LANDFALL - Fatu Hiva

After some 25 days at sea, mostly uneventful, we awoke to the outline of Fatu Hiva, the southern most island in the Marquesas, bold and beautiful on the horizon. We sailed around the southern coast and marveled at the exquisite beauty, the lush green trees on red volcanic rock. We anchored in what the Polynesians properly call, Hanavave Bay. Early explorers named the place Baii de Verges (Bay of Penises); unmistakably so, after the tall, knobbby spires that surround the anchorage. The missionaries
disapproved and inserted an i - making it, ironically, Baii de Vierges, or the Bay of Virgins. This little island has no airstrip and no hotels, and so the village (with a population of all of 200) remains somewhat unspoiled. And the people, of course, are friendly. Chris, Dylan and Austen, with a soccer-ball, instantly made friends with a dozen or so locals, with whom they spent the first afternoon, swimming and playing on the shoreline. The next day's walk to one of the world's tallest waterfalls
was fuelled with an on-going collection of mangos along the way. The coconuts, papayas, bananas, breadfruit, limes, are like nothing we have ever tasted, and fall freely from the trees. Before leaving this little paradise, we enjoyed the hospitality of a local family, who cooked us a polynesian feast that couldn't be beat, complete with music, dancing and a lot of laughter and love.

We are now en route to Hiva Oa, where we will formally clear customs, and perhaps find an internet connection to upload some pictures...