No doubts the Marquesas Islands are among the most remote places on earth. And the so-called economic development also took place partly thanks to the support from France. However, the standard is modest as far as it comes to the choice in the supermarket or the Internet bandwidth. The most important thing for us: Again we had solid ground under our feet. But what do you do then? For us the first answer was easy: We just wanted to eat french fries with ketchup :-).
As we didn’t like the anchorage in Atuona on Hiva Oa and we left after completing the customs formalities.
For several days remained in the Bay of Hanemoenoa on the small island of Tahuata. There is a beautiful sandy beach with clear water and most important it is protected against the swell from the east. There we also met the other family boats and we all celebrated Ilian’s fourth birthday. The kids loved to go back and forth in the waves. The adults used the opportunity to clean the underwater after the long crossing.
Overnight we sailed to the north of the island of Nuku Hiva to the bay of Anaho, which is very well protected. The water there is murky and so we focused on country activities. For example, playing hide-and-seek between the palm trees or an hour’s hike to the next bay.
There is a farm where an elderly couple grows fruits and vegetables. Once a week, they bring the fresh goods on donkeys to the next village, where they are then brought by their daughter in the capital called Taiohae. We bought as many fresh grapefruit, mango and watermelons as we could carry. In Anaho there is also a restaurant where you should book the day before. So we had a dinner there together with the other family boats.
In Taiohae we prepared for the next two months in the Tuamotus. Top up Diesel, long life food fresh fruit and vegetables from the market and internet. It is important to buy as much fresh fruit and vegetables as possible because there is not much of it in the Tuamotus. If you should have too much of it, you can always give away to the locals in the Tuamotus, they would be thankful :-).
Before we left the Marquesas we visited Anse Hakatea, also known as “Daniel’s bay”. This bay is also very well protected and offers nice little walks.
After the landscape of high volcano mountains the flat atolls of the Tuamotus are waiting for us 🙂
