Pitufa.at

After a few days here in Anaho we can only agree with all the positive opinions we heard about this bay before coming here. It’s the most pleasant anchorage of Nuku Hiva: the water’s clearer than in the south (even though it’s still a bit murky), the sea’s calm in here, the beaches are almost mosquito-free and there’s a few lovely walks you can do from here. Yesterday we hiked over the low ridge to the bay east of here and to our surprise found a farm there. No village, no road, no boat access–they take their produce on horseback via Anaho bay (about 30 min. walking) over the mountain to the next village Hatiheu (the neighbouring bay to the west, another hour of walking) and from there by pick-up to the market in Taiohae. Quite some effort… Tomorrow we’ll return there to get some fresh provisioning (tomatoes, aubergines, green peppers, bananas, etc.). This morning we walked into the other direction to the village of Hatiheu. The way is steep and narrow and we got phantastic views over the island. Hatiheu’s a pretty village with a lovely seaside walk and a mini-minimarket where we found (much to our suprise) baguettes. We couldn’t resist the baguettes, bought some flour too, picked some mangoes and papayas on the way and dragged the heavy backpack over the ridge back to Pitufa

The Baie du Controleur isn’t as spectacular at first sight as other anchorages in the Marquesas, it is even murkier, but we like it. Again, we’re the only boat anchored here, only occasionally a local boat goes by on the way to the village. We simply enjoy being in a calm anchorage. Only after a few days here, we fully realised how much of our energy was drained by the constant rolling and pitching in the other anchorages. Other cruisers say they don’t mind rolly anchorages too much, as they just spend little time on the boat then, but it doesn’t feel fair to leave Leeloo behind in an uncomfortable home. Now just the normal state of being–getting sleep at night, not bumping head and toes whenever the boat suddenly jerks–feels wonderful now. We did some nice walks in the area, up the ridge and to the neighbouring Hooumi bay, also a lush, gorgeous valley. Today we stayed at home, did laundry, wiped the boat inside and cleaned the algae-overgrown waterline. Sometimes manta rays come by to feed right next to the boat, floating like huge black bats right under the surface, swimming with their mouths wide open to filter whatever tasty things they find floating in the water. There’s a petanque (some kind of ball game) competition going on in the village this weekend, we might check it out tomorrow.

We love creative food and at the moment we’re experimenting with local produce in combination with goodies we’ve brought here in our deepest locker, like e.g. canned beans (‘Kaeferbohnen’, big purple and black beans that are a speciality of Styria) that have sailed around half the world with us. Who would have thought that ‘Kaeferbohnen’ would go so well in a salad with steamed breadfruit? Leftover baguettes from Taiohae are turned into typically Austrian bread dumplings and are accompanied by a green-papaya stew.

On the hike to the waterfall we made our first acquaintance with the famous no-nos: tiny flies that bite relentlessy despite mosquito repellent. The locals recommend monui (scented coconut oil) to keep them off, but as we had to wade through the river a dozen times on the way everything got washed off anyway and during our lunch break at the waterfall we provided lunch to the local no-nos… The bites don’t hurt much initally, but Birgit seems to be allergic to them. The next morning her 45(!) bites started itching unbearably, getting worse during the day. Despite anti-histamine tablets and cortisone cream she didn’t get much sleep last night. Today the bites have turned into purple blotches, but at least the itching gets less and less. This morning we opened a packet of the flour we had bought in Tahuata and found more local wildlife: weevils crawling happily in the bag. So we spent the morning sieving flour, fortunately we keep all our provisions in separate plastic containers to avoid epidemics of such critters. Even though it’s incredibly hot here the marine wildlife keeps us from swimming: the combination of murky water and lots of sharks keeps us out of the water. We’ve seen big manta rays in our bay, but with the low visibility we don’t dare going snorkeling (locals advised us against it as well, lots of tiger sharks and hammer heads around…). In the evening the only friendly kind of wildlife we’ve encountered so far comes out: a group of cows (4 adults and a calf) hangs out on the beach. We tried to find them during the day, but the vegetation in the bay here’s an impenetrable thicket of thorny acacias, no wonder the cows prefer the beach.

After 2 years of cruising we’d advise everybody who’s setting out with similar plans from Europe or the US to bring several pairs of good walking shoes along. Cruiser’s life’s hard on the shoes, they’re exposed to tropical sunlight, get immersed into saltwater from time to time and have to be washed regularly because of muddy hikes. Our high quality trekking sandals gave up after 1.5 years and the replacements we’ve bought on the way only last a few months: glue comes off, soles break apart and eventually fall off–at the moment I have to sow on the straps of my Panamanian sandals after each hike and we bring along a repair kit whenever we set out… The only shoes you can buy here are flip-flops and rubbershoes, no wonder most locals hike barefoot ++++++++++++++ Nach zwei Jahren Cruisen wuerden wir jedem, der mit aehnlichen Plaenen aus Europoa oder den US aufbricht raten, einige Paar gute Schuhe mitzunehmen. Das Bootsleben nimmt Schuhe hart mit, sie werden tropischer Sonne ausgesetzt, bekommen immer wieder Salzwasser ab und muessen nach gatschigen Wanderungen regelmaessig gewaschen werden. Unsere hochqualitativen Trekkingsandalen haben nach anderhalb Jahren aufgegeben und die Ersatzschuhe, die wir unterwegs gekauft haben, machen’s meist nur ein paar Monate: Kleber geht auf, die Sohle bricht und faellt am Ende ab. Im Moment muss ich die Riemen meiner panamesischen Sandalen nach jedem Ausflug nachnaehen und wir nehmen Flickzeug auf jedem Ausflug mit. Die einzigen Schuhe, die man hier kaufen kann sind Flip-Flops und Gummischuhe, kein Wunder, dass die meisten Einheimischen barfuss gehen

Today, we went by dinghy to the neighbouring bay and village, Hakaui, where the path into the Hakaui valley to the Vaipo waterfall starts. Landing the dinghy looked scary amidst the many breaking waves. The tide was high enough though, and we could go over a sand bank into the small river. The village was larger than we expected and it looks almost manicured with its many flowery bushes and pretty little houses. The valley behind is simply breathtaking–the further you go, the valley narrows while the cliffs get steep, steeper and even steeper (about 800m high). And at the end a waterfall plunges down from over 300m. The views on the way make this a worthwhile hike even though the end of the track at the waterfall is a bit of a disappointment because from there only the lower bit is visible and the pool is a muddy brown puddle. ++++++ ++++++ +++++ Heute sind wir mit dem Dingi in die Nachbarbucht zum Dorf Hakaui gefahren, wo der Pfad durchs Hakauital zum Vaipo Wasserfall beginnt. Das Anlanden sah zwischen den Brechern furchterregend aus, aber wir haben’s ueber eine Sandbank in den kleinen Fluss geschafft. Das Dorf selbst war groesser als erwartet und sah beinahe manikuert aus mit vielen bluehenden Bueschen und suessen kleinen Haeuschen. Das Tal dahinter ist einfach atemberaubend – je weiter man geht, desto steiler werden die Klippen und ragen schliesslich 800 Meter hoch auf. Die Aussichten vom Weg aus machen die Wanderung durchaus lohnenswert, auch wenn der Endpunkt ein wenig enttaeuschend ist, weil nur der untere Teil vom Wasserfall sichtbar ist und der Pool in den er stuerzt, eher eine schmutzigbraune Pfuetze ist.

While daring surfers ride the high waves on the beach behind Pitufa, Pitufa’s crew’s limited to surfing on the internet… We haven’t had a good connection in months are now placing orders for spareparts for the boat, researching for new articles, catching up with e-mails and other cruiser’s blogs.
Today we decided to also use the opportunity of having a proper hospital (one doctor on duty, no ultrasonic soundings, but an x-ray machine, a fellow cruiser who’s an in-patient explained with a grin that patients have to bring their own cushions and cutlery) to get a few ailments checked. A bump on my wrist was diagnosed as a harmless cyst, my chronic backache confirmed as a chronic backache (hurrah!) and Christian’s aching throat refered to a dentist. We’ll try to find a dentist, before finally heading out to other bays.

After spending so much time in quiet, remote areas, Taiohae, the little maintown of Nuku Hiva, seems like a bustling metropolis to us. Suddenly we have to look for traffic before crossing a road, the range of goods in the ‘magasin’ (almost big enough to be called a supermarket) seems mindboggling, there’s several hotels, restaurants and a daily veggie market with local produce.
The island’s also much bigger than what we’re used to. We took a walk to the entrance of our bay and that alone took more than an hour. Despite frequent rainfall this side of the island seems rather dry with mainly acacias growing on the volcanic rocks. Yesterday we wanted to take a look at the interior, but the ridge behind the bay’s 800 metres high, the road winding up in steep serpentines. We quickly gave up hiking in the boiling heat and hitched a ride instead–the first car stopped and the family let us squeeze in with them. Up in the mountain’s the vegetation’s much lusher and we were actually freezing in the cool, humid air the fringe of the clouds reaching almost down to us. Our walk took us through pine forests and pastures With lots of cattle and horses grazing–a completely untropical atmosphere, even though we’re only 9 degrees away from the equator…