Monthly Archives: February 2020

Hakatea Bay with Peneque

Hakatea Bay – Daniel’s Bay

Hakatea Bay also known as “Daniel’s Bay” is just around the corner from the main village of Taihoe in Nuku Hiva.  But it might as well be another island as it is so different.  There are about 10-12 people that live in this little piece of paradise.  A small white sandy beach is surrounded by towering mountains that glitter in the sun.  It was so hard to capture on camera, but the trees were truly golden against the deep black crevices of the hillside. 

The top photo is of one side of the bay, the center is the golden hillside and the bottom is the actual palm tree lined beach where the locals live.

Hakatea Bay = Daniel's Bay

Hakatea Bay = Daniel’s Bay

There is no dinghy landing so we had to get creative with “Sweetie.”  The first time we went to shore we dragged her on the beach.  Always a challenge as she is heavy and has a 25hp outboard on the stern which makes it even more difficult.  We had Wayne and a fender which helped.  Basically, we slipped the round fender under the dinghy and rolled it under Sweetie to get her up the sand dune. 

Beauty of Daniel’s Bay

We were blown away by how unique and beautiful this village is. Tropical flowers, plants and trees line the single dirt road from the beach to each house.  Tons and tons of fruit trees are all around, pomplemouse, avocado, mango, lemon, breadfruit, noni and more.

Hike to waterfall in Daniel;s Bay

Hike to waterfall in Daniel;s Bay

There is a freshwater stream that runs along the “town” that enables them to bring their boats in during high tide.  A super small, but efficient church, a cemetery on the hillside and very practical homes.

Daniel's Bay village

Daniel’s Bay village

Each home had a sign indicating the address of the inhabitant.  Either carved in stone or etched in a piece of wood.

Local plot claims

Local plot claims

Waterfall Hike

Daniel’s Bay (Hakatea Bay) is known for the tallest waterfall in French Polynesia.  The locals told us that the falls would be “dry” because it is summertime.  However, it is still a pretty nature walk so we forged ahead.  The trail continued down the main dirt road lined with beautiful and colorful flora and fauna.  At one point, it looked like it was covered in snow from the pods that fell and littered the walkway with white fuzz.

One road in Daniel's Bay

One road in Daniel’s Bay

The road turned into forest and became more of a small path.  Lots of rocks, boulders and ruins could be found here.  You could certainly find remnants of an old village which was fascinating.

Ruins along the path to the waterfall

Ruins along the path to the waterfall

After 1.5 hours we arrived at the “waterfall” or what I like to call a “trickle fall” since there was truly very little water coming down the mountain.  It sure was pretty and we could imagine how breathtaking it was.

Hakatea Bay Waterfall

Hakatea Bay Waterfall

At the bottom of the “falls” is a fresh water pool, but it was stagnant and not too appealing.  However, when you turned your back to the falls you were surrounded by lush greenery and mountains.

Just a couple of posers

Just a couple of posers

Hike to Waterfall in Hakaui was 6 miles, 15,838 steps and up 14 floors.  A good workout.

Lunch Local Style

On the way to the waterfall, we ran into Kua and Tieki who are known for their tasty cuisine.  We told them we would be back for lunch around noon.  Matt and Wayne are part goat and practically ran up and back from the falls.  We finished the hike in just over 3 hours so we had time to kill before lunch.

When we arrived, two other cruisers were seated under the awning and little table was set up in their garden for Matt, Wayne and I.  It so pretty to be in the middle of the fruit trees, flowers and plants.  They grilled lobster for me and goat for the boys.  It was pretty darn tasty and not bad for a total of $40.

Lunch with Teiki and Kua

Lunch with Teiki and Kua

Beach Walk

We needed to walk off our large lunch so we took the dinghy to a neighboring beach.  We found lots of crabs and had fun playing with a rather large one and a stick.  The poor thing must have been traumatized because he hid in my footprint after we left.

Beach walk and crab friends

Beach walk and crab friends

To our great surprise, our neighbors from Ua Pou, Peneque showed up and anchored next to us.  They were the super nice French people who heled us out and never squawked at us for bumping fenders for 3 weeks during the festival.

Hakatea Bay with Peneque

Hakatea Bay with Peneque

70 kilo Marlin

Catch of the Year: 70 Kilo Marlin

As much as we loved the Bay of Virgins, we had to leave. It was time to start making our way toward Nuku Hiva.  Which is where we will pick up Shawn and Sharon and drop off Wayne.  We decided to make a slow trip north stopping at a few of our favorite places.  And of course, we were going to fish along the way.  Little did we know what was in store for us – a 70 kilo (150lb) marlin.

We left the Bay of Virgins and set course for Hanamoenoa Bay at Tahuata.  It is a 55nm sail so we left as soon as I returned from shore with bags of fruit, around 0800.  Under full sail (we had 1 reef in the main), with 3 lures out, we heard the zing.  We were about 20nm into our trip.  Lucky for us it was on one of the bigger poles and reels.  The fish was a fighter and spooled the entire reel.  We could see it jumping and twisting in the distance behind the boat.  It was not happy.  We slowed the boat down, pulled in our other lures and began the process of bringing her in.

It took Wayne about 90 minutes to slowly reel this beast in.  It did not do the in/out thing that the huge yellow fin tuna did with Matt, but it sure gave Wayne a work out.  Both boys struggled to bring her in.  She was heavy, huge, and armed with a pointy snout. 

70 kilo Marlin

70 kilo Marlin

Finally on the boat, now what?

It was a challenge to get this big fish on the boat as we did not want to puncture the boat with its sharp nose!  And it weighed 70 kilos (150lbs)

Getting her on the boat

Getting her on the boat

We filled both freezers and our fridge.  Man oh man we needed to share this wonderful bounty!

We filled the galley sink twice over.  Matt wore his trophy with pride.

Lots of marlin meat

Lots of marlin meat

Everyone was exhausted by the time we arrived to the anchorage.  Cold beers were enjoyed and then our friends on Flip Flops stopped by for some sun downers.  Of course, we promptly unloaded 25lbs of fish on them which left a whopping 125lbs in our freezers.

Proud fisherman

Proud fisherman

The next day, Flip Flops was going to follow us from Tahuata to Vaiehu, Ua Pou.  However, when we arrived to the bay it was really rolly and uncomfortable so we both decided to continue on to Nuku Hiva, Taihoe bay.

Arrived Taihoe Bay at 1130pm (left at 0530) little wind, motor sail.

Next morning played santa delivering pounds of the Marlin to Easy, Maple, Bella, Imani, Rhapsody, and Jolly Dogs.  So, basically or fish fed 8 boats (including Flip Flop and us) at least 5-6 meals each. 

We did not stay long as this was not our intended stop.  We headed a few miles west to Hakatea Bay otherwise known as Daniel’s Bay.

Twin Tikis and Sugar Shack

Bay of Virgins: In Search of a Virgin

Surely at the Bay of Virgins you would find one or two?  This is a really small village filled with really nice people.  We walked through town which took about 7 minutes.  The magasin is small and stocked with the basics.  I met the owner who tried to convince me to trade a bottle of rum for some tapa.  I politely declined because we’ve been told by many, many people NOT to trade liquor.

New Year’s Eve

Meats have been really difficult, if not impossible, to find in French Polynesia.  We’ve been able to find chicken in bulk and a few small bags of wings. But we have not seen steak, pork chops or pork shoulder since Tahiti.  We have one more meal of pork chops and two small pork shoulders left.  Then it will be lots of chicken until we get back to Tahiti next summer.  So, it is a treat to eat pork.  For Christmas Matt made pork chops for us and for NYE he broke out a pork shoulder and made BBQ pulled pork sandwiches which were divine!  We followed it down with a lovely bottle of bubbly and tried our best to stay up.  However, at 2230, we decided it was midnight somewhere and called it a night.  Party animals that we are!

NEW YEAR

New Year’s Day was spent hiking to a waterfall with our friends on Maple. We decided that it would be a great way to start the year.  It was a relatively short hike 2.1 miles up on a paved road that turned into a dirt road.  The last 1/3 of the trail was a tad bit tricky but since it is summer here, it was dry.  I can imagine it would be more challenging during the winter when the trail is slippery and muddy.

Hike to waterfall

Hike to waterfall

A nice local marked the trail with rock formations on the last 1/3 of the trail (see bottom right photo).  It proved to be helpful keeping us on track.

The waterfall was super tall and very lovely.  The photos don’t do it justice, but trust me when I say how pretty it is.  I had to take two photos to get the top and the bottom.  A refreshing pool lay at the base of the waterfall and we all took a dip.  We enjoyed some snacks and beverages before heading back down the mountain.

Waterfall

Waterfall

Fatu Hiva is a really green island.  It is unusual because it is summer time and their dry season.  Most of the other islands are a little brown so it is amazing to see so much greenery here.   On the way down, we could clearly see the caldera which was stunning.  See bottom right photo.

View of Bay from Shore

View of Bay from Shore

A sweet female dog adopted a kitten.  It was the cutest thing to see this cat and dog together.  The kitten had no idea her mom was different than her, it just didn’t matter.

Mamma dog to a cat

Mamma dog to a cat

DAY TRIP WITH MAPLE

The main village of Fatu Hiva is called Omoa and is about 3nm away from Bay of Virgins.  It is a little too far to take the dinghy so we decided to take the big boat over for a day trip.  We invited Maple on board and made the short 1-hour motor to Omoa.

Not sure why they consider this the “main village” as it was no bigger than Hanavave.  It too had one magasin, post office, Le Mairie, church, and school.  It did have a small stadium for events and a museum.  We tried really hard to find someone to open the museum.  We asked at the post office, magasin, and stopped several locals. We found the proprietor’s home but she was not home so no luck seeing the museum.

The village is full of lots of fruit trees.  Bananas, papaya, mango, avocado, pumplemouse and more.  Beautiful twin tikis stood guard at the marina.

Twin Tikis and Sugar Shack

Twin Tikis and Sugar Shack

On the way back we saw this super cool cave formation that created a giant opening.  We took the dinghy to explore it closer because it was so pretty.  The top photo is of Bay of Virgins with Sugar Shack super small just before the jetty opening.

Cool cave formation in Bay of Virgins

Cool cave formation in Bay of Virgins