Ile Nuku Hiva & Baie de Taiohae |
|---|
Nuku Hiva is the biggest island of the Marquises Archipelago, and the second largest island of French Polynesia. Its beauty seen from the air or from the sea is breathtaking. Baie de Taiohae, the administrative capital of the marquesas is the safest anchorage in the Marquises. It lies in the open remains of a volcanic crater with the caldera walls surrounding the town. It was here that 23-year old Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick, jumped a whaling ship in 1842. |
|---|
 |
Very knowledgeable and anxious to show us her island Jocelyn from Jocelyn's tours took us along with Gerard, Sue, Anthea & Derek to see the most spectacular areas of the island. |
 |
|---|
The north coast ,one of the most beautiful of Polynesia, is dominated by spectacular pinnacles.This is where the villages of Hatiheu, Aakapa and the bay of Anaho are found. We saw the Hakaui waterfall, situated at the end of an ancient royale valley which has a height of 350 m. We had a great lunch (a variety of breadfruit & fish) at Chez Yvonne, one of the best restaurants on the island. We visited several archeological sites on the island and saw the most spectacular views of other the bays, waterfalls and the woodland (planted pine trees) a high altitude plateau where the temperature is much cooler. |
|---|
 |
|
 |
|---|
 |
Strange looking beehives were set up in a row along the road in groups of four. We also saw wild goats hanging around on all the islands we visited. Our tour with Jocelyn was very |
 |
|---|
interesting and informative. We saw how the natives lived hundreds of years ago and how the islands were developed. I would highly recomend this tour to any one who visits Nuku Hiva. |
|---|
 |
On saturday night a group of us were treated to a fabulous dinner and entertainment at Rose's place. Rose and her staff served us a with a great variety of local dishes accompanied by two local musicians. The grand finaly of our evening was a spectacular show of local dancing girls dressed in their beautiful & colorful traditional costumes. |
|---|
|
 |
 |
|---|
| Also enjoying dinner with us was a group of poeple who work on the Noaa Ship which stops in Nuku Hiva twice a year. We met several scientists and crew members abord. They set buoys to monitor weather all around the Pacific. This is one of their favorite stops and Rose always puts on a good feed with local fare for them. You can't miss this ship as it is very impressive. |
|
|---|
 |
Getting fuel on board Adelia was not an easy task as we discovered. We had to back Adelia towards the dock, throw the anchor down to hold her and tie a couple of stern lines which is a very popular way of docking in Polynesia. The guys than transfered a very large fuel line to us so we could fill up. With the help of Gerard and Nigel, all went well. |
|---|
See more photos of this great island. |
|---|