Blogs from Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia, Oceania

‘Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.’ – Gustave Flaubert Another day at sea before our final port of call. At about mid-day the Captain announced that we were about to pass the Islands of Great Disappointment. Back in the 18th century an expedition team had spent months at sea before landing on these islands in order to replenish supplies. They were greatly disappointed as they couldn’t even find suitable drinking water and so were named this group of islands!! Like most places that have a bad reputation, a publicist is employed and shortly thereafter a make-over ensues. This would usually include a name change to sound more appealing. Perhaps change the islands name from the Islands of Great Disappointment to the islands of Great Surprise. The surprise ... read more

never watched survivor but found it interesting that this is where it was filmed. This island is far removed from everywhere. We took a private tour with Jocelyne and she drove us to a few nice look out points and gave a very good narrative at the same time. By the end of our three and a half hours it started to rain so we were lucky to get some good viewings and photos from the overlooks. Love the way the horses, cows, chickens and pigs are free to roam around. Much caution is needed when driving here. We will be at sea for the next four days as we sail our way to the Hawaiian Islands. We will be home in 30 days and as a fellow passenger stated, "we have to prepare for reentry!" ... read more

Nuku Hiva is the main island of the Marquesas Islands, and contains the capital in the settlement of Taiohae. This is the only island that we visited of the 15 islands in the Marquesas, which is part of French Polynesia, and it was mainly just a place for us to refuel and have a few days off. This island once had a population of somewhere between 50,000 to 150,000 people, depending on who you ask, but the population is now down to around 3,000 inhabitants. The Marquesas were extremely hard hit by diseases introduced by the European and American sailors that 'discovered' the islands, which had really been settled for thousands of years. The first thing that I noticed about Nuku Hiva is how rugged the terrain is. There are many steep cliffs around the island, ... read more

For most of us it was probably an illustration in a book or perhaps a movie. A glimpse of a sandy beach, nodding palm trees and the surf crashing on a reef off shore. There might even have been a black hulled schooner bobbing at anchor…waiting for her next adventure. For the rest of our lives, especially on cold winter days, those images come flooding back when we hear the word “paradise”. Don't despair…I can safely tell you that paradise does exist. It isn’t pristinely pure but it’s all here. The beautiful azure water, the surf pounding on the barrier reef, riots of colorful fish, powdery white sand, palm trees, and the scent of flowers in the air to name just a few of the pleasures. We have visited islands in the last couple of months ... read more

If you could use one word to explain a place; I would use mystical for Nuku Hiva. On arrival we pulled into a small bay, the backdrop was filled with volcanic peaks thrusting into the sky while being enveloped by a lush green tropical rainforest. The swells had picked up and the cliffs that overlooked the sea where being thrashed by waves whilst the power of the ocean splashed high into the sky and against the rocky landscape. True to our nature, we dropped anchor just as fast as we hit land to explore. 5 of us rented an island truck, packed a cooler of beer and with no map and no plan started driving. Our truck was heading uphill on the only road we could find. Nuku Hiva is the second largest island in the ... read more