Hello,
Thought I’d better do another one of these so here goes. I’ve had requests to tell what
each of the photos are so I will try it today and put a short explanation of each at the
beginning of this email. If you can think of a better way to do it, let me know. I don’t
think I can label them separately but maybe? I’ll work on that. (Later I did a much better job and have photos inserted appropriately)
For today First Gala
Party, Nuka Hiva , Marquesas Islands ladies and carvings, Weird Statue on the Hill, Beach
and Mountain Views, Our Little Lilly girl, boys playing, Sailaway Bay View from our room,
another party time showing Inten, our dinner hostess and the Canadians we ate with, ship
anchored off Avatoru, Rangiroa, small market Avatoru, three in a row of restaurant, the
cat there and the food, shoreline near the pier, various sites near the pier, kayak riding
the tender’s wake, restaurant from ship and departing the channel.
After a week of nothing (well, parties) but the wide Pacific, we arrived in Taiohae on the
island of Nuka Hiva in the Marquesas. We had visited here before and liked it very much.
There’s only one shore excursion offered here. It’s basically the locals loading folks up in
their cars and driving them to see the next valley. I understand it’s beautiful but we’ve
opted to do what most of the visitors do and just hang out within walking distance.
There was a restaurant we enjoyed last time so that’s where we headed.
Since we were
last here WIFI had been installed and the place was overrun with passengers ordering not
much and staying forever. Took some of the fun out of the quiet place we recalled that
used to serve lobster. Plus, we didn’t even bring our phones. Internet was not what we
were looking for!
We walked back towards the pier and beyond on our way to the Post Office. Joyce likes
to purchase the interesting stamps from different countries. Since we were last here
they built a statue on the hill and we saw various views and angles of weird thing. We ran
into the First Officer, Tom, and his wife better known as the parents of Lilly. She is the
ship’s “baby” and everyone loves this little cutie. She grew up noticeably in the months we
were all aboard.
The Post Office was closed (after 2pm apparently) so we went down to
the little market at the pier and listened to the locals play music and sing. One guy was
playing the spoons! They were having a good time and we had a beer.
Visiting Nuka Hiva is always a nice and relaxing experience. I wish the ship went to more
of the Marquesas Islands but we’d probably need a much smaller ship or our own boat to
do so.
Off we go to Rangiroa.
Rangiroa is in the Tuamotu Archipelago which is part of French Polynesia. The Tuamotus
are all low lying atolls of various sizes. Rangiroa is one of the largest. Atolls are nothing
more than a slender bit of land in a big circle with a bay inside which is calmer by far than
on the outside. Sometimes the channels into these atolls have very strong currents. Some
are so large that you can’t see all the way across and this was the case here. After
entering the channel Avatoru was just around the corner. A small community with one of
those hotels that are huts out over the water was about a mile or so from the pier.
We didn’t go that direction. We didn’t even go to the obvious place, which was a busy
restaurant at the pier.
A couple locals told us about a place nearby that they thought we
might enjoy so that’s where we headed. It was a short walk but a little challenging as the
seawall isn’t actually a path but we managed. They had a big deck over the water, a shady
area on the beach and a palapa for when it rains. Nice. Like a beautiful and quiet place
that only exist in dreams and with great food and cold beer.
We stayed for hours. We stayed, but moved inside, through a rain squall. I fed treats to
their cat.
We did have a bit of company, one of the passengers named Jim. He hung out
with us the whole time and was fascinated to learn about french fries with gobs of garlic
butter on top. Joyce and I were thrilled to find that they served this most decadent and
delicious treat. We’d only seen them once before and it was also in the Tuamotus, so there
ya go.
Great afternoon and the plan is to return again next year....we'll bring Mike too. Aloha for now, Gayle
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