Ua Pou

Sitting here in some of the most beautiful settings in the world is just fantastic. We left Hanamoenoa on Tahuata early to get out of the rain as we still intended to spend another day here. Instead of heading for Ua Pou as we were first going to do, we rather headed back to Hiva Oa, but this time to the north west corner and the bay of Hanamenu. It was a relatively small bay and there were five other yachts there (all of whom we knew). We went ashore through the surf and once on dry land we were in paradise. The valley that forms the bay was stunning. There were two folk resident there and they were most welcoming. They gave us limes, coconuts, bananas and grapefruit... a lovely one you can eat without screwing up your eyes. The valley has been occupied since early times and lots of the stonework is still in place and it was fantastic to be able to walk around here and explore... eating guavas as we went along. Near the beach there is a lovely spring with a pool about waste deep to swim or wash in, but definitely to freeze in... Icy cold water pouring out the side of the mountain. We spent the night all together having a good feed of mahi-mahi that one of the boats caught. We took an apple pie along for pud. The next morning all but one of us left for Ua Pou which was sixty miles away. We had to motor for the first hour to get out of the wind shadow of the island and after that had 20knots of wind all the way to our destination. The island of Ua Pou has the most dramatic geological features on earth. The mountains have massive high spires that disappear into the clouds. We had to wait two days to see them and then only for a short while. Last night we went to a Polynesian dance and feed up at the local town hall. The food was really interesting and some of the seafood I had not seen on a plate before. Great food and music and we all had a good time. Almost all the yachts here attended so it was a great social get together for us,and for the islanders it's their usual weekend get together. The people here are so friendly and all try to talk to you. It is a pity that we do not speak French. The bay is lovely and has emptied out a little as some of the yachts moved on today to Niku Hiva. We may miss that as we are going around to the west side of this island to explore. From there we will head down to the Tuamutus about four days sail away. So for now we will just keep exploring... sorry no photos yet and there won't be any until we reach Papeete so that will still be some time. In the mean time we will keep on taking them and post them then. Till next time...

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