THE MARQUESAS ISLANDS

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The South Sea Island mystique has been beckoning drifters, dreamers and dropouts for centuries. Captain Dag calls it the siren song of the islands. He should know---he spent five years cruising in this area of the world. We will be visiting the islands made famous by the paintings of Gauguin, the explorations of Thor Hyerdahl and the writings of Robert Louis Stevenson, Melville and Michener. More recently the television show “Survivor” filmed one of their episodes on the volcanic isle of Nuku Hiva. The Marquesas Island chain is almost untouched by modern day life. Its remoteness gives it a special sense of isolation. Not much has changed since we were here in December. Actually we have been here three times in the last year--I don't imagine too many people can say that! Nuku Hiva is the largest and most populated island of the archipelago. I think all 2600 of the locals showed up for the luau put on for us visitors. There were dancing men and women and laughing babies, mangy dogs and tattooed warriors arriving on horseback. Not many boats pass this way, so it is a special event when a ship drops anchor in Taiohae Bay. The passengers were welcomed ashore and wreathed with floral leis.

We were picked up at the tender pier by Rose Corser, the resident museum owner whom we met on our last visit. Rose is an American who sailed with her husband to French Polynesia about forty years ago. They too were captivated by the Polynesian siren song and ended up living here permanently. They built a lovely hotel on the hillside overlooking the bay and Rose wrote several books on the Marquesan flora and fauna and opened the only museum in this group of northern islands. She is in the process of building another hotel and restaurant. Several huge shipping containers filled with building materials had just been delivered to her backyard. When we were here last month, Rose asked if we could bring her some USB drives as she was having computer problems and she wanted to be able to store her books and studies safely. We got a good deal on a bunch of storage devices at Staples and we donated them to Rose and her museum so that she can continue compiling her important research. We wished her well with her construction projects and hope to see the finished product soon.

We strolled around the half moon shaped bay and stopped at Restaurant Moana Nui where poisson cru (marinated raw tuna) is the specialty. We ran into Captain Dag, Akemi and Gudrun there and shared a bit of lunch. It was a fine way to spend a Polynesian afternoon while gazing out at the Voyager floating on the bay.

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Photos

The Luau
Traditional Marquesan dance

The Luau
The pig has been cooking in the underground pit.

Rose Corser
Le Musee Marquis

Nuku Hiva Horses
A favorite pastime of the natives.

Walter out beachcombing
Coral Gables, FL

Poisson Cru
An island delicacy.

The Voyager
Swinging on a hook in Taiohae Bay

Comments

[Stephanie]

Blue Water
We're overlooking beautiful blue water this weekend as well, but it's quite the different atmosphere compared to your blue water location. We're skiing in Tahoe ... Glen, Mark, Andrew and Jack are skiing together, the good skiers, that is, and I, the slow turtle, am on my own. Lots and lots of powder up here, but the lake is still blue and beautiful. Soak in some sunshine for us.