On
May 14 we made the 25 mile sail over to the island of Ua Pou from
Nuku Hiva. We had seen this island's high pointed peaks from the
distance, but the day we sailed they were covered by clouds. Which
they are most of the time. But as the day wore on, we were gifted by
the sight of all the spires. We got a great shot of Morning Light
with all of them uncovered. Scott had been there for 4 days and it
was the first time he had seen all of them. I guess we were just
lucky!
As
we arrived ashore at Baie Hakahetau there was a nice sign that told
us the names of all the peaks. Another sign told us about the shells
and sea life in the bay. Of course it was all in French and
Marquesan, but the pictures were pretty and we understood the
topography of the island better. We took a hike up to some ancient
ruins and found a mermaid carved into a rock, looking quite lovely.
The area we went to had been a big village at one time, where they
blocked off the creek and grew Taro and other plants. The trail was
basically a muddy/dirt road, but was nicely covered with trees and
kept us in the shade.
We
followed the main road to the far side of the bay to see what kind of
view we could get and got some great shots of our boats anchored out.
A large hog was tied up in a grove, we assume waiting to become a lot
of bacon! There was construction going on at the quay and our boats
had to be both bow and stern tied. Some kind locals showed us how to
walk thru their property to where their goats wondered on the rocks
above the harbor. We had a great view from there! I took photos of
the two Mikes (one Mike was Scott's crew, an old friend of my Mike)
then he took a photo of us. These folks have quite the view from
their property! When we got back down to our dinghies, the local
kids were enjoying the water. That night we had one of the most
beautiful sunsets of the trip!
The
next day we walked thru town and were intrigued by the local house
construction and all the beautiful flowers in their yards. Then we
hiked up past the ruins on the dirt road to a water fall. Our new
French cruiser friend, Eric, was guiding us along the way and is in
several of the photos. The road was carved thru some incredible
jungle. We took lots of pictures of the cool plants along the way
and the spires were quite inspiring (pun intended). The path to the
waterfall left the road and went thru the creek and again thru some
jaw dropping beautiful jungle. (by the way were were all covered
heavily with bug repellent!)
The
waterfall was just lovely, with a palm tree laying across the rocks
before it dumped into a very refreshing pool. We all cooled off in
the water, except Mike, who had an infected mosquito bite and was on
antibiotics. It was just like we had always dreamed of swimming
under a waterfall in the jungle on a tropical island!
Back
on the dirt road we continued up the mountain. On the way we saw the
dangerous Centipede. You do not want to let one of those crawl on
you, as they bite a poisonous bite! We went to a German man's house,
named Manfred. He is married to a Marquesan lady and has lived up
here for more than 20 years. He was quite an entertaining and
fascinating man. He had made his fortune flying helicopters,
installing all the big power poles and pulling cables that provide
electricity around the islands. However at his house, he uses his
creek as a hydroelectric plant that generates power for both himself
and his neighbor. He also raises chickens & ducks for food and
has lots of kitties and 2 dogs. He makes 3 huge loves of bread which
he feeds to the birds and dogs, but he was feeding the cats avocado!
On his plantation, he grows all kinds of fruit trees, but mostly he
is known for his coffee and coco plants. He makes his own chocolate
from the coco pods, which was why we went there. He showed us how
each little flower grows right out of the bark of the tree, then
turns to a green pod. When it is ripe, the pod turns orange. He cut
off the skin and inside were many seeds, covered with a sweet white
sticky stuff. We each got a seed to suck on and then gave him back
the seeds which is what the chocolate is made from. I asked him how
he got rid of the sweet sticky stuff when he did not have visitors to
suck it off for him and he said he had a secret machine that he
invented to clean the seeds and make the chocolate. Hmmm, guess that
knowledge is still going to be secret! We toured his property and it
had many lovely places and beautiful plants. The back of his entry
sign says “Nana”, which by now you know means, “bye”.
That
evening we had prearranged with Tai (pronounced tie)to make us a
traditional Marquesas dinner. He and his buddy went hunting and came
back with a goat. They prepared it in two different ways. First by
Roti (which is a stew that they simmer for an hour on the stove) and
barbecued over an open fire. It was delicious!! From the goat going
around the plate counter clockwise is rice, Kaku (breadfruit mushed
into something similar to mashed potatoes) with coconut milk on it,
the small white pieces are roasted Taro root (very good), the big
white pieces are breadfruit roasted (different than anything I can
describe, soft and chewy and delicious with the coconut milk too) and
lastly the deep fried bananas benye'. The drink is Pamplamoose
(looks like an oversized grapefruit) and grenadine to sweeten. It
was all very yummy!! Tai showed us his awesome tattoos, sang us some
traditional music and showed off wearing his festive garb, a goat hat
and wild boar tusk necklace. And Sophie was one happy puppy with her
goat bone!!
Hakahetau
was such a friendly village with so much to experience, we hope to
return some day (for more chocolate!!).
A beautiful day for sailing!
The pinnacles hiding in the clouds
Clouds starting to lift
All pinnacles showing!
Hakahetau Bay with Morning Light
Map with names of pinnacles
drawing of the bay
mermaid carved in stone
Ruins of Puamau
Dirt road
Strong running creek we had to cross
side road ends in a puddle
View of Hakahetau village
A lot of bacon waiting to be smoked
Morning Light and Avatar at anchor
crane working on the pier
hike out to the overlook rock with the goats
goats on overlook rock
view of Hakaetau Bay
Mike and Mike
Mike and Shellly
looking up the valley
locals enjoying the cool ocean waters
awesome sunset!
Local house made of traditional materials
flowers blooming
flowering tree
old Proa canoe used for flower bed
rocks and jungle on our hike
cleared land with coffee plants
the muddy road up the valley
more jungle
Scott, Mike, Shelly & Mike
Scott makes it across the creek
ferns and other jungle on the way
Shelly in the jungle
Thick jungle plants
Shelly, Eric, Scott & Mike by big Banyan tree
Shelly at the waterfall
Lovely waterfall
Taking a cool dip with some waterfalling on us!
Lovely little waterfall
view from waterfall looking back at fallen palm tree
Mike in the creek
the beautiful trail
collected coconuts along the path
Jungle troops
The pinnacles from up the valley
back on the muddy road
the dangerous Centipede
baby banyan trees on the way
same trees up a creek
Big Banyan Tree at hill top
Shelly & Mike by Banyan tree
View of new coffee plants
stay on the path it is a steep drop off!
The pinnacles uncovered
The entrance to Manfred's house
Real coffee grinders
Manfred making bread
Bread done baking in his homemade kitche
View from Manfred's house
Lovely plants
coffee beans ready to pick
flower and young pods of coco plant
Manfred picks rip Coco pod
He cuts it open for us to see
creek at Manfred's
Shelly in the creek
Cool plants by the creek
Manfred's ducks
Leaving Manfred's Nana means Bye
Plate of food at Tai's house
Tai poses with me by food table
Tai plays us some music
Tai dresses in his traditional garb (those are goat horns)
Sophie with her goat bone
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