Episode 13: The Magical Marqueas!

Bon Jour Everyone!

I am almost at a loss for words, a situation many will find impossible to believe! I have just asked the Marmax crew for 3 words each to describe the Marqueas. So far, we have these descriptive words: dramatic, spectacular, non-touristy, majestic, untouched wilderness and beauty, pristine mountains, beaches and shorelines, stunning. You get the picture.

We had arrived at 4.30 am in the bay of Taihohae on the island of Nuku Hiva in the Marqueas. One of our fellow Sandspit Yacht Club members, Ross Sutherland aboard 'Anatere', was travelling a couple of weeks ahead of us from the Panama, had confirmed for us that Taihohae was a good, safe anchorage for a night time approach. One has to be careful in complete darkness, that the anchor lights of moored vessels are not confused with street lights ashore; that is assuming that every boat does have its anchor lights on! There were indeed 34 boats inside the bay, so to play it safe, we anchored on the outskirts of the fleet as the sun came up from behind those dramatically beautiful soaring mountains which surrounded the entire bay. Wow! We couldn't tear our eyes away from it. 

Taihohae Bay in the background of our motley crew

This unbelievable beauty has just gotten more and more impressive and now become part of a 'normal day in paradise" for us. While we have mentioned the word "amazing" so many, many times on our sailing adventure, the word "unbelievable" is on our lips as we stare open-jawed at every bay we venture into. If you could drink with your eyes, we will be legless by the time we leave this kingdom of paradise!

All eager to get ashore after our 23 day day passage from Galapagos; the first challenge: the outboard motor would not start. Having been fully serviced in Barcelona, and hardly used; surely the problem was a simple one? After an hour of trying to get it going, we resorted to rowing as we were booked to meet up with the clearance guys at 8.30am ashore, and time was ticking on. With Glenys and Bruce on auxiliary kayak paddles up forehead and Les rowing, we set off. It was a long row ashore in a heaving swell. Folks don't call it 'Rolly Bay' for nothing!

The usual raucous behaviour from our family with Les leading "Row, Row, Row Your Boat", much to our relief, a friendly Kiwi couple came to our rescue and towed us in; thank goodness! Ian McGowan and Kate Moss aboard "Allesea", had been travelling a couple of years, bought a Hanse 50 in Sardinia and were on their way back to New Zealand with their young 12-year-old daughter, Millie, aboard. These guys were the first of many wonderful floating Kiwis we were to meet in French Polynesia. People who spoke our language - Hooray!

Taihohae Bay is actually a blown out volcano crater from ancient times. The sea rolled in and spent its energy smashing ashore and rolling the guts out of every yacht and catamaran in the bay. As a consequence, landing ashore was quite a mission and we have no doubt that there have been many an unfortunate mishap here. We rigged our tender with two of our large fenders tied to our gunnels; this served us well as the concrete walls of the dock were covered in oyster shells and other tenders and boats (all creatures great and small) lurched and collided with one another while  tied to the wall. In the early mornings, the local fishermen gutted their fish off the same wall; the big sharks which fed on the feasts were rather scary, to say the least. One would not want to fall in, despite all locals telling us, that the sharks are so well fed here, they will not eat you. We'll err on caution on that one!

Dockside at "Rolly Bay" -  Taihohae Bay

After a return tow out to Marmax by a lovely American guy; Bruce soon sorted the outboard. It was simply the carburettor float sticking and he tapped it out with a screw driver.

First of all, for those unfamiliar with the Marqueas, the Marqueas are a group of islands forming the most northern territory of French Polynesia and is made up of 6 large, and 6 small islands. The main 6 islands support a current population of around 9000. During the 18th century, the population was estimated at a whopping 60,000 of mainly blacks from Martinque and China. Others from Asia were brought in to work various plantations. Due to copious and erractic rainfalls, plus long droughts, the plantations failed and the labour force returned home. All of the islands are mountainous with jagged profiles of vertical cliffs which cut into deep, tropical, fertile valleys, where most of the islanders live. Interestingly, the volcanic islands have no coral reefs protecting them on the outside, so navigation was easy for us mere mortals cruising about.

French Polynesia is a territory of France and is made up of five archipelagoes: The Marqueas, The Tuamotos, The Societies, The Gambiers, and The Australs. Oh to have the time to explore the entire lot! It is so far from home though and no surprise to hear of Kiwis leaving their boats on the hard up here for 9 months so they can enjoy 3 months of the year exploring the place. They only offer 90 day stays here, which is fair enough I guess. They have a lot of beauty to protect.  
  
Back to Nuku Hiva...what a paradise! As soon as we hit terra firma, we found wifi. I was, of course, extremely excited to meet my new grand daughter on my phone! The farm at home was in the midst of a busy lambing season, our pet sheep Millie, had also had triplets, and of course, for all of us, a month of catching up with our world! 

The foreshore of Nuku Hiva

It took us 3 days to clear Customs as we arrived on a Saturday, Sunday was Bastille Day, and Monday...well, they simply did not turn up at work. Such is the island way. We replenished our fresh fruit and vege stores and met lots of fascinating world-travelling yachties just opposite the dock where wifi beamed out from a friendly cafe tent and the yacht agents office. No sitting in the dirt here while you got your online business done. Tables and chairs - Bliss! The islands are immaculate as far as rubbish and the care of the townships, harbours etc, though at Nuku Hiva, there were mangy, though friendly, dogs everywhere. The heat of the land was a bit hard for us to handle at first, with hot sun and regular tropical downpours. This explains why every island is so deliciously lush, plentiful and green. Quite the opposite to the poor ol' hurricane whipped BVI's and the moonscape of the Galapagos Islands.

Much to our unexpected delight, we were lucky enough to arrive the day before Bastille Day! After seeing only miles of ocean for so long, the vibrant colours, the energy, pomp, hilarity and laughter of the people was sheer delight and quite bedazzling for us. Stunning floats, crazy maidens, grinning children, fearsome warriors on horseback, hakas, flowers, coconut stripping contests, traditional singing and dance competitions, markets, stunning flower leis and the colourful pareos of the women. I personally fell in love with the huge skin drums with their throaty, booming beats. If we had room up forhead on Marmax, you would have spotted me marching off down the road with my arms around one of those big beasts, heading off out to the boat!

My drums!

The islands use a French Polynesian currency; pretty, colourful notes with prices for goods close to those of New Zealand; apart from alcohol - Oh my lord, that was expensive! We dined in style at "Pearl Lodge", welcomed by a truly gorgeous waiter called 'Jean Luke'. Beautiful golden skin, perfectly shaped eyebrows, a very sexy shimmy, a halo of flowers around his head and a smile to light the world up. He decorated our cocktails like we were all royalty; what an asset to that business!

The following day, we hired a 4WD Toyota dual-cab. Glenys, ever the travel guide, gleened a ton of information off the lovely tourism centre lady, Colette, and off we went. It took us a few shots at finding the road out of town. Up the steep  mountain passes, the views were incredible! Sheer cliffs to our left and postcard perfect scenery to our right. This is a copy of Glenys' diary this day:

"Early start. Got rental at 8.30 am. Headed off around the island in a 4x4 Toyota. Awesome. Rained on and off all day. Went around the entire island and only 14 litres of fuel used all day. FANTASTIC. Very rugged driving with Les at the wheel. Later learned we were "off limits". No one goes there without chainsaw, chains, spades, etc. Moonscapes, desert, bushwalking, drove past weedeater and bulldozer men keeping the tame roads clean and tidy in the woop-woops. Past amazing villages on the rivers, wild horses on the roads, many with ropes around their necks, with foals -skinny as. Lots of pigs and piglets + roosters. Ruins. Coffee at some little place in Ha'atuatua. Beautiful beaches. Coconuts, Bamboos, layered trees, very, very tall mountains, stunning concrete roads to goat tracks, but passable-just! "

The beautiful Ha'atuatua Bay

Needless to say, we had an absolute ball with much laughter despite the sometimes utterly dangerous and precipitous wilderness tracks we were driving around. It was just wonderful immersing ourselves ito a culture that has largely defied modern living and are clearly succeeding in leading a simple life of self-sustainability as they have for the past hundreds of years. The car rental people must have got wind about our adventure because a Kiwi couple, after hearing of our escapades, tried to hire a 4wd to do the same trip. The car hire people insisted that they must go with a guide. Crazy Kiwis!

In the middle of nowhere!

We had a few days of R&R and the arduous job of refueling the boat with jerry cans of diesel (this meant borrowing a ute, several trips to the fuel depot, then transfers in the tossing tender out to Marmax. It was quite satisfying  for us girls to watch the men actually doing some tough work!) 

Later that day, we joined a few of our new Kiwi pals and took off for Tai Oa Bay, aka Daniels Bay. High cliffs with spectacular, jagged peaks and lush tropical palms, coconuts and fruit trees fringing fresh water rivers. The bay was alive with enormous manta rays! At the time, we thought this was the most beautiful bay we had ever seen in our lives; since then, we have seen such beauty in other bays. We shall argue forever, "What was the most beautiful". Some of these bays do not even look real!

Sooooo.....lush!

Two hundred years or  more ago, there was a very large population in the valley here, the evidence of which was in the many ruins we explored going up the valley to a waterfall which was high up in the cleft of a mountain. There are now only 3 families left in the bay. We joined 3 other Kiwi crews for a 2-hour tramp up through the most stunning, tropical scenery imaginable. Through rivers, forests and ruins, our faces constantly upturned to take in the surrounding beauty of what was a true paradise.  Lots of impressive stone foundations called pae pae hiamoe's, the bases of ancient thatched houses which were seated on them all those years ago. 

\

On the way back, we were treated to a traditional feast of fresh BBQ tuna, paw paw, mango and lime juice salads with double fried breadfruit wedges, deliciously washed down with cool Pamplemousse, lime and water. These Pamplemousse are a Pacific grapefruit, wickedly additive to all of us yachties; so sweet and juicy! The juice on this particular occasion, proved to be somewhat fatal to many of our landing party, who went down with "Bali-belly", or a gastro bug. No doubt from their water supply, which us weak-gutted Pakehas seem susceptible to. After buying loads of fruit from this very friendly and hospitable native family, we happily hauled it all back to the beach where our tenders were tied up to coconut trees. Yet another wonderful life experience for us all, capped off with a night on the turps aboard one of the catamarans. While in the bay, it took us 3 days to clean Marmaxs' hull. Man that alien-like stuff stuck like you would not believe. Let me tell you; we slept very well every night in the Marqueas! 

Fresh BBQ tuna....Yummo!

An exhausted looking, hungry mob!

The famous Pamplemousse are the big fruit

 Back to 'Rolly Bay" to pick up two of our refilled gas bottles, blast off a couple of more emails. Restocked with groceries and alcohol.

Wishing for no stone to be unturned, we took off for a sailing circumnavigation of the entire island of Nuku Hiva, stopping for some super snorkelling along the way and arriving at sunset to an absolute stunner of a place called "Anaho". Another candidate for the most beautiful bay in the world, this time, endorsed by many before us. Another big "WOW!" 
Isolation protects Anaho as it is preserved by its inaccessibility. Visitors must either walk here from Ha'atuatua, through a very steep forest walk, or come by water, as we had. Over 800 years of Marquesan history is preserved in Anaho. Besides the massive cliff faces surrounding the bay, Anaho's reef, which swings in an arc following the beach, is one of Marqueas largest reefs. As mentioned, coral reefs are very rare here and it is strange to see them inside a bay, not protecting the outside of the islands as in the rest of the Pacific. We snorkelled for several delightful hours with Marmax safely anchored just a few metres off it. What a day!

The beautiful Anaho Bay

Anaho was, incidently, one of Robert Louis Stevensons favourite places in the world and he had often holidayed here in the 1880's.

Time to pull ourselves away from this glorious island of Nuku Hiva and head south to Ua Pou. Oh boy! Another contender for the most beautiful! 

The drop-dead gorgeous Oa Pou!

Ua Pou was drop-dead gorgeous from miles away. Incredible jagged pinnacle rocks soared up high into the clouds in the sky,  rising up from a carpet of green valleys. "Lush wilderness" was Glenys' description. Check out the photo of the bay. More hand-on-heart stuff for our family, and so much better in real life. We dropped the pick for lunch, then wandered around the rugged, yet majestic coast. Past tiny native villages boasting an assortment of quaint churches, huge, steep, techni-coloured cliffs that kissed the ocean below, fertile valleys with mango and coconut groves patch-working the hillsides; just heavenly.There are few things better in the world than to sail along an incredibly stunning coast on a yacht in superb weather, the sun shining, music playing, wind in your hair...simply divine! 

We pulled in for the next night alongside an Israeli yacht on anchor and next morning explored the pink rocks, sea caves, more awesome vertical cliffs and a traditional fishing hut on the hill, overlooking the bay. It is so much fun exploring these places in the middle of nowhere. Lots of dolphins silently lingering about. 

Another anchorage outside a village with strong winds whirling around huge columns of rocks; too rough to get ashore so we set off for a night sail to Hiva Oa, the next island south of the Marqueas archipelago. Sadly, the wind and tide was severely against us and we were going nowhere fast. 

Entering Tuahata

We never made it to Hiva Oa, so we changed course for the island of Tahuata. Hane Moe Noa Bay was known as the only white sandy beach in the whole of the Marqueas and what a beauty she was! Loads of Manta Rays hung out on the parameter of the anchorage giving us, and the 6 other foreign yachts, plenty of entertainment. The first night we arrived here,(we arrived at night) the water was alive with quite sizable fish attracted by our spreader lights. Much to our horror, the water was also awash with deadly Box Jellyfish too! We were so hanging out to go swimming!

Not a great pic...but fish galore!

In the morning, we sent Bruce, with mask and snorkel, over the side to test the water, so to speak. The coast was clear; no jellyfish in sight, so we all jumped in. That night, during sundowner drinks, we witnessed the most glorious sunset complete with a yacht sailing through the middle of it and the famous 'green flash' rarely seen in the tropics, as the sun sunk below the horizon. Perfection.

Moving onto the next bay, Les pulled in a beautiful Yellow Fin Tuna for dinner, which we feasted on that night. To arrive at these bays as the sun is setting is magical. This bay was stunningly B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L! Was this Number One? Wow! 

Towering cliffs were a backdrop for a coconut tree clad mountain which ran all the way to a boulder fringed shoreline with one little hut in the middle. Under those boulders, brilliant blue waters opened a Pandoras Box of tropical fish and corals. Les and I were absolutely aghast and thrilled with massive schools of yellow and golden fish ebbing in and out with us in the tide. The most amazing display!The volumes of what was there, was amazing. They tell us the Tuamotos are incredible diving; this is where we are heading next. We can't wait!

The second marvel of this perfect bay was that it was a well known dolphin sanctuary. They welcomed us when we arrived in the setting sun, they saluted us out as we sailed out but the greatest thrill of all, was swimming with them during the day!

Bruce was first over the side, then Janelle. Pretty soon Glenys and I joined them with Les spotting for us. Magic times and so special for young Janelle! Glenys is beating the drum for English and Math lessons to recommence. Seriously; there is so much action going on, not even the teachers can concentrate! 

How glorious! Fatu Hiva!

Surely this was the most beautiful place in the world? I am writing this as we are sailing passage to the final southern island of the Marqueas, Fatu Hiva. Now the interesting thing is - the bay we are heading to, Hanawave Bay, is well documented as THE most beautiful bay in the land. How much can a Koala Bear??

Two hours after I wrote that, imagine the looks on our faces, enthralled with an incredible double rainbow display welcoming us into Hanawave Bay in Fatu Hiva. We sailed right under this ethereal arch of colour in a gentle, misty rain, and it all opened up for us as the sun set, the rain lifted and revealed another Glory, Glory, Hallelujah moment. What a diamond this place was! Was it real? Was it a movie set? Planet of the Apes? Avatar? Jurassic Park? Gorillas in the Mist? Wow, Wow. WOW!! (I have a million photos of this place, but time is short and these photos take HOURS to load on these islands!)

Spot the Virgin!

The calf-breaking walk to the top of the hill! At least it was a flash road!

This little harbour is also known as the "Bay of The Virgins" because of its distinct image of a Virgin sitting up on a pinnacle on a mountain presiding over the village. She is pretty impressive! The volcanic upheaval that created these oceanic jewels must have really been amazing, because what they created certainly is!

8.30 am next morning, we were off to explore. The main street branched out into around 5 others. The population of the entire island is approximately 900, just over half live in  Hanavave Village, the other half 16 kilometres over the hill in Omoa. Wandering through the township gave you a feeling of walking through a true Garden of Eden; if a seed was dropped on the ground, surely it would sprout forth and begin growing before your very eyes! Lots of foreign influences in the various designs of houses, a Carribean-like palette of paint colours; bright blues, greens, pinks and yellows. Hibiscus', Frangipanis, tree orchids and Canna-lillies exploded from between volumptuous stands of bananas, fruit trees laden with star-fruit, plump mangoes dripping in an orange glow , breadfruit, limes sprawling, squashed all over the roadways and Pamplemousses heavily weighing down bending branches outside the buildings. As usual, upon hearing we were from "Nouvelle Ze'lande", the locals eagerly wanted to rejoice and show their knowledge and love of our All Blacks and the Maori Haka. (Apparently there is some fascination with the length of our New Zealand tongues; new to me!) Many Marquesans have begged us to speak to them in Maori, which has been kind of embarassing at times!

Clearly, New Zealand is well respected in these islands. Glenys spoke to a native lady who had been to New Zealand twice in the past couple of years for a much needed heart operation. They seem ever so grateful and made us most welcome to roam about their island freely. They were also fiercely proud of their own heritage, one young man we chatted with jubilantly threw his arms up declaring that his Fatu Hiva was a paradise. No arguments there mate!

Under astounding, steep black volcanic cliff faces surrounding the township, we followed a winding concrete roadway up the hill to try and find the local waterfall, which a few yachties had recommended we find. 

"Look for the little stacked rocks...30 minutes that way", said the young man.

Hmmm...finally found  the little stacked rocks to show the entrance of the waterfall path!!

Trudging up a precipitous mountain into the clouds is not exactly my favourite form of fun sport but Glenys, in her never-ending desire to climb the highest mountain she can find as soon as she arrives in a bay, could not be stopped.We left Les and Janelle, prostrate from the heat, on the side of the road, under a Mango tree with a shrine to the Virgin Mary watching over them, while Bruce Glenys and I soldiered on to the top for another hour. Let me tell you, I am still suffering 5 days later with ruined calves - I was wearing jandals. Les had my all-terrain joggers in his backpack; back under the tree. Gorging on sweet mangoes along the way, the agonising climb was well worth the ordeal; the views were absolutely outstanding! The tops of the mountains were flush with Swan Plants swaying about in the wind. Totally volcanic terrain with those fertile valleys bursting with wild mangoes and coconuts all the way down to the ocean. Melodious, colourful parrots flew below us; even the mountain goats were feeding below us, we were up in the sky! With my leg muscles on fire, we headed off to collect the young and old from the roadway miles back down the valley, and continued back down the mountain to attempt to find this allusive waterfall which we had obviously missed on the way up.

Marmax sitting all alone in the paradise of Fatu Hiva

No signs whatsoever, but we took a wild guess and walked up, what looked like someones private muddy driveway then into acres of green Singapore Daisy carpets; so green, it was almost blinding. I picked up a few foot and horse hoof prints. This had to be the track! Over crystal clear streams, we found finally the entrance to a pathway, flanked by those little stacks of stones like Hansel and Gretel crumbs. The path went vertically up, winding around moss covered boulders, thick vines like giants arms wound around the trunks of ancient dripping trees; the oppressive humidity was exhausting. Then, as all good pathways end, we burst upon the waterfall; a mirage of cold sparkling water with little diamonds of the waterfall, falling upon the surface.  It chilled us to our core, but oh so wonderful! Completely refreshed and reinvigorated, we reveled in an easy, but slippery descent back to the wonder-world below. It was all quite surreal. 

Fatu Hivas beautiful waterfall!

"Can you believe this?", I kept hearing. 

Thank you Universe for leading us to this paradise.

Janelle, Bruce and Glenys

In our usual, very lucky timing, we had managed to have this incredible wilderness experience all alone before the 2.30 pm supply boat, the "Aranui" arrived...with 300 passengers aboard! We had also dodged a considerable rain storm which closed in 10 minutes after we returned back to Marmax. We needed not feel sorry for those 300 passengers who were not able to view the beauty of the entrance because of the rain. Like us, the rains drew aside, the light shone through the valleys behind the Virgin Mary rock and the beauty of Fatu Hiva was once more revealed like a stage curtain. While we had a late lunch in the cockpit, we  waved at the camera snapping passengers ooing and arhhing on their way in on the people mover barges. We were so happy they too could experience that wonderful rush that we had approaching this incredible island. 

The supply ship, "Aranui" unloading. She arrives every 15 days here. If you want to travel these parts, take this boat!

We went ashore again, as the market tent was opened for the tourists (3 small tables of traditional art-work) + a couple of small fruit stalls. Best of all, for Glenys, Les and I (the masters of open ended questions and eager to meet as many interesting human beings as possible and possibly make some amazing new friends everywhere we went around the world), we got to have a few conversations with some of the passengers and got a great insight, from one of the local men, about traditional life on the island. I could write a book about these conversations, but better not!

That very dark night, after yet another spectacular sunset shining up the cockpit drink time, another yacht came in. We watched her lights come in from far away. We estimated her to be around 50 foot long. Sails down, dropped the pick, and in lightening speed, the dingy was hoisted over the side from the top deck, foreign accents we could not decipher. Gee, we hoped it wasn't a mercy dash. An emergency health problem? A fighting crew? Crew getting kicked off ashore? All seemed well in the morning as the yacht sat serenely at anchor, all quiet. 

Goodbye to glorious Fatu Hiva...man, what a spot!!!

We set off to another bay called "Omoa" the next morning; apparently it had a supermarket, infirmary, a museum, a larger part of the population; sounded interesting. Oh boy! A rolling surf met us, crashing onto the beach. We dropped the pick anyway, putting out a ton of chain. Into the dingy, we braved the swells and ducked in to tie up behind a slippery landing dock. We set off on one of our exploratory visits. Man it was so humid here! This stunning little village was not surrounded so much by sheer volcanic rock, but volcanic rocks with extremely fertile hillside coverings; native trees, flowers, fruit trees, crystal clear streams all providing ideal glasshouse conditions. Phew! 

Glenys and Debbie playing idiots

Les and Janelle, the ice-cream addicts, strode off to find a shop that sold them. We found a building. Les, especially, clearly excited. He's checked out the enticing advertising signs, all  in French. Worked out which delight he is going to buy when the place opens for the afternoon. 

Janelle pipes up...

"Er, Les? I don't think they are ice-creams? They look too healthy"

Crushing disappointment! I do believe we have found the Infirmary! It was a poster offering healthy alternatives to the junk food our crew was craving. Funny as! Two hours later, they managed to score "Magnums" at the supermarket but it was an anxious and nail-biting two hour wait for frustrated Les and Janelle! We later heard the crew , we were about  to meet at the supermarket, had also been similarly hoodwinked!

Pretty good marketing really...it got Les interested!

Walking down the main street, I turned to look back at the waterfront. Oh my God! Had Marmax dragged anchor? She looked like she was sitting right on top of the surf line from where we were standing. "Glenys! Look at Marmax! Has she dragged, or am I seeing things?"

Glenys sped off at full run back to the waterfront, she too freaked out. Thank goodness it was an illusion. We had anchored so far out, so how could she look so close? Glenys gave the thumbs up from 500 metres away. All was well. Crisis averted. 

Omoa Village and the treacherous shoreline below:

After meeting up with dozens of chirpy little chickens and bantams all over the show, meeting puppies, goats, rescuing a hungry, thirsty and foot feetered, tangled up black pig, we walked as far as we could while killing some time for the 2.00 pm opening of the little supermarket. While we were waiting out the front, under a tree, along came a couple of, what looked like, yachties. World wandering yachties appear to have a great affection for Croc shoes. I wish I could photograph them all; they come in hundreds of versions! Anyway, these two guys both had pretty impressive coloured Crocs, and swinging a giant shopping bag around and around in the air (nervous energy?) and yes they were yachties: from the Ukraine. These two guys were an absolute hoot! Turns out they were off the yacht which had arrived in the middle of the night from our previous bay. The inevitable question was raised by the interviewers, Glenys and I, "What the heck were you guys up to in the middle of the night??"  Giant grins on their faces and in broken English...

"Well, we were out of alcohol!" 

"What......? But the shop was closed", we exclaimed.

"We went and knocked on house doors and a little man sold us some home made cider!"

"Wow, you guys were desperate! Let us guess, have you just arrived straight from the Galapogas?"

"Yes! One week and we ran out of whiskey and beer. No wine, no rum....nothing. We were definitely desperate!"

So funny for us! We had also had the same problem aboard Marmax, as well as no coffee but clearly, the Marmax crew are not so reliant on alcohol! They were a crew of 3 men in their 40's with no women aboard and on their way around the world. Now that would be a fun ship to sail! 

"Where are you heading?" 
  
"Around the world" 

"Where is your next stop?"

"Not sure"

"How long are you away for?"

"As long as it takes"

Unbelievably, common questions, with common answers from our watery friends and again, as usual, when they hear we are sailing from Spain to New Zealand in 7 months, inevitably, their mouths drop and their eyes open with surprise...

"Why so fast??!!"
  
Yep, call us crazy! 

So, just before the supermarket opened, a native lady pulls alongside us in her ute with a panicked look on her face, asking if any of us spoke French. No we did not, but she indicated very quickly that there was a yacht heading towards that shore surf line; she thought it was drifting. Well, we knew it wasn't Marmax. Turns out the Captain of the Ukrainian yacht was driving about in circles waiting for his alcoholic crew to return to the ship. Another possible crisis put to bed. It did leave me wondering, if the natives are so nervous, how many boats had been destroyed in the past on this nasty bit of shoreline?
The supermarket opened. Our two new Ukraine friends ran, I mean RAN, into the shop. I told them to run as we were also chasing alcohol in there. They raced around the tiny shop, panted up to the counter, both leaning forward, hands clasped...begging?! 

"Have you any whiskey?"

"No, sorry, no whiskey", said the shop keeper lady apologising.

"Have you any rum?" (nearly on their knees...praying?!)

"No, sorry. No rum either. We have wine and beer", she smiled generously.

We felt for the guys; we could hear their disappointment in their voices, the pain in their faces. They cleaned out the shelves of both red and white cask wines plus cartons of cold beer and took off back to their circling yacht. In the meantime, I had to ask the shopkeeper lady to go find some more alcohol out in her stores out the back. Lucky for both yachts that the "Aranui" supply ship had come in the day before!    
   
We are currently on our fourth day at sea, heading to the Tuamotos. 550 nautical miles (1017 kilometres) of perfect sunny weather. A gentle 14-25 knot east to south east breeze, enough cloud around to stop us from expiring in the humidity. As we are now travelling with a reef permanently in the main, we are not breaking records, but it is a pleasant run punctuated by full time Marmax College, Les catching fish, taking watches, lifting weights,eating, the reading and dissecting discussions of many books and watching movies (Thanks a million again Nick for the 100's of movies taped for us in Barcelona! I am on the second series of 'The Handmaidens Tale'; kinda weird to watch this stuff in the middle of the Pacific. We would never have the luxury of time on land for this slovenly behaviour!) 

We are again having problems with the boat batteries not holding charge, and as at writing, Bruce cannot get the watermaker going which is quite tragic. Water rationing is extremely tight; not fun for us girls! Stopping off in Papeete, Tahiti, is an option if the situation continues. The thought of having to go to a big city marina isn't exactly attractive to us right now. Time is running out to get Marmax home and we still have many islands, adventures and miles to cover across reefs and ocean in the next 8 weeks. Fingers crossed, it will get sorted.

We have arrived at Kauehi (pronounced "Cow-Pee") in the Tuamotos. A slight diversion, as we were originally heading to Fakarava in the Tuamotus, until we read in a cruising autobiography, that this place was well worth a visit. The entry to the atoll was certainly impressive but I'll leave this Tuamotus adventure for the next blog. This place, on first impressions is simply stunning! We are crossing our fingers for some wifi soon. This atoll definitely looks too remote for such luxuries, so we may have to wait for a few days when we eventually get to Fakarava.

Farewell to Omoa and the magical Marqueas!

Seven weeks to go now until we are back in New Zealand. This morning I thought, let's all pretend we have just started on a 7 week tropical holiday, then it won't seem so sad to be coming to the end of this amazing adventure. We want to keep going; we can't!
The good news is, the batteries have been changed and we are back into full water production on board so, at this stage, Papeete is off the list, and we will press on to explore the Tuamotos, Moorea, Bora Bora, possibly remote Palmerston Island (if we have time), Nuie, possibly the Kermedecs (if the weather is decent), then home to New Zealand. Well, that's the plan, but plans can change!

Hoping you are all happy little Vegemites :) 

Au revoir les amis (Goodbye Friends) from the Marmax Crew at Fakarava, Tuamotus!

Bruce, Glenys, Janelle, Les and Debbie



P.S. Les will kill me if I don't put these pics up below for his mates!

A nice Blue Fin Trevally

Our favourite - Wahoo!