A great last day in Nuku Hiva

Turtle petroglyph in Hatiheu

Today was our last day in Nuku Hiva. Yesterday we checked the winds to Fakarava – our next port of call, and we spent a long time getting conflicting data on the tide tables, but decided we could leave very early in the AM Tuesday and we should arrive early Friday in time for a slack tide.

So today started with a grocery run and we hit pay dirt – lots of onions, some frozen chicken breasts, 3 kg of fresh caught tuna, carrots, fresh garlic and more. Sharon managed to snag a rental car for the day so we could tour the north of the island – perfect!

Saying goodbye to the old dingy – a donation to Nuku Hiva Yacht Services

We said goodbye to the old dingy and and made a side trip to the Nuku Hiva Marine store to tell Cecile that the payment for the new dingy had been made.

Cecile, Sharon & Bill at Nuku Hiva Marine

We told Cecile we were driving up to “Chez Yvonne’s” for lunch and she gave Sharon pointers on how to get on Yvonne’s good side and hear some great stories. We hit the road!

Bill & Sharon. Waterfall in mountains over Bill’s head

The roads of Hatiheu are paved in Turtles

Lunch at Chez Yvonne’s

We had a nice lunch at Chez Yvonne’s although she was not there this day. We randomly met Serge who was the other scuba diver, Paul who I had bought some gasoline off earlier in the day (he is a Kiwi and sailing with two Brits back home), and Bill recognized Patrick – another Catana owner we had crossed paths with in Tahuta. It was like a family reunion!

As we were finishing our lunch there was a commotion near a little creek that ran alongside the restaurant and discovered one of the tour guides feeding a large 4 or 5 foot eel. Our friend Mattiew the wood carver had told us stories about eel as a delicacy and how it was cooked locally.

A Tiki guardian like Mattiew carves in another paepae site

The ancient trees were amazing once again. I think these are giant Banyon trees which can live for centuries and “walk”. (although these look like they stay put!)

So a great way to end our stay in the Marquesas. In another 11 hours we will head for Fakarava. The passage looks ideal – 3 days of constant winds on the beam so we should average 7.5 to 8 knots. We are going to the northern entrance to Fakarava.

Fakarava is the second largest atol in this group, about 50km long and 15km wide. It is like a giant rectangle of coral, most/much of it below the water, so the 750 population mostly live in the stretch along the northeast side and the eastern side. Although the tides are only about 1 meter difference from low to high tide, picture a tub of water 50km x 15km and the top meter of water needs to flow in and out of 2 small gaps on the north and south. This can result in strong currents, so our timing to enter must be precise. Needless to say we found several conflicting tide tables on the internet, but think we have it sorted.

There is a tiny airport on the northern stretch where I will fly out of on Tuesday, over to Papeete and fly home next Thursday. My adventure is drawing to a close – but another great passage and an Atol experience, and hopefully, another scuba dive are still ahead. Bring it on!