorts were wet all the way to his crotch because he had to wade through the water again to get onshore. He tried to explain that this was a new fashion trend from California, but she just sighed and put a towel down on the seat for him to sit on… When we arrived at the Pearl Lodge for dinner, the hostess took one look at us and asked if we would like to sit on lounge chairs by the pool. Yes… Merci!

The next day, we went onshore to go to town. There was Marie-Jo again. She is like the Butler in the movie Mr. Deeds. She appears out of nowhere. When she saw us approaching she applauded wildly. Theo was completely dry!! She was driving us into town when I mentioned that Theo wanted to get a tattoo. She stopped the car and pointed off to the side of the main road. She said “My nephew, Renaldo, does tattoos”. We said we would think about it. At lunch, the restaurant owner was covered with tattoos, so we asked him who he recommended on the island. He pointed back to the kitchen and said “My cook does tattoos”. I looked at Theo and he said that he would like someone that does tattoo work for a living… not a cook. I understood. He called someone else that was recommended to him, but he spoke no Engish and hung up on him. Renaldo it was. Theo has a beautiful tattoo….Merci Renaldo!

Theo getting a Tattoo...

On Thursday we did a tour of the Island. It was wild and crazy beautiful. In the past, there were wild horses on the island. If you could capture one you could keep it. Now they are tied to trees like we would tie our dog in front of a store. They go from place to place tied to the back of trucks contently trotting behind to the next location. Goats and pigs are everywhere here… Occasionally, you will see a cow. Poultry is free to anyone that can catch them. We asked our tour guide how they usually catch the chickens and he said “Do you have a 22?” We said no, and he made a motion of firing out the window of the car. Ohhhh… So, if we are on the dock and manage to catch a chicken it is ours for dinner. No one spoke until lunch because we were so mesmerized by the scenery and stories. At lunch we all exchanged our life experiences and future sailing plans. No one asks why you are here, why you chose to do this voyage or what you do for a living. We all understand each other. Nice…

Horse tied behind a car

Our Tour guide had some diesel problems. We made it though!

Local Ruins

Local kids

We got back to Et Voila and had some visitors from a boat next to us. We opened red wine and talked. All of a sudden we heard yelling and it was a friend of Bruno’s named Matt. He had just caught a fish and was rushing over on his inflatable to share it with us for dinner. When you catch a fish here, you find a local to ask if it is edible or not. If you get a smile and thumbs up, eat it. We ate it…Thank you Matt!! See you in Tahiti!

Bruno left for Tahiti today to meet Erin, Marie and Marie’s husband. We are alone. Weird… As I am writing this, there are Canoe races. Behind the canoes, there is a small boat with a motor and one man and two young girls. I watched and the girls’ only purpose was to use cups to bail water out of the small boat as it followed the canoes… We are not in Catalina anymore….