Tahoato and Atuona #2

Really enjoyed Tahoata. Did lots of snorkeling and swimming and some socializing.

The beach at Tahoata, opening coconuts

Took the dinghy the 3 miles to the neighboring village. They have a really cool church there. Wish I could describe it properly. It had the traditional thatched roof, but underneath it had tongue and groove wood, a beautiful stained glass madonna and child over the alter and the pulpit was carved wood. Very different.

Cool Church

We also scavenged mangos - yummy. Talk about a sugar rush. We had the by now requisite rain shower, but the clouds and rain keep it cool. One thing about the Marquessa's we have noticed is how neat and tidy everything is. It is unbelievably clean. A real change from Mexico. Left Tahoata for Atuona on Hiva Oa on Wednesday. We still needed to pick up our duty free fuel paper and get fuel. The boat with fuel was due in on Thursday morning.
Thursday morning came, and sure enough a big boat in the little harbor. The Arunui 3 is a combination freighter/cruise ship. Carries about 100 passengers. And we lost our passengers to it. Mark and Vicki were able to get a cabin on it, so off they went. Sure seemed quiet on the boat after they left.
Friday we were supposed to take a tour of the island, but turns out they were doing some blasting on the road, so we postponed until Saturday. In the meantime we took a hike to some petroglyphs, scored some limes and bananas. Was a pretty buggy hike, and we didn't find the waterfall that was supposed to be there, but there was a new fence in place, so that is probably why.
Saturday we took our tour around the island. Went to the ruins of a village - was pretty interesting. Then we took a long almost 4 wheel drive ride to the north side of the island to see "big tiki". The drive was actually amazing. These islands tend to have two distinct climates windward and leeward. Windward is drier and sunnier, more desert like, and leeward is tropical - rainy and humid. The big tiki was very cool. We also bought more pamplamousse and bananas and limes. Pamplamousse (like grapefruit) is a new staple in our diet.

Josh with the King Tiki, beheaded soldier tiki on right

Sunday I did some laundry on shore - they have a great water supply, so I took advantage of it. We bought some internet - very pricey. 4.00 per hour. It was Pascal's Birthday (from Calou) so we helped her celebrate with pizza out and chocolate cake at their boat afterwards. Again yum!
Monday, more laundry - its never ending, but doing it myself is so much cheaper. We had linen and towels done for us, Wow! cost as much as a whole season's worth in Mexico. Oh well, won't be doing 24 days worth again. Josh also had his hair cut by the girl on the boat next to us. She did a very nice job. Not too expensive either.
Today (Tuesday) we left for for a new anchorage on the NW side of Hiva Oa. Is pretty nice, and had a good sail over. Water is not as clear as we had hoped, but at least it is not crowded. We hope to see Calou here tomorrow, then on to Oa Huka in the next few days.