June 7, 8, 2015, Sunday, Monday, Nuku Hiva, Marquesas, French Polynesia

Sunday

This was our first sea day on this segment of the cruise.  We have about 530 passengers.  We took on almost as many guests as left in Papeete.  We have been meeting a few of these new cruisers around the ship, most of whom are still jet lagged.  We like a couple from California.  His name is Kees.  He introduced himself as Kees and we said that was our name!  He pronounces it the same as case.  Kees is short for Cornelius in Dutch.

We listened to Terry Bishop talk on June 6th D Day and saw a cooking demonstration by the chef who opened  La Bernadine in New York, Olivier 

 He also won a TV celebrity chef cooking contest called Chopped.  He was the best chef yet because he knew how to relate to an audience.  It was a fun demonstration and delicious salmon.  He said he likes to cook French food by how it smells.  You have to be patient with French food.  Also, he likes to use shallots and leeks.  He sliced a salmon filet into three thin pieces lengthwise.  You put the one you messed up in the middle of the three tiered dish, stuffed with the shallot leek mixure.  I got his autograph.

Another beautiful sunset leaving Papeete.

Monday  Nuku Hiva, F. Polynesia

This island is a whole sea day sail from Rangiroa, but it is also in French Polynesia.  It is in the Marquesas, another set of islands, but still in French Polynesia.  This is good, because we still have a bit of CFP Francs left.  Our sail was into a harbor which is the island encircling it.  This is another sunken volcano with the rim as the land.  The land is steep cliffs with tufts of individual trees silhouetted at the ridges.  This was one of the many highlights I was looking forward to after reading Herman Melville's tale "Typee". 

Our excursion took place in jeeps.  We actually drove in the personal vehicles of the drivers.  Four people to a car.  We luckily got Tom and Carol with us.  Our guide spoke better English than the tour guide who spoke to the group as we stopped at each location.  This was a tour of the island and was the only ship excursion available.  

Arriving in Nuku Hiva

On the shore to greet us.

Our main tourguide.  this church was old (the gate with towers) and new, (on the left) built by the people from native materials

some of the fine work at the new church

A traditional home by the sea as a monument area.  The posts were to represent fertility

At the beach area

An old statue  in this area

A newer statue.  They  erect one each year.  I think this is great to continue making cultural monuments instead of preserving the old and building stuff that will fall down.;

Our first bay from the top of a ridge.  There were many beautiful bays around the island. 

Another bay.  we are in the area where Herman Melville stayed with the Typee tribe.  We are also in the area where Survivor was filmed in 2000.  

the last bay on the beach

A display of jewelry made from seeds and shells and beads

We tasted some traditional snacks such as fried banana, coconut, breadfruit chips.

After our tour we began to drive back to the ship.  Half way there our guide said he was going to pick up another group to take them to this other beach, much nicer than what we had seen.  We asked how much per person, and whether or not we could just turn around now, so we did.  He was so right!  His tour was much better because he stopped to show us things like pommelo and star fruit growing by the side of the road, wild baby pigs, and his friend riding his horse to town to see the cruise ship.   People do not have motorcycles, they have a horse.

Pommela and starfruit

Starfruit on a tree

This new bay, 5 bays from our ship.  the bays are like a necklace.

Curious pigs

The turtle rock, a symbol of fertility

Petroglyphs of turtles on the above rock

A big hole the tribes would use to chop off a head and let the head fall into the pit.  We visited this large ancient village ruins with house remains and showing the layout of the whole large village.

This is how the homes were constructed and is the chief's house platform

All of us under a huge banyan tree.  Carol and Tom

A palm tree with huge leaves for the size of the trunk, endemic only to this island he said

The beach.  The restaurant is left.  We had a wonderful lunch of local foods such as goat

The restaurant.

Our guide's friend

The ship brought onboard a local performing group.  The crew person here suggested them.  She was right.  This was a fantastic performance, one of the best we have seen.

The drummers and male dancers onstage

We loved Nuku Hiva.  They don't have too many tourists.  It is worth a visit for sure.  Be sure to see the next beach after the Herman Melville beach and the Survivor beach.