Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia

During our nearly full week at sea, we have had leisurely breakfasts in the LaFontaine dining room, meeting quite a few new. After chatting with couples once, I am recognizing faces but can’t remember names or which couple is from San Francisco, San Diego, or Vancouver. I have tried to walk laps around the deck but sometimes have to split it up into two different times during the day in order to get a minimum of three miles completed. The lectures have been quite fascinating and we have attended most. There are three lecturers on board, each with their own specialties. All of them are fascinating and are able to tailor their talks to lay people. There is a historian whose specialty is in the history and culture of the Pacific rim who presented fascinating lectures on the border conflicts between the US and Canada as well as how the Pacific islands were discovered and settled. Most of it was information that I didn’t know or about which I only had superficial knowledge. The naturalist gave extensive information on the fauna and flora of the area and how the various species thrived (or in some cases didn’t thrive) in the area. The Meteorologist (who our cousins, Chris and Geoff, and Aunt Dorothy will be interested to know received his PhD from University of Wisconsin) gave excellent lectures on the skies of the Southern Hemisphere as well as an extensive look at the planet, Mars, and other planets in the Solar System. On Tuesday night, Barb joined him on the top deck for a view of the skies in darkness. She was quite pleased to point out Sagittarius to him because he hadn’t spotted it!

One day, I had to miss the first part of one of the lectures because on another part of the ship, they were explaining the navigational system of the ship. Not that we had any concern, but after days with absolutely no sign of life or scenery off the ship except water to the horizon in all directions, we were pleased to know that the navigators seemed to know where they were headed! Before we reach each port, the port lecturer tells us what to expect in each location including what to find on shore, what to buy and not to buy, the kind of transportation we might expect, and much much more. I have been impressed how she talks completely without notes about places like Nuka Hiva, which probably most readers of this blog, will, like us, have little knowledge about.

As Barb said in her last blog, she joined the chorale which will be doing numbers from “100 Years of Broadway” which our church choir has done. The chorale director is also the ship’s cruise director and is an outstanding musician in his own right. He gives chorale members a heads up on a number of issues that have not yet been shared with the whole ship.

After nearly a full week at sea, we finally reached LAND! Today we are in Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia. It has a small population and there are few services and no tours available. We boarded a tender and went into the small village of Taiohae. Nuku Hiva is one of ten of the Marquesas Islands and we stopped here primarily because we had been at sea for the last six days and it is still two days until we reach Tahiti, obviously a much better known island in French Polynesia. We had been told there was practically nothing to do in Nuku Hiva and it would take 1 to 1 ½ hours maximum to see the village. I found it quite interesting and spent about 3 hours wandering and exploring. After the food, craft and tee shirt market, we walked along the shore. The harbor with its mountains and view of the ship was great. And this is considered the LEAST interesting of the islands of French Polynesia! If that’s the case, I can only imagine the beauty ahead.

We came upon an elementary school in session and noted the book bags hanging on hooks outside as well as the windows decorated for Halloween. I walked up to a small church and viewed the inside and then continued along to Notre Dame Cathedral, built in 1975, and beautiful wood carvings inside. Likewise I passed a college which seemed to have a larger number of students than I might have expected. Several were outside playing basketball and there were a couple of guys showing some girls how to throw the javelin. Weather was warm in the morning but after a warm shower that didn’t affected anyone significantly, it became hot and humid. Barb’s thermometer showed 89 degrees with 57% humidity.

After returning to the ship, we learned of a major earthquake on Vanuatu which we visit on October 22, between Fiji and Cairns, Australia. The 7.8 quake led to another tsunami warning in the South Pacific and included Australia and New Zealand. A few days ago, we had heard that we probably would be able to be able to visit American Samoa on October 17 as planned, but have heard no official word.

Chuck