I spent 10 days in the port town of Atuona on the island of Hiva Oa. Mostly to deal with official arrival, provisions, fuel and have a meal served to me after 8 weeks!. I took advantage of the waiting periods between official acts by renting a car and traveling about Hiva Oa’s few dispersed communities.
Geography
Hiva Oa is the large southern island in the Marquesses. It is one of two check-in points for those arriving. Atuona, a town two miles away, has several markets, restaurants and a hardware store as well as the Gerdemier for the check in process. Due to the geography, the port is not a comfortable anchorage. After 28 days at sea it was a welcome but rolly rest.
The large southern bay (Bay Taaoa) faces south with rock cliffs extending far out on the west flank in a hook. A medium sized bay ( bay Tahauku tucks in towards
The east with high rock cliffs to the west. Finally there is an inner harbor port with a breakwater, again, high rock cliffs to the west. With east and southeast swell the predominant direction of the sea state, the swell collects and bounces off the cliffs, reflecting into the harbor.
I tried to spend a lot of time ashore because the harbor was so rolly, with currents pushing Estrella beam on to wind and swell’
The dinghy dock
Due to the reflected swell, the concrete dock next to a boat ramp (used by the boat yard to haul boats in and out of the water) gets surging water. One must time the entry and once inside the tight area of dinghies, one must take your outboard out of gear and pull yourself into a spot between existing tied up dinghies. It’s not as bad as it sounds. Care must be taken as one side of the area is a rock buttress and the other side is a stepped concrete platform with a stainless steel railing to crawl over. Fortunately there are no sharp edges to puncture your dinghy. Some cruisers leave their dinghy there for days with no problems.
Sea legs
Once on land for the first time after 4 weeks of getting tossed about, I was heavy headed and a bit unsure of my walking. Commonly called ‘sea legs’ , Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS). it clearly was affecting my sense of balance. Standing still was the worst. Walking was a little better. Driving was no problem at all. Seems that my brain got programmed to expect the ground to come up and meet my feet while standing. There is an exercise called the Epley maneuver that has helped (as of this writing, the sensation has declined but I’m still in a rolling boat so…).
The scariest part of sea legs on land is hiking on difficult trails. Being sure my foot is where I want it requires a lot of concentration (see Crown Tiki hike).
Check-in
I have to say I was pretty clueless on check-in. For nearly 5 months I was focussed on getting the Long Term Visa. I totally missed understanding how to check in myself, my crew and Estrella. Fortunately there is an organization called
https://tahiticrew.com/
tahiticrew.com. They are located in Tahiti but have representatives at all the FP check in locations. My agent, Sandra, was very helpful and over several days I completed the check in process. It was a complicated process involving multiple hard copy documents as well as an online file. As I was checking in with a long term stay visa, checking in my boat and checking in/off boarding a crew.I could have made my life much easier if I had completed all this documentation before I arrived.
Check-in occurred over 4 days. 2 were the weekend when the Gerdemier was closed. On the first day I did not have all the documentation ready due to miscommunication with the Tahiti crew. During the weekend I did get the rest of the hardcopy documents I was required to fill out and was ready Monday morning as soon as Tahiti crew emailed me the ‘bond’ for my boat.
I did manage some provisioning on the Friday that I did not have all my paperwork. I walked about half way back (1 of the 2 miles) and enjoyed the stunning views of the port and Atuona.
Stumbling back with my backpack and bag of groceries, a local stopped and asked (in French) if I wanted a ride to the port. This is common on Hiva Oa. As a small community, they are very friendly and offer services like that if they are heading in the same direction. I felt very safe in Hiva Oa
After being checked in and cleared, I now had to wait for Tahiti Crew to get me my fuel discount document. This provides tax free fuel to cruisers in FP. It basically lowers the cost of fuel to what I would pay in the USA (25% discount from the pump number).
The car
To kill time, I rented a car.
The choice was a car or rent a airBNB for a few days. I chose a car so I could go to/from Atuona for provisioning and restaurants with the side benefit of visiting other parts of the island.
The first day, I stopped at the local market and began re-provisioning with the goal to get out of the very rolly anchorage to an island just 2 hours away with several lee side anchorages.
The markets were well stocked and expensive. I did a total of two runs, each pretty close to $100 US (10,000 XPF).
Markets and restaurants have very different hours then in the US. They open early (7 am) and close at noon. Some re-open at 2:30. Restaurants will close in the afternoon and open (after dark) at 6:00pm. Everything is closed on Sunday.
The restaurant
I desperately needed a restaurant meal. Parking at the closed hardware store across from one of only three restaurants in Atuona, I waited for 6:00pm. Other cars began filling the empty lot and people began walking down the alley to where the restaurant is located.
It turns out, this restaurant had reservations for two large groups. Fortunately the waitress had one, two person table available. I was saved.
I ordered a Hinano Tahiti beer and a grilled ‘today’s catch’ fish dinner. (I managed to get my order in before any of the groups). The fish was amazing (all French trained cooks here). It was a light, flaky fish. I don’t know the species but melted in my mouth. Good.
Hinano Tahiti beer is the local brew. There are 4 different types ranging from lite beer to a dark similar to Negro Modelo. The golden ale was to my liking and what I proceeded to provision.
It gets dark fast here,near the equator. Cruisers midnight is around 7:00pm. By the time I got back to the port, it was 7:30. There are several lights on the dinghy dock so getting into the dinghy was not much of a problem. Navigating out of the dinghy dock surge area was a bit challenging. Trying to miss the mooring balls on either side of the entrance did not go well. Fortunately I did not snag any lines.
I had a general idea where the boat was and aimed in that direction. Out of the shadows, Estrella appeared and I timed the rolling of the boat to board from the side. Safely aboard, a cracked one more beer. (one of my remaining Modelo Especial)
Afternoon tour Tiki hunting
I invited the couple from SV Outrun to join me on a tour of the northeast side of the island. They had already toured a portion of the island and wanted to find another Tiki that they missed. So,off we went looking for Tiki’s and the Tiki ceremony area near Puama’u, the farthest you can go east and north on Hiva Oa.
Most of the roads in Hiva Oa are concrete and well maintained. Crews are out every weekday to clear the ever encroaching vegetation. There is one section of road that is asphalt. That road leads to the center of the island on a plateau, where the airport is located (small passenger planes only).
Smiling Tiki
Rising from the port road, the road to Puama’u climbs steeply with lots of switchbacks. Near the top is a white sign proclaiming Tiki. This is at the head of a not traveled two track that leads to the ‘smiling Tiki’. Apparently the only smiling Tiki in FP!
The hike to the smiling Tiki is downhill about 10 minutes where another white sign,
this time an arrow, points the way to a single track trail leading to the TIki.
Having paid our respects to the Smiling Tiki we continued our travels towards Puama’u
High country
Puama’u Snack Shack
Remote villages like Puama’u often have a snack shack that doubles as a place to get permission for viewing heritage sites. Here, we paid our 500 XPF and had a snack of baguette ham and cheese with a fresh pompamouse drink
First, baguette is a unique feature of FP. The French subsidize baguette. One can buy a meter long baguette in FP for about 60 cents US! It is delivered through the islands daily (except Sunday) and sells out early..
Second is pompamouse. This is local grapefruit but much sweeter than the US grapefruit. Freshly squeezed into a glass is a real treat.
Puama’u Tiki Village
This site is estimated to be built around 1200 AD, long before the French arrived and during the primitive migration of native polynesians. This site is believed to be a ceremonial site for the king. The pre european time was a time of many conflicts between islands
This village has many of the largest Tikis in FP. Here are few:
Crown Tiki
Up to this point the Tikis were very easy to find. The Crown Tiki was not.
Located in the very remote village of Hanapaaoa on a deteriorating road (not properly identified on Google maps) there are no signs, no parking locations, just a word of mouth ‘go up this dirt road from the village to the banana trees, park your car and hike up the path.
Well it took me three tries to find the path at the bannana trees. I disturbed several villagers in the process with the look of ‘another crazy tourist’
Finally finding the trail between the bannana trees I began what was suppose to be a 10 minute hike.
Well, being unsteady on my feet and hiking a vertical hands and feet trail, took me at least 20 minutes of huffing and puffing and trying to keep from falling off my unsteady legs. More than once I had a second thought about trying to do this hike.
Finally, man made piles of rocks began to appear. Then some walls and some markings showing the way.
Dizzy I, made my way along unsteady rock piles to a rock wall with an ancient tree growing in the center area behind the wall.
Behind the tree, another rock trail lead to the crown TIki.
I left 100XPF at the offering stone and wondered what kind of offerings were provided 800 years ago!
The crown Tiki has a spectacular view of the northeast part of Hiva Oa. As I gazed out by crown Tiki’s side a small rainbow appeared. I asked Tiki to please protect me as I stumbled down the trail back to my car!
Fuel up and leave Hiva Oa
I turned in the car and proceeded to load 60 gallons of diesel onto Estrella. This is about what I used on passage and it felt good to have plenty of fuel again.
Next stop, Tahuata island, about 2 hours south of Hiva Oa and a less rolly anchorage!
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