Friday 16th January 1998.
It was a very calm morning getting organised. We had lovely spring morning with new shoots through everywhere in the garden.
Hil and Doug arrived soon after 10 o'clock. And we had coffee and malt loaf, and last minute packups.
It was a very calm morning getting organised. We had lovely spring morning with new shoots through everywhere in the garden.
Hil and Doug arrived soon after 10 o'clock. And we had coffee and malt loaf, and last minute packups.
A year in Australia 1998
Part 1 - French Polynesia
Part 1 - French Polynesia
We left at 11.00 am for Heathrow and had a trouble-free trip, but nothing felt real- we were very calm, but were we really going the way for 11 months? Hil parked the car in the multi-story carpark and we all went to book in.
I handed in my passport and the person asked "how long have you had this passport", which caused me great consternation as it was a new passport but it turned out I hadn't signed it! No one said anything about signing!
We looked in ‘Past Times’ and then had lunch – me fish and chips, cooked to order – it looked good but I didn't eat the batter. Adrian and Hil had pizza and Doug a sandwich. We had great frivolity and jollity and the time went quickly.
We finally said our goodbyes and went through to departures.
I handed in my passport and the person asked "how long have you had this passport", which caused me great consternation as it was a new passport but it turned out I hadn't signed it! No one said anything about signing!
We looked in ‘Past Times’ and then had lunch – me fish and chips, cooked to order – it looked good but I didn't eat the batter. Adrian and Hil had pizza and Doug a sandwich. We had great frivolity and jollity and the time went quickly.
We finally said our goodbyes and went through to departures.
Leaving Elm Gable
I bought an underwater camera. Most goods were not particularly cheap. We then went to board, now 2.15 pm. and they called out for our plane to board as we reached the departure lounge and so straight onto the plane and by then we were feeling excited. We had the rear two seats of the plane, which seemed a good position and we felt very excited as we took off.
I loved looking down and seeing everywhere laid out like a map – housing estates making geometric patterns. We went up through central England, with lots of remote country, then Scotland – so much barren country – hills and water, the hills snow covered on top – quite magical. Then the West Coast of Scotland and we hit cloud and gradual darkness. I was very disappointed not to see Iceland. We were served a drink then a meal at 4.00 pm – I wished I hadn't had the fish and chips at lunchtime! The little boy in front looked like Jodie [Hil’s step-granddaughter . I got up for the loo and a lady pointed out the lights of Reykjavik in the distance, which delighted me. There was another town too to the left.
It was then over Greenland and then later Baffin Island and Hudson's Bay which had amazing snow and ice formations. After the near darkness of Iceland it stayed light all the way with very little cloud.
We watched the films "The full Monty" and "In and out" – I was not impressed by either and the scenery was much more impressive. I loved looking down on the meanders of the frozen rivers.
I loved looking down and seeing everywhere laid out like a map – housing estates making geometric patterns. We went up through central England, with lots of remote country, then Scotland – so much barren country – hills and water, the hills snow covered on top – quite magical. Then the West Coast of Scotland and we hit cloud and gradual darkness. I was very disappointed not to see Iceland. We were served a drink then a meal at 4.00 pm – I wished I hadn't had the fish and chips at lunchtime! The little boy in front looked like Jodie [Hil’s step-granddaughter . I got up for the loo and a lady pointed out the lights of Reykjavik in the distance, which delighted me. There was another town too to the left.
It was then over Greenland and then later Baffin Island and Hudson's Bay which had amazing snow and ice formations. After the near darkness of Iceland it stayed light all the way with very little cloud.
We watched the films "The full Monty" and "In and out" – I was not impressed by either and the scenery was much more impressive. I loved looking down on the meanders of the frozen rivers.
At Heathrow
Then over the amazing patchwork quilt of regular, snow covered fields which we left abruptly for rugged barren country with only a few square fields interspersed on flat land.
The frozen wastes of northern Canada
Then it was into cloud – and I dozed off. I woke up to see Las Vegas!
We arrived in Los Angeles and went into the transit lounge briefly, where there was an official lady with an unpleasant manner. We boarded the Air New Zealand flight to Papeete, Tahiti. We both slept most of the way. We arrived early but then had to wait ages to get through passport control.
We were greeted at the airport with scented white flowers and Polynesian music. It was now Saturday.
We arrived in Los Angeles and went into the transit lounge briefly, where there was an official lady with an unpleasant manner. We boarded the Air New Zealand flight to Papeete, Tahiti. We both slept most of the way. We arrived early but then had to wait ages to get through passport control.
We were greeted at the airport with scented white flowers and Polynesian music. It was now Saturday.
The frozen fields of USA
Saturday 17th January 1998 Tahiti
As we left Tahiti airport at 1.15 am, the heat and humidity hit us (it was like being in the hothouse at Kew Gardens). We took a taxi (2500 Pacific Francs) to the Budget Lodge Hotel, noticing lots of flowering plants along the way. At the reception we were delighted to be handed our tickets for the flight to The Marquesas [We had booked these from a New Zealand travel agent and in those days nothing was online and they would not send them to the UK as they were from a local Airline – Air Tahiti. Also these tickets were very expensive (about £800) , but despite querying it a number of times, between the exchange rates they somehow were a factor of 10 out, which is what we finally paid, so we were never sure we would actually get the tickets].
Our plywood shack, which was to say the least, basic, at least contained a bed, with a shower and a loo behind a plastic curtain. We decided to think of it as camping! Having slept on the plane, we couldn't sleep. Every sound from every other room could be heard. There was a fan, but this added to the noise. A curtain hung in front of the open slatted window.
We had showers about 5.30 am and heard the exotic sounds of the birds. We ate cheese and chutney sandwiches (from home) for breakfast. A maidenhair fern climbed down the corrugated iron fence outside the window.
We left the place spent all day wandering the streets of Papeete. The heat hit us – amazingly hot at 7.00 am! By the end of the day (actually mid afternoon - but which seemed like it to us) we had booked a hire car for tomorrow and a four-wheel drive trip for Monday (we hoped). All this was very hard work and involved us walking up and down the streets and retracing our steps many times.
As we left Tahiti airport at 1.15 am, the heat and humidity hit us (it was like being in the hothouse at Kew Gardens). We took a taxi (2500 Pacific Francs) to the Budget Lodge Hotel, noticing lots of flowering plants along the way. At the reception we were delighted to be handed our tickets for the flight to The Marquesas [We had booked these from a New Zealand travel agent and in those days nothing was online and they would not send them to the UK as they were from a local Airline – Air Tahiti. Also these tickets were very expensive (about £800) , but despite querying it a number of times, between the exchange rates they somehow were a factor of 10 out, which is what we finally paid, so we were never sure we would actually get the tickets].
Our plywood shack, which was to say the least, basic, at least contained a bed, with a shower and a loo behind a plastic curtain. We decided to think of it as camping! Having slept on the plane, we couldn't sleep. Every sound from every other room could be heard. There was a fan, but this added to the noise. A curtain hung in front of the open slatted window.
We had showers about 5.30 am and heard the exotic sounds of the birds. We ate cheese and chutney sandwiches (from home) for breakfast. A maidenhair fern climbed down the corrugated iron fence outside the window.
We left the place spent all day wandering the streets of Papeete. The heat hit us – amazingly hot at 7.00 am! By the end of the day (actually mid afternoon - but which seemed like it to us) we had booked a hire car for tomorrow and a four-wheel drive trip for Monday (we hoped). All this was very hard work and involved us walking up and down the streets and retracing our steps many times.
We also came across a local market where a weight lifting competition was going on – men lifting huge boulders. A young baby with huge brown eyes tried to communicate with me. Babies seem very loved and the people very happy rather like the Fijian's.
Rosie and Adrian in the market in Papeete
Weight lifters in a Papeete market
There were lovely views across to Morea, but sadly there was no swimming beach in Papeete, which we found that really hard today, so we had lots of showers.
For lunch we had baguette sandwiches quite reasonably priced and also French pastries. We had some freshly squeezed grapefruit juice and also a slice of melon. Saw a Citroen ‘H’ van [not surprisingly as Papeete is a French overseas territory ], but Adrian could not get a photo of it.
We walked back to the "Retro" and had a beer (not cheap) looking out over the sea in the late sunshine [Everything in French Polynesia was very expensive].
For lunch we had baguette sandwiches quite reasonably priced and also French pastries. We had some freshly squeezed grapefruit juice and also a slice of melon. Saw a Citroen ‘H’ van [not surprisingly as Papeete is a French overseas territory ], but Adrian could not get a photo of it.
We walked back to the "Retro" and had a beer (not cheap) looking out over the sea in the late sunshine [Everything in French Polynesia was very expensive].
I was very aware of the strength of the sun, but still we ended up with red shoulders, neck and noses. We found a delightful market selling crafts (I'll have to buy a parea) food and floral necklaces. The flowers are quite exquisite – and huge trees of many different kinds.
Papeete harbour looking towards Morea
Papeete
Papeete harbour looking towards Morea,
'Le Truck' (bus) rank, Papeete
'Le Truck' (bus), Papeete
We then walked along to the market by the sea, where dozens of vans (“called the Roulottes”) moved in for the night as "mobile cafes" – seats etc. included. There was all sorts of food there - steaks, Chinese, crêpes. We chose a pizza – very good and a bottle of water. As we sat there watched a Columbus Cruise ship leave. By then, due to constant heat, exercise and time changes, we felt very tired and walked back and to bed! (About 8.30 pm!)
Rosie around Papeete
In the Bougainville Gardens
Sunday, 18th January
Had a good night’s sleep. We woke at an early hour - about 5.00 am, to hear wonderful bird song. We packed up and left, and walked down and collected the car, it was now 7.00 am. We got some bread on the way. We came back and managed to park and went to the market. We found it very different today in that there were much more fresh goods, but still not much for us to buy and the upstairs where we were going to have breakfast wasn’t open today, so we bought some bananas and coconut, which we ate some of and drank the coconut milk. We bought some beef to go with our rolls and some cucumber. On the way back to the car, we stopped for breakfast at the “Retro” and I had a coffee and we both had a croissant. We then walked back to the car and drove up to the Budget Lodge hotel and loaded up. We had decided to move on today from the Budget Lodge hotel to the Mahina Tea hotel, which we had sorted out yesterday. By the time we had done all that, it was very hot and sunny and we left the Mahina Tea hotel at 9 o’clock. The Mahina Tea is just out of town amongst a whole load of greenery and outside the window is a pink frangipani and there was a huge ‘love lies bleeding’ as we came out of the drive. On the way out of Papeete, we first took some video and then we passed a ‘Continent’ hypermarket. In Papeete itself, there was a small ‘Casino’ supermarket but the rest were only small shops. One thing we had noticed was many Christmas decorations were still up and there was a small Christmas tree looking very sad with let down balloons on it and also Father Christmases and reindeers in various places and things saying ‘joyeux noël’ - quite amused us. We looked out onto the island of Morea, which looked absolutely beautiful across the blue sea, palm trees fringing it and the waves breaking some distance out with white surf and the blue sky. There was still quite a lot of traffic on the road, and today being Sunday, everything shuts, although we did notice the supermarket was open, so we bought some bread and stuff which we hope will last us today and tomorrow. I took a photograph of a church called St Francis Xavier with some glorious red flowering trees in front of it.
Had a good night’s sleep. We woke at an early hour - about 5.00 am, to hear wonderful bird song. We packed up and left, and walked down and collected the car, it was now 7.00 am. We got some bread on the way. We came back and managed to park and went to the market. We found it very different today in that there were much more fresh goods, but still not much for us to buy and the upstairs where we were going to have breakfast wasn’t open today, so we bought some bananas and coconut, which we ate some of and drank the coconut milk. We bought some beef to go with our rolls and some cucumber. On the way back to the car, we stopped for breakfast at the “Retro” and I had a coffee and we both had a croissant. We then walked back to the car and drove up to the Budget Lodge hotel and loaded up. We had decided to move on today from the Budget Lodge hotel to the Mahina Tea hotel, which we had sorted out yesterday. By the time we had done all that, it was very hot and sunny and we left the Mahina Tea hotel at 9 o’clock. The Mahina Tea is just out of town amongst a whole load of greenery and outside the window is a pink frangipani and there was a huge ‘love lies bleeding’ as we came out of the drive. On the way out of Papeete, we first took some video and then we passed a ‘Continent’ hypermarket. In Papeete itself, there was a small ‘Casino’ supermarket but the rest were only small shops. One thing we had noticed was many Christmas decorations were still up and there was a small Christmas tree looking very sad with let down balloons on it and also Father Christmases and reindeers in various places and things saying ‘joyeux noël’ - quite amused us. We looked out onto the island of Morea, which looked absolutely beautiful across the blue sea, palm trees fringing it and the waves breaking some distance out with white surf and the blue sky. There was still quite a lot of traffic on the road, and today being Sunday, everything shuts, although we did notice the supermarket was open, so we bought some bread and stuff which we hope will last us today and tomorrow. I took a photograph of a church called St Francis Xavier with some glorious red flowering trees in front of it.
We stopped at the caves of Mara'a and had our ‘pain au raisin’ beside the sea and then we walked across to the ‘grottes’ which rather than caves were caverns with water pouring down everywhere, very luxurious with plants everywhere. Apart from ‘Le Truck’, there are no bus services and people have pick ups and numerous members of the family travel in the open back of them. We stopped for a beautiful swim in the sea in lovely warm water in a tiny little place where only a few locals were and there was even a shower where the water gushed down afterwards. It was approaching midday. We stopped by a little beach of volcanic rock and coral and beside it was a little hummocky hill which we climbed up to, called Marae. The coral reef was missing here and so large waves came right up to the beach, which people were surfing on.
The church of St Francis Xavier
There were magnificent views and we stopped on the beach to have our lunch of French bread, tasty beef and cucumber and ladies fingers bananas and water. We stopped for another lovely swim on a sandy beach in a beautiful setting, with few other people there. We stopped at Vaipahi gardens, very beautiful and exotic, beside the sea, with a crashing waterfall into a pool, very South Pacific looking and there were some delightful Tahitian people – two women and a little boy. We paddled in it, and took several photos, lots of exotic flowers here to – I got pretty wet under the cascade.
Tahiti from Marae de Mahaiaatea
Adrian in our hire car
We visited the Paul Gauguin Museum, which I found rather muddling with lots of his work and other work related to the South Seas, in a beautiful setting in gardens beside the sea and I was quite pleased to find out that his wife was called Meta [because there was a girl at Rosie’s school called Meta who was supposed to be a descendant of Gauguin]. We left there at 3.20 and then went for a few miles along the south of Tahiti Iti and we stopped beside what looked like a beautiful sandy beach, but was actually coral and was difficult to walk on, so we ended up just having a lie in the warm water and then washing ourselves off in some gushing water which was coming out of a pipe on the other side of the road. We left there and then drove a short way down the north side of Tahiti Iti.
We then drove up the eastern side of the island, the road was often by the water and looked very pretty. We drove inland about a kilometre to the tremendously high Fa'aruma'i Waterfalls.
We then drove up the eastern side of the island, the road was often by the water and looked very pretty. We drove inland about a kilometre to the tremendously high Fa'aruma'i Waterfalls.
Rosie and Adrian in the Vaipahi gardens
, Vaipahi, Tahiti.jpg)
As you can see, Rosie loved these gardens
We could have walked on to two further waterfalls but it was getting late and towards darkness, so we didn’t do that. We stopped just afterwards at Arahoho blowhole, where the water really did ‘blow out’ and made us laugh, and some Polynesian children laughed to. There were lots of large crabs on the rocks here. It was now 6.45. There were no reefs on this side of the island and so the waves were very rough and the road went up and down and round and round much more. It was also much wilder on the eastern side and more areas without houses. There was lovely lighting in the sky as we arrived back at Papeete at dusk.
The Fa'aruma'i Waterfall (with a tiny Adrian at the bottom)
We stopped off at the car park by the sea and this time we had steak and chips, and a bottle of lemonade. We then drove back up to the Mahina Tea and had showers – we felt pretty exhausted, but we drove the car back down to the car hire place and then had the long walk back. It was now some time after 10 o’clock and we collapsed into bed. It had been a good day.
Sunset near Papeete
 "Flight map to Australia")
 "Route map of our trips around Tahiti")
Monday, 19th January
But we didn’t have a good sleep – we had been warned about dogs barking, but worse than the dogs were cockerels, who crowed all night long. This together with the hard bed and lumpy pillows meant we woke many times during the night. While we were getting ready to go on today’s trip, I was looking out through the slats of the window and I could see a black cockerel on top of a shed, and if ever I wanted to strangle something, it was him. Adrian went out and found there was a shop next door, so he was able to get some bread, which we ate for breakfast with a banana and a ‘pain au raisin’ with just water, as we don’t seem to have any way of heating water and how I’d love a cup of tea or coffee at the moment. It was now 7 o’clock and we were just about ready for our pickup to go on today’s excursion. We were picked up early at about 7.15 and charged off through the town to pick up another person at which point it started to rain.
A fun day followed – a very long day, having been picked up at 7.15 we didn’t get back to our hotel until 5 o’clock. We initially went along to just outside Papeete and picked up a French couple, from a hotel near the airport, and then went down the west coast along the route we went yesterday. We noticed one or two places we saw yesterday but the weather was nowhere near as good today as it was raining most of the time at this point. When we got to the south of the island we took a track inland, right across to the north of the island. This proved to be quite an experience, leaping around in the back of the four-wheel drive vehicle.
Our two guides, the local one, our leader was called Patrick, and he had a young assistant, who turned out to come from Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas Islands.
But we didn’t have a good sleep – we had been warned about dogs barking, but worse than the dogs were cockerels, who crowed all night long. This together with the hard bed and lumpy pillows meant we woke many times during the night. While we were getting ready to go on today’s trip, I was looking out through the slats of the window and I could see a black cockerel on top of a shed, and if ever I wanted to strangle something, it was him. Adrian went out and found there was a shop next door, so he was able to get some bread, which we ate for breakfast with a banana and a ‘pain au raisin’ with just water, as we don’t seem to have any way of heating water and how I’d love a cup of tea or coffee at the moment. It was now 7 o’clock and we were just about ready for our pickup to go on today’s excursion. We were picked up early at about 7.15 and charged off through the town to pick up another person at which point it started to rain.
A fun day followed – a very long day, having been picked up at 7.15 we didn’t get back to our hotel until 5 o’clock. We initially went along to just outside Papeete and picked up a French couple, from a hotel near the airport, and then went down the west coast along the route we went yesterday. We noticed one or two places we saw yesterday but the weather was nowhere near as good today as it was raining most of the time at this point. When we got to the south of the island we took a track inland, right across to the north of the island. This proved to be quite an experience, leaping around in the back of the four-wheel drive vehicle.
Our two guides, the local one, our leader was called Patrick, and he had a young assistant, who turned out to come from Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas Islands.
The rain was torrential at times and we got absolutely drowned, but it didn’t really matter because it was so warm; later in the day it came out nice. We stopped at lunchtime and the other couple went to a posh hotel in the centre and had a meal which must have been expensive. We had a picnic and sat with the younger driver by a pool with a cascade coming into it, which we later swam in, and which we really enjoyed. We then went back to the hotel and had a coffee there.
They made our trip very very enjoyable for us by explaining all about all manner of flowers and plants and things that we saw along the way, and they kept stopping to do this. The first stop was made very unpleasurable by the mosquitoes, which bit us to pieces, even though we had put repellent on, so I had to take an antihistamine tablet.
Patrick our guide
Miconia saplings amongst orchids
A waterfall in the rain, Central Tahiti
. We were pleased to find out how lush and interesting the centre of the island was, very steep, very mountainous very very green, lots and lots of huge cascades. We crossed water many many times in the vehicle, which did leap around rather but was great fun. We stopped at a site which was a Marae - an ancient burial place and were told quite a bit about the history of Tahiti and Polynesia.
Lake Vaihiria
We passed a big lake called Vaihiria, the river from the lake went to the south of the island and from where we were later the Papeno'o River went to the north of the island and came out to the east of Papeete.
Adrian & 'Fatu Hiva' after a swim
We learnt a lot about the plants – the tarot we wanted to know about, and many other names we had known of from the books about the South Seas or from William Lawson. We were given a bit of bread fruit to eat by the young Marquesan chap – the first time we had eaten that He was great fun, and seemed to laugh at everything like the Polynesians seem to do and have this childish delight in whatever is happening around them, he certainly did. He was wanting to go back to the Marquesas and guide people out there – he was certainly very knowledgeable on the plants and things that we saw today. They delighted in all the flowers that we saw and kept taking off the heads of different hibiscus and we learnt that the indigenous one is more yellow in the morning and turns to red in the afternoon. We had noticed red and yellow on the same tree and we had wondered about this, and they picked every different type of hibiscus flower for us as we went, different shades, different colours, different types. Apart from the hotel in the centre of the island and the few little hydro-electric stations – water is so plentiful here - there was absolutely nothing else.
Pae Pae, Marae Vaihira
We arrived back hot and dusty having had an excellent day and I think our guide was pleased that we enjoyed it so much. We felt we had learnt something about Tahiti which we wouldn’t have known without this trip that we made. Patrick was a very serious chap and was very keen about the history of Tahiti and Polynesia and we felt quite privileged at being part of that knowledge and didn’t feel just one of the razzmatazz of tourists who visit the islands.
Back at our hotel we washed off the dust with a shower which cooled us down and tried to organise ourselves for our trip to the Marquesas Islands tomorrow. We walked down into the town and got some more money and ordered a taxi for tomorrow to go to the airport and then went along to the harbour. Tonight we had fish from the stalls in the car park. Mine was excellent fish on a skewer, which was quite reasonably priced from a Chinese stall. Then we walked back, it was about 8.30 and very very hot. It was incredibly hot in our room and airless and we went to bed early and managed some sleep despite cocks crowing as the previous night, but somehow it didn’t seem to bother us quite so much.
Back at our hotel we washed off the dust with a shower which cooled us down and tried to organise ourselves for our trip to the Marquesas Islands tomorrow. We walked down into the town and got some more money and ordered a taxi for tomorrow to go to the airport and then went along to the harbour. Tonight we had fish from the stalls in the car park. Mine was excellent fish on a skewer, which was quite reasonably priced from a Chinese stall. Then we walked back, it was about 8.30 and very very hot. It was incredibly hot in our room and airless and we went to bed early and managed some sleep despite cocks crowing as the previous night, but somehow it didn’t seem to bother us quite so much.
A waterfall, Papernoo Valley
Tuesday, 20th January
We were up very early in the morning, there was a clear blue sky. There was a slight breeze in the room and the air a little cooler. We asked for an 8 o’clock pickup by taxi – we were ready before that having had a ‘pain au raisin’ and little finger bananas for breakfast. We went down and waited for the taxi to come – it was already hot. We had arranged with Rose (the manager lady) to leave one of our large bags there, with things not needed in the Marquesas. When we arrived at the airport we initially couldn’t find our way in and nothing seemed to be happening. We found out that nothing happened until one hour before our flight so we had a half hour wait and went into a little coffee bar and had a coffee. It was a small airport – the size that I like – and we sat around until it was time to be called for our plane. We walked across the tarmac and climbed into the plane, there were no allocated seats, and the plane had just two seats either side. We had a delightful air hostess, who looked like a Polynesian Lisa, who we got to know quite well. The flight was quite lovely and trouble-free.
We were up very early in the morning, there was a clear blue sky. There was a slight breeze in the room and the air a little cooler. We asked for an 8 o’clock pickup by taxi – we were ready before that having had a ‘pain au raisin’ and little finger bananas for breakfast. We went down and waited for the taxi to come – it was already hot. We had arranged with Rose (the manager lady) to leave one of our large bags there, with things not needed in the Marquesas. When we arrived at the airport we initially couldn’t find our way in and nothing seemed to be happening. We found out that nothing happened until one hour before our flight so we had a half hour wait and went into a little coffee bar and had a coffee. It was a small airport – the size that I like – and we sat around until it was time to be called for our plane. We walked across the tarmac and climbed into the plane, there were no allocated seats, and the plane had just two seats either side. We had a delightful air hostess, who looked like a Polynesian Lisa, who we got to know quite well. The flight was quite lovely and trouble-free.
It was over the sea and we occasionally looked down over some atolls – it was quite cloudy times. About 11 o’clock, we were unexpectedly served a delightful cold meal of fish, probably tunny but the whole meal was very enjoyable – we had bought a filled baguette as we weren’t expecting anything, so that will do for lunch. We became aware of some islands and took a photograph, which later we decided it was Fatu Hiva, and then to our surprise we actually landed first at Hiva Oa, it being Tuesday – it is the other way round on the other days. We just stopped on the tarmac for half an hour whilst the plane unloaded and loaded – a chap in a wheelchair got in and another person who was on a drip, so it was quite slow as they took a lot of getting into the plane, after which the plane was actually full [there are no hospitals on the Marquesas and so if one needs a hospital one has to go to Papeete a 1½ hours flight away!]. It was then a half hour flight to Nuku Hiva passing by Ua Pou, so we took a photograph of that and then landed at Nuku Hiva.
The Marquesas Islands
Where are the Marquesas Islands?
Where are the Marquesas Islands?
The small airport is on the north of the island, where the land is relatively flat, but all the habitation is in the south of the island. We had flown over the island on the way seeing how mountainous it was, particularly in the south.
Our first sight of Ua Pou from the plane as we pass by
The driver did stop once or twice for us to take some video and pictures, but he didn’t say much - he didn’t speak much English. Sometimes the countryside was green, looking like England by the vegetation that we saw, but we often went through thick slushy mud and crossed streams and rivers. Altogether quite a hazardous journey, and it was with immense relief that we crossed the last hill and looked down to Taiohae, nestling below. It was still a long way till we got down to the town and we even had a little bit of surfaced road. We saw horses, cows and even a pig roaming free. It was breathtakingly beautiful in the south and we could see Ua Pou in the distance, looking quite out of this world with huge pinnacles in the centre of it and when we stopped outside our hotel it was wonderfully beautiful. We could see why William and Thomas Lawson stopped here. [I should at this point mention Thomas and William Lawson. They were Rosie's great great uncles and were sailors who had come out to the Marquesas on whaling boats in the 1840's/50's, jumped ship and stayed there. They wrote many letters home which still exist and they were the very reason for us going there].
The bay looks out exactly to Ua Pou and the hotel we are in, in an idyllic situation in the middle of this bay looking out over the beach.
The bay looks out exactly to Ua Pou and the hotel we are in, in an idyllic situation in the middle of this bay looking out over the beach.
Our route across Nuku Hivafrom the airport to Taiohae
We were unloaded into a small open circular building which seemed quite busy – it was an hour before the plane took off again to go back to Papeete, so some people were waiting to load or to get back on, and other people were waiting to get tickets for the helicopter flight down to Taiohae [It turned out that there was now a helicopter flying between the airport and Taiohae, but nobody had told us!]. There is no made road out of the airport, but we had booked four-wheel drive taxi to take us to Taiohae [How you may ask do you have an airport with no road to it!]. A chap had approached us and said something like Adrian but we couldn’t understand him and he didn’t seem to know anything, hence when things had cleared a bit, we were left not knowing whether we had a taxi lift or not. We were quite amused to see the luggage coming and going and could quite imagine that it could easily get mixed up, as the incoming and outgoing came on little trucks to the same table, plus all the stuff for the helicopter coming and going. By now we were really wondering where our taxi lift was, but there was nobody really to ask [nobody spoke much English] so we ended up asking our air hostess, who was just resting in the building along with the pilot – there was a little room saying Air Tahiti, but she was just sitting along with the rest of the people. She tried to make investigations including the helicopter lady who was booking people and after more than half an hour and many phone calls, we were told we were getting a lift with the chap behind the bar who was the person who approached us initially. Eventually after a lot of discussion about getting us on the last helicopter flight and maybe the hotel, who had booked the taxi for us, might pay the difference, the barman said he would take us. There was also some problem with our paperwork as when we had booked initially, we had got the wrong day, but had later corrected it. So eventually we left in our four-wheel-drive ‘taxi’ for a 2½ hour trip, across the centre of the island [It was only just over 20 miles!]. After my initial excitement setting foot on Nuku Hiva, it was somewhat of a disappointment after Tahiti, because it wasn’t pretty at all.
Our plane at the airport
Nuku Hiva airport
The first part was undulating and low-lying scrub and green and often you could have thought you were in England, particularly as it was quite cloudy. Then we started rising up very steep sided mountains (Nuku Hiva is made up of two extinct volcanoes) planted with what looked like a sort of Scots pine which I think were planted to stop the erosion – we did see quite a lot of landslip on various parts of the ‘road’. The going was very very slow and bumpy – sometimes thick thick mud in the deep red soil, and the vehicle slipped and skidded and higher up in the mountains there was a sheer drop to one side! Afterwards we wondered what would have happened if we had slipped off anywhere because there was absolutely no habitation from the north to the south of the island and it was a very very long way [in time if not in distance].
The main (only) road out of Nuku Hiva airport
View from the central plain
Looking out to Ua Pou
We were shown to our room and, thanks to Lonely Planet which suggested the best room, was looking out over the front. We did discover that we had twin beds, but we decided as it had been so hot, this was probably better anyway, and luckily there was a fan above the beds. Also the room, which was spotlessly clean, was so much better than the ones we had been staying in in Tahiti. The floor was of cold tiles – very welcoming! And there was a loo and shower, which I used to wash all the mud off my legs which I had got when I jumped out of the taxi. We went down and had a beer - there was a charming man behind the bar, who had shown us to our room and we just sat and took in this fantastic view – there was even a breadfruit tree outside, and really it was just like heaven. We ate our French roll, which we had bought this morning, and had got very squashed on the plane, but tasted good. It got dark very quickly, it was dark by 6 o’clock and we are half an hour on from Tahiti. We walked out along the front, it was very warm – it didn’t seem real and in the dark, we could have been anywhere – maybe in the south of France. We came back and went to our room and I read some of William Lawson’s letters, then suddenly the wind blew and it rained very hard. It was lovely to have the fan keeping the room cool.
Looking out from our hotel to Ua Pou (you can almost see it!)
To be continued