Ua Pou, Marquesas, French Polynesia

MAGGIE at anchor (right) in front of basalt spires of Ua Pou

Welcoming meal in Hakahau Bay, Oa Pou

Welcoming committee!

Warriors doing the fertility dance

Sailors doing the "in"fertility dance

April 13 2015

Ua Pou

We have spent the last 4 days on the island of Ua Pou. What a beautiful place! The peaks are high and rise sharply from the valley and bay. They are topped by several spires which reach into the clouds most days. The town and its homes are filled with gardens of flowers and fruit. In the anchorage manta rays can be seen swimming and jumping. As well as children enjoying the beach, there were a number of horses. It is difficult for tourists to travel here as you must go to Tahiti first and take a small expensive flight east. Most tourists come by sailboat.

Jackie and Luc had arranged two full days of activities with the local tourism office and the mayors of two of the towns. Ato from the tourism office and his staff, and Ben who coordinates cultural activities and his family involved many people from the community to make our visit a memorable event.

On Fri we received a warm welcome and the 2 kisses on the cheek in French style. A buffet of fresh fruit and coconut juice was a treat as you can imagine.   

Our costs covered two days of meals all of which included abundant fruit, many unfamiliar.  The grapefruits grown here are huge and very sweet. The grapefruit trees are covered in fruit this season.  Jeeps took us to another beach across the mountain where there can be found a rare type of stone called a flower stone. It is a volcanic rock with crystals in it that look like flowers. We found a few samples. The larger rocks can be found in stream beds at higher altitudes. Local rock carvers make beautiful works of art from it. Too expensive and heavy for us.

At lunchtime we had a demonstration of the various ways to prepare breadfruit. This has been the traditional staple food of the islands. It is a bit like a potato but grows as a fruit about 6 in across. You find it made as fries or chips often, or boiled, baked, grilled and mashed with other things. We also viewed other crafts and listened to local music.  Dinner was a bbq on the beach with octopus and goat mostly.

Each of the 2 days had interruptions for boat anchoring issues.  One boat needed to move so that an adjacent boat could retrieve his anchor. Another had his stern anchor line chafe through. The next day some boats moved to the next anchorage because the swell was too high here. We are fortunately anchored behind the breakwater so took a ride to the next town’s events. It is only a 4 mile sail but the ride in the 4x4 took 45 minutes. Both roads traveled were very rough, narrow and muddy.

More of the yachts participated in Sat’s events in Hakatehau Bay. We had a traditional welcome with the children, men and women in traditional dress and makeup. The young men dressed as warriors did a welcoming dance.  When they got our men up trying the moves, the children couldn’t stop giggling. With a population of only 200 they provided a great lunch and dinner and entertainment.

 In the afternoon we drove to a waterfall hike and swim. We also paid a visit to a sustainable farm property. Manfred arrived on Ua Pou with the French foreign legion 30 years ago and married a local girl and stayed. They produce all their own power and food and have water resources. It is interesting to see all the details and plants and animals. They grow cocoa and make chocolate which we couldn’t resist purchasing.

In the afternoon there was a chance to snorkel, or play bocci ball. We noticed many families playing that on the beach all weekend. It is a challenge when there are rocks in play. The dinner was made in an underground oven with the food wrapped in banana leaves-more goat, octopus and breadfruit, but with a unique flavour. The singers during dinner used guitars, and 2 types of ukulele. After dark, the “warriors” performed two interpretations of stories, the discovery of fire, and the arrival of the white man. It was a combo of chanting, dancing and drumming. Each with a torch and flame against the rock walls and along the water it was something to remember.

We had sailed to Oa Pou overnight last Wed. There wasn’t much wind after the first few hours so we were back to a bit of motoring and gybing in the sloppy seas. We thought we would cover the 69 nm too soon but didn’t arrive until 11.  Today the sail across to Nuka Hiva was beautiful. It was only 26 nm with 12 knots on the beam. We will likely stay here until the weekend before moving on.