Hiva Oa - Atuona bay
28.04.19 to 30.04.19
We leave Fatu Hiva relatively early in the morning it is a 45 passage to Hiva Hoa where we need to check in. Quite a nice sail with enough wind to get us there middle of the afternoon. Again the approach and the first glimpse of the island is spectacular. High mountains conical in shape.
As we reach the promontory, we see 2 people waving like mad, wonder who that is? We stay outside of the anchorage, a bit busy inside and frankly can't be doing with the faff of putting a stern anchor. It does look as rolly inside as out. We now know who those wavy mad people were... vagabond is our neighbour....really thought they would be long gone by now.
We catch up around a cup of tea late afternoon. Plenty to do here, which is why Roos and Hans are still here. We get the lowdown on the island and it's attractions including the best shops to get bread and cheese.
First things first, we need to check in. Quo Vadis turns up at the crack of dawn. As they pass by, Claudia shouts that Tibby is injured and could we tell Roos (who is a nurse) to swing by, which we duly did. It turns out that Tibby has dropped a heavy wooden hatch on 2 of his toes and it is a bloody mess. Roos is not overly concerned, she cleaned and dress the wound and warned him to keep it clean and dry, as well as avoid any walking for a few days. Claudia is high, she did most of the sailing during the night, under supervision only. She is well chuffed. No way can Tibby tackle the walk to the gendarmerie which is a good half hour away....so we take Claudia and the kids, although her French is not bad, she'd rather I'd be with her to explain to the authority. Hans and Roos tag along too we have a right laugh on the way. The gendarmes however are quite worried about Tibby's injury (Claudia's pictures of the wound probably doesn't help) and insist that he goes to the clinic the next day, and swing by to do the paperwork as well. The gendarmes are the nicest ever, very helpful and cheery, the young lady even starts telling us all the things we should be doing while we are here, where to eat and what to see. Which is much more than the tourism office which was shut every time we passed by!
Formalities taken care of, we explore the village. Does not take long. All the shops and administrative offices are bunched up together by the huge black sand beach. The terrain very quickly becomes steep and the only road out of the village disappear up the incline. The view is beautiful. The shops are well stocked if a bit expensive. We stock up on vegetables but funny enough there is little of the glut of fruits we found on Fatu Hiva. But the baguettes alone are worth the hour round trip to the boat. We are treated to one of the most spectacular sunset over the mountains and the sea, all turn to red and purple, it is glorious.