Daniel’s Bay 21 to 23rd may
Time to move on, been raining too much for my liking. Stopped in Haaopu bay, just to break the journey. Ended up being quite interesting with the supply boats turning up and stream of vehicles piling down the hill to retrieve their goods. Loved the set up of the office on the quay, the foreman brought table chair and umbrella and conduced his business as if in a building, no doubt reams of paperwork have to be filled. It went on from mid afternoon until dusk, with many trips undertaken by the barge. All part of island life. Next day we reach hakatea bay, probably my favourite of all the places in Nuku Hiva. The entrance is stunning, the anchorage is extremely well sheltered, there is a sandy bay and at the other end, a village and a beautiful walk to the tallest waterfall. We set out early morning, wanted to go to the point at the entrance of the bay to take pictures, following the goat trail. We can't quite reach the end, the tide is still too high but that was well worth the effort. Next we go to the village in the valley.... Wish we had not brought our picnic, a nice family is offering to cook lunch for us ready for when we get back from the waterfall. As it turned out, glad we had our packed lunch; we took our time so barely got back before dark. We have to pay a fee ($10 per person) to go up the waterfall, we'll have to come back tomorrow... One does not carry money on the trail. Great hike up the valley, only 4 or 5 families live there. The bottom of the valley is a beautiful huge orchard, with all sort of fruits trees, the ubiquitous pamplemousses, star fruits bananas, coconut trees apples of sorts. As the path enters deeper into the valley, nature reclaims it's right and it’s a jumble of trees and vines. Fortunately the path is well marked and maintained. From time to time, when there is a hole in the canopy of trees, we catch a glimpse of the towering rocks. It is just stunning. Quite close to the entrance of the valley where the waterfall is nested there are numerous ruins must have been quite a settlement in a idyllic position. The entrance to the enclosed valley has us wading in water up to my waist, in fairly moving current... Well worth getting wet... It is just a very special place we are surrounded by gigantic walls of rock, the ground is covered by the greenest carpet dotted with flowers, and at the end there is this pool of still water, with the waterfall dropping from the sky. Ian can't resist it.... In he goes. So quiet, only the ghost birds, swooping above. No wonder this is sacred place. We stay there for a while contemplating, watching the clouds race in the gap between the towering rocks.
On we way back down we talk to the farmer, he'll have some fruits and vegetables ready for us to pick up tomorrow. And so he does, we turn up just after 6am and his table is covered with stuff, pamplemousses, limes, star fruits, a huge bunch of bananas that Ian can hardly carry, coconuts, watercress, papaya....all for less than $30, bargain. And we also get some wild pig the farmer has killed. We know that the shops don't have much fruits and vegetables as a rule. And it is not all, we get to the lady who collect the fee for visiting the waterfall and she insists on giving us more fruits, which she just picks from her garden, weird apples, oranges, more pamplemousses and a bunch of chillies! We are grateful, there is very little in the Tuamotus archipelago, our next destination, and we have a 4 days passage too before we get there. Once all the stuff is washed and stowed away we leave for Taiohe bay to do the last of our shopping before we leave nuku Hiva.
We intend to stay a day or 2 in Ua Pou, but don't think they will have much, so don't intend to shop here. We make the most of the internet, and met a few people. Last tour of the town including the little cemetery at the end of town. Found an old man and his grandson cleaning up all of the family's graves... One story leads to another and before we know it, I am bundled into his old pickup truck and taken to his house at the top of the hill, to see his vanilla plantation. Fascinating stuff, did love all his stories... Amazing meeting in a graveyard.