Nuka Hiva and Oa Pau; The Marquesas

“The Marquesas! What strange visions of outlandish things does the very name spirit up! Naked houris—cannibal banquets—groves of cocoanut—coral reefs—tattooed chiefs—and bamboo temples; sunny valleys planted with bread-fruit-trees—carved canoes dancing on the flashing blue waters—savage woodlands guarded by horrible idols—HEATHENISH RITES AND HUMAN SACRIFICES. Such” From ‘Typee; A Peep at Polynesian Life’ by American Novelist; Herman Melville who famously jumped ship from a whaler in the Marquesas in1840….

A heavy set, toothless local watched us struggling from the checkout with our many bags of groceries and immediately offered us a lift. He helped us throw our bags in the back and smoked, laughed and chatted to us all the way back to the dinghy dock.

The small, lively port town of Taiohae in Nuka Hiva is a friendly kinda place. 

The residents of the Marquesas receive a stipend from the French government and life is good on the islands. Most of the houses are modest but often brightly painted with perfectly groomed, green, tropical gardens and shiny, new 4WD’s. The people are family orientated, have infectious smiles and big, booming belly laughs. People stop to chat, shake hands and embrace in the shop. It’s a tight and connected community. Who wouldn’t be happy in a paradisiacal, Pacific island where massive slabs of freshly caught ahi tuna, crunchy baguettes and generous wedges of creamy Brie are available at every corner store (even the petrol station)?

“Why, they are cannibals!’ said Toby on one occasion when I eulogized the tribe. ‘Granted,’ I replied, ‘but a more humane, gentlemanly and amiable set of epicures do not probably exist in the Pacific.”
―Herman Melville, Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life’

Taiohae was the first landfall for some yachts arriving from their Pacific crossing and a place to re-stock and provision for the isolation of the Tuamotos and beyond. The bay was crowded and we saw many boats we have met in the Caribbean, Panama and The Galapagos… we are all heading west now so the community is growing. We target kid-boats and dinghy between moored and anchored yachts waving, chatting, sharing tide charts and weather files and organising kid play-dates. Most boats in the anchorage are now laden with massive banana bunches hanging from cockpits and fruit hammocks full to the brim with pamplemousse (an oversized grapefruit), pineapple and papaya.

Known as the mystical isle, Nuka Hiva is the largest island of the group and after Taiohae, we enjoyed two more very distinct and impossibly dramatic anchorages; the first, Baie de Anaho (below) on the north west coast offered a deep, indented bay with a gorgeous coral shelf, crystal clear water, an expanse of beach and a climbing backdrop of jagged green mountains.

Our third anchorage at Nuka Hiva was Hakatea Bay (affectionately known as Daniel’s Bay) where one of the ‘survivor’ series was filmed. It is almost completely protected and we felt landlocked by high-sided imposing cliff faces and the elevated crests beyond.  We explored on paddle boards and Russ found a sweet little wave while the kids and I had our first manta ray encounter as we checked out a large, metallic silver shape cruising in the clear, cool water in the shadow of the looming rock face.

After an adrenaline inducing dinghy ride through pounding swell and protruding rocks, we passed the fine, black sand beach and putted up an estuary to tie up to a tree and begin our hike to the Vaipo waterfall (the third tallest fall in the world) The trail led us through a smattering of houses and a lonely telephone box that looked a little surreal amongst the intense green, tropical flowers and abundant fruit tree backdrop.

There seemed to be more dogs than people in the mini village. After we had witnessed a terrifying pack-dog fight, two of them decided to adopt us and happily escorted us to a river crossing where they stopped and, with wagging tails, watched us cross the river and continue along the well worn track. Despite being ridden with mosquitoes and nonos (minute, sand-fly style biters,) the 2 hr. walk was stunning. We found time-weathered tikis and ancient stone walls and platforms and we enjoyed the best view of the plunging waterfall at about half way up. At the base of the falls we found a muddy brown basin hidden behind mammoth boulders. Evidence of large, falling rocks that had left hundreds of smashed grass and mud indents around the trail had us glancing nervously upward towards the giant folds of rock that rose up from the plummeting valley.

Dolphins popped up to play on our bow wake as we relinquished Nuka Hiva and made our way to Ua Pou; our last stop in the Marquesas.

Ua Pou, meaning ‘legendry pillars’ is named after it’s spectacular peaks and a quite unrivalled profile…

The archipelago of the Marquesas constitutes a linear chain of ancient islands orientated in a SE-NW direction. Ua Pou distinguishes itself with the presence of a large amount of phonolitic lava flows and extrusions and less of the basaltic rock so characteristic of the volcanic islands of the Pacific. High cliffs dive into the sea and the tapered spikes shoot up from the centre of the island like torpedoes amidst swirling mist and cloud cover. The island tells a long geological story and everything we do here is framed by the ever-present pinnacles that soar above.

The village of Hakahetau is sleepy and immaculate. The local kids look up from their game of marbles and greet us while tiki statues face out to sea like sentinels standing guard on the grassy waterfront.

As Australians, we were granted a 90 day visa for French Polynesia and we were obliged to check in with the gendarme (if one is posted) at each island we visit. The Tuamoto atolls were calling to us and we still had the Society islands to squeeze in so it was time to say au revoir to the Marquesas and head south…

The Marquesas; the movie…

Next Post: Paradise found in the Tuamotus!