NUKU HIVA
After a dinner with Joel and Teaki between the outriggers in the school, I left the next morning to my last island, Nuku Hiva. I was afraid it was going to be a rough passage of many hours but it turned out to be a perfect and fast one. After less than 6 hours I came into the bay of Hakaui on Nuku Hiva. This is pure Marquesas. I entered the bay almost downwind with a heavy swell and waves breaking quite close nearby. Again an exciting entry, at least this time it was during the day. The further you come around the point the calmer it gets and then you enter a lush green valley with a distant waterfall in the background. I land my board on the black sand beach and walk over to a few locals who are working on their hut. Soon the two owners of the valley come over, interested to see what had just paddled into their bay. I ask permission to put up my tent for the night. In turn they had many questions about how I travelled and where I had been. It is funny throughout the islands they said that I had a ‘heart of courage’, but from my perspective they did too and that made me instantly bond with them. They offered me some huge mangos and pomelos, which I happily accepted.
In the afternoon I hiked to the waterfall in the back of the valley. More than 10.000 people used to live in this valley before the westerners came and brought illness and death. Now there are only 12 people left. The valley is full of fruit trees, palms and other green. One can understand people wanting to live in such a perfect valley, then and now. The waterfall didn’t have much water but it was still an impressive site. On the way back I ate with one of the locals who prepared food for a small boat with a few adventurous tourists who make the journey over from the main village everyday. After days on the water and living simply, it was great to have a real meal with green mango and guava salad, fried breadfruit and meat with fresh coconut water. A feast.
The next day my journey was coming to an end. I just had to battle the 6 miles against the 20-30 knots of head winds to get to the main village of Taiohae. That took a lot longer then expected, mostly because I had to turn back as I left my boom on the beach, which I only realized by the time I wanted to start windsurfing the last few miles. Another small disaster happened when a Portugese man o’ war got into my board shorts and started stinging where you don’t want it to sting! Fighting the wind for many hours, I finally came in at three in the afternoon just in time to arrange a car for the next morning to bring me to the other side of the island where the airport is located.
