We were up very early today, even before the alarm went off at 5:30am. Most of the credit/blame is due to the fact that we have traveled so far east that the Marquesas are actually in a time zone that is 30 minutes ahead of the rest of French Polynesia. However, the Pacific Princess, for its one day visit to Nuku Hiva, did not move clocks ahead. And as a result, sunrise was around 5am and sunset was at 5:15pm this evening.
So we were up on Deck 11 forward early enough to satisfy even Douglas Pearson. Unfortunately, none of us saw the wonderful dolphins on our approach to the island that we had seen last year...not even Douglas, and I'm very certain he had been up there in the dark. ;-)
We approached the familiar Sentinals, the large rock islands guarding either side of the entrance to Taiohai Bay just before 7am, and G and I took a minute to get a fast breakfast in the Panorama Buffet. We were on the first tender to the island just before 8am, anxious to find one of the independent 4x4 tours we'd seen last year. The ship only offered one tour and the entire island has become quite the butt of jokes on board. In fact, Scott Wyler, in last night's comedy show, claimed Nuku Hiva was Polynesian for "Nothing Here". Oh so wrong!
We had certainly covered the village of Taiohae, surrounding Taiohae Bay, last year on our three trips to Nuku Hiva. The Catholic Church with its gorgeous wood carvings was definitely the highlight, but we wanted to go further afield this visit. The island is very mountainous, and four wheel drive vehicles and a driver familiar with the poorly marked roads are a must.
We were not having a great deal of luck finding a local offering tours of the island, despite the fact that we were on the earliest tender. Finally, G walked over to a man standing a bit away from the welcoming drummers, etc. and asked if he was giving tours. Well, as it turned out, he was, in his brand new (2 week old) Toyota 4WD minivan. It could seat 8, but 6 more comfortably, and G recruited two other couples (one we had been with while doing the Moorea ATVs), and, although driver Justin didn't speak English and I knew more French than anyone else (so, our communication consisted of a lot of two word sentences and gestures), I did have the two French Polynesia guidebooks on my iPhone and we actually made out just fine. We opted for a four hour tour that would cross the island and set off.
We immediately started climbing, and I recognized the road as the one I had been lost on last year. How/why did I ever climb so high before turning back? Though the road was paved, it was steep, and my ears started popping almost immediately. We hadn't been at that altitude since we started driving up Mauna Kea on Hilo over a month ago.
Justin pulled over at every overlook, and the first one was overlooking Taiohae Bay. We got out of the van and actually felt dizzy from the rapid increase in altitude.
The Pacific Princess in beautiful Taiohae Bay as seen from Muake Mountain, 2834 ft. elevation
The road continued to be steep (up and down) but paved. We left the Taiohae Bay area and crossed over the Toovii Plateau (2600 ft. elevation) to the next village surrounding Taipivai Bay, about 10 miles away. There are eight villages and 2800 inhabitants on 127 sq. mile Nuku Hiva, separated by serrated mountain ranges.
Just beyond the lookout over Taipivai Bay was Pa'eke Me'ae, an archeological site excavated by Robert Suggs in 1957. Eleven stone tikis keep watch over the site (and reminded us a great deal of the fact that the master carvers of the Marquesas Islands became the super carvers of Rapa Nui).
Once past Taipivai, the road quickly and significantly deteriorated into a true 4WD road with hairpin turns, large rocks and a drop off on one side. It was another 8 miles or so over this road to beautiful Hatiheu Bay on the north cost of Nuku Hiva, and, along the way, we could see some spectacular single and double waterfalls cascading down the sheer rock walls. In the rocky peak high above Hatiheu Bay (on the left in the photo below), is a statue of the Virgin Mary. Parishioners of the Catholic Church in Hatiheu make a pilgrimage up the jagged peaks once a year to clean the statue.
Hatiheu Bay, on Nuku Hiva's north coast, where Robert Louis Stevenson anchored in 1888 on his yacht Casco.
We drove down (and down and down) to the bay, with its rocky black sand beach and the village of Hatiheu. There was a tiny post office there, and G checked to see if they sold postcards. They didn't, but pointed him to a small magasin (store) just down the road. We all purchased post cards and then backtracked to the post office to mail them. G and I mailed one to Mom; it will be interesting to see if she gets it, but, if she does, she should enjoy its special postmark
The Catholic Church was simple but beautiful with beautiful flowering shrubs in the front, and the towering mountains behind it.
On our way back to the Taiohae Village, we witnessed an accident right in front of our vehicle, pointing out just how dangerous the narrow, steep roads were. Justin returned us safely to the tender pier after four hours, and we were all ready for lunch. We tendered back to the ship, but an hour later were making our way back to the island. G had seen a T-shirt on a fellow passenger that he liked (I'm shocked!) and I wanted to use the WiFi at Cafe Vaeki near the tender pier (G was shocked!). G ended up purchasing the T-shirt in two different colors (because the 1021 he already has are simply not enough) and I found Internet that was marginally better than on the ship, accompanied by a fresh pineapple juice. I was able to upload these photos at the lightning fast speed of 10-15 minutes per photo.
G headed back to the ship before I was done uploading pics, and that's how I found myself on the very last tender of the day at 4:30pm. The first tender of the day before 8am and then the last one 8 1/2 hours later...it had been a fun but tiring day. I couldn't help but feel sad as I looked back at Nuku Hiva from the tender. This may well be the last time a Princess ship ever calls there. We don't return again this season and there are no more French Polynesian seasons on the schedule. And that is a real pity.
I showered quickly and joined G in the Elite Lounge for sailaway, stopping for a minute on Deck 10 to photograph the beautiful sunset. We were at dinner at 5:45pm and ate lightly, then went to vocal impressionist Sean O'Shea's show at 8:30pm. The Love Boat Disco Deck party is starting in a few minutes on the pool deck. I am so relieved that tomorrow is another sea day before a string of 5 (or more...I'm not really sure) port days in a row. I fervently hope that we get repeats of today's sunny, warm weather; I'm ready for some days in the gorgeous blue lagoons of French Polynesia!
