There are drawings in many places of what the nativities used to look like back in the early days. I took a couple of these in one of the restaurants. The men had long hair which they tied up into a bun, and were tattooed all over their bodies. They carried heavy war clubs or paddles they used to propel their proas (outrigger canoes). In the original turtle tattoo you can see the Tiki gods (awake and asleep) on all 4 legs and in his body. They believed that if God did not answer your prayers it was because he was sleeping, so keep asking until he wakes up!
There are a few pensions (small hostels) and one fancy hotel in Taiohae. There were as many as 75 boats there at one point, but averaged about 50. On the day we came back from hiking to the big waterfall in Dainiel's bay, there was one huge yacht whos mast towered above all the rest of us. It rained a lot when we were there, but not all the time. Typical tropics, gets cloudy, rains, then the sun comes back out. The good part about the rain is all the waterfalls that show up.
At the quay (big cement) wall, we tied up our dinghies next to the fishing boats. Often when they brought in their catch they would throw the guts and heads into the water. That is when we noticed all the sharks! When the rain comes, it washes a lot of dirt into the water and it becomes very murky. No time to go swimming with sharks in murky water!! The second day we were there a cruise ship showed up! That kind of blew our minds, but the locals put on the dog and we got to see native drumming and ladies in costume for the cruise ship guests. It was quite entertaining.
There is no bus service around town, but they do have a bus that takes all the school kids to events. And the big event the first weekend we were there was the Northern Marquesas Proa Regatta. They had both kids and adults racing in anything from a single seater to a 12 seat double canoe. It went on all day Saturday and people came from the other two islands, Ua Pou and Ua Huka and it was a huge all day party on the waterfront where the whole town showed up!
On Saturday mornings, the fishermen brought in their catch and the farmers came in with fresh veggies. The only catch for us was that it starts at 5am! By 6 o'clock tomatoes and lettuce are gone. It took us a couple of weeks to get our acts together that early in the morning, but the day we did, wow! Beautiful veggies! The fish brought in were quite impressive with lots of tuna, wahoo, parrot fish, and red snapper. One thing to be careful of is Ciguatera which is a microorganism that fish eat off dead coral. When you eat a fish infected with it, you become poisoned. It is mostly in smaller reef fish, so we opted not to eat any of the parrot fish, besides they were so pretty! Mike has caught 2 tunas on passages so far, which is always good being a deep ocean fish.
There is a memorial to Melville where he escaped from the ship which is carved into a big tree trunk. There are also French Navy memorials and left over canons from days of old.
The Catholic Church is another amazing place to visit with many beautiful wood carvings, including the doors. Bischop Le Cleach is buried in the back with a lovely memorial to him. He and Toti Teikiehuupoko started the Matava'a which is a big festival held every 4 years in December to celebrate the Marquesan Culture. This is where they have drum and dance contests, singing groups, tattooing demonstrations, carving competitions, Tapa making demonstrations and many other fascinating things that were born from the Marquesan Culture. In the mid 1990's the Tahitian culture tried to take over the islands as a back up to the French. It was then that these two men decided to make this a revival of the Marqusas before their own identity was lost forever. Today many of the locals speak Marquesan and it is taught as a second language in schools. Of course French is the official language, but it was fun to learn some of their words. Kaoha=Hello, Kon Tou Nui=thank you very much, Nana=bye.
The Tiki stone carvings along the waterfront, were made specifically for the 2003 Matava'a which was held in Nuku Hiva. They are still quite interesting, but some of the ones around town are still ancient ones. You will notice all the wood carved statues holding up the ceremonial buildings. The sad part for us, was when we learned the last Matava'a was held just last December 2015. If you want to see a great story about that, please read my friend Linda, from s/v Jacaranda's blog about it. http://www.jacarandajourney.com/84-matavaa So wish we could have experienced it.
After living in the desert of the Baja, we have been enchanted with all the greenery. Huge different types of trees and intricate root structures. The flowering trees were my favorite, but the bright red color of the dates on the Date Palms and the weird shape of the bread fruit with its huge leaves were also fascinating.
Our new friends from other boats who also just crossed the ocean to get there were many. There was Jeanie, who had been to the RRYC in VA, Nana and Elisa who crewed aboard Jade, and of course everyone's new friend Kevin, who owns Yacht Services and helped us all get thru the check in process with the Gendarme. He put on a happy hour every Friday night, which we went to several times ;-)
Along with a few other boats we put together a pot luck dinner at the local internet cafe right on the quay. The restaurant provided a barbecue to cook on and asked the local Ukulele maker and instructor to come and play for us. The music was excellent, some got up and danced (me included!) and then Erick jumped in and played with them. He went the next day to the shop and did end up buying one too.
Overall we very much enjoyed our stay in Nuku Hiva. It is a lovely small town with such friendly people.
Nana, Taiohae,Nuku Hiva.............We will never forget you, our first Polynesian Island!
View of Taiohae Bay
restaurant mural
Tattooed Marquesan man with war club
Tiki God Turtle Tattoo
View of West side of bay from boat
View of East side of bay from beach
Looking up the center of the bay from the boat
close up of after rain waterfalls
One of these boats is much bigger than the rest of us!
Isn't she lovely?
View of Quay wall from beach
Paul Gauguin cruise ship line
School bus
People on the beach watching Proa regatta
Friend filming with his GoPro
Launching a Proa for the next race
Proa Launching
Proa waiting to be launched (upside down to drain water)
Kids waiting their turn to race
Paddles at the ready
Lots of onlookers (note how muddy from rain)
Polynesian Barbecue
Paddle harder! (12 person Proa)
Close up of paddlers (note big wave crashing on beach behind)
Fish Market on Quay wall
Tunas with no heads ready to sell
Small Tuna and Wahoo
Parrot Fish
Red Snapper
Prizes from the Market
Typee memorial
Memorial to Herman Melville
French Navy Memorial
Old Canon aimed at the fleet
Entrance to the Catholic Church
Courtyard at Catholic Church
Entry way to Church
Doors into Church
Carving of Marquesan Man holding a Marquesan Cross
Carving of High Priest
Carving of Man playing Ukulele
Grave of Bishop Le Cleach
Memorial to the Bishop
Statue of the Bishop
View from Bishop's Memorial
Real ancient Tiki
Commemorating Matava'a from 2003
Site of 2003 Matava'a
Tiki carving from 2003 with moss growing on it
Red stone carving from 2003
Carving of Marquesan man
2003 Tiki
Very interesting Stone carving View 1
View 2 looks like a lady
View 3
Stone Carving
Close up of Tiki Skulls
Ceremonial Building
Pillar at Ceremonial Building (female)
Pillar from same building (male)(yikes!)
Interesting trees by hill (banana trees in front)
Large roadside tree
Tree by bank with long bean pods hanging down
Tree roots holding on to the rocks
Flowering trees
Hot pink flower
Giant Aloe type plant looks like from Baja!
Dates ripe in the Date Palm
Breadfruit Tree
Breadfruit
Birds of paradise decorating Snack bar
My new friend Jeannie with her RRYC hat on
Kevin from Yacht Services
Happy Hour for the cruisers
Pot luck at the Snack Bar with Vivian from s/v MaryAnn
Pedro talking to folks from another boat
Nana and Elisa crew on Jade
Nana's fish dinner for potluck
Custom made Ukulele
Ukulele maistro and his wife
More Ukulele players and dancer
Erick plays the Uke
Erick & Oliver from s/v MaryAnn following the Maistro
