We weren’t presupposed to be headed to the Marquesas Islands. However when the captain of Star Breeze introduced a dramatic change within the itinerary because of a storm bearing down on Tahiti, I paid shut consideration. “It’s going to be very windy, very moist and never very nice if we keep the course we deliberate,” Captain Simon Terry advised me. “As you’ll be able to admire, our intention is to be sure to stay snug and secure. So, we now have taken the choice we’re going to be heading for an inaugural name within the Marquesas.”
I in all probability wasn’t the one one who instantly launched a Google map on their telephone to determine the place we have been being diverted to. However the three sudden days we spent within the Marquesas Islands proved to be a scrumptious crash course in a spot many people couldn’t have beforehand situated on a map. Right here’s what I found.
Lesson Discovered, #1: French Polynesia actually sprawls
Located roughly midway between South America and Australia, Tahiti is the most effective recognized and largest of this South Pacific island chain — it’s additionally most populated, and the start line for many voyages. However French Polynesia is not only Tahiti, neither is it comprised of solely the Society Islands, the archipelago that stars the nation’s most seductive landings, Bora Bora and Moorea. In reality, French Polynesia is made up of 5 distinct archipelagos, which additionally contains the Austral Islands, the Gambier Islands, the Tuamotu Archipelago, and the Marquesas Islands. A complete of 118 islands are unfold throughout a swath of ocean 5 occasions the scale of France.
French Polynesia is already fairly distant. After we set off for the Marquesas it turned out we have been headed 900 miles northeast of Tahiti. By some measures, the Marquesas are essentially the most remoted islands on the earth — farther from any continental landmass on the earth (the closest shoreline is Mexico, greater than 3,000 miles away). Consequently, whereas the Marquesas have many cultural traits in frequent with different South Pacific islands, together with Easter Island, these islands have developed an id that’s distinctive even inside French Polynesia.
Lesson Discovered, #2: The Marquesas are actually distinct from different components of French Polynesia
Most islands of French Polynesia are atolls — the remnants of historic volcanoes that eroded over the millennia, abandoning solely an evanescent fringing coral reef, white-sand seashores, and sometimes nothing taller than the palm timber. Youthful islands, like Tahiti, have solely simply began — in geologic phrases — the erosion course of, so their topography remains to be mountainous. Additionally volcanic, the Marquesas are the youngest islands of French Polynesia and their outlines are outlined by craggy peaks, some towering greater than 4,000 toes on Nuku Hiva, the biggest of the Marquesas. As a result of coral reefs are few, the seashores I noticed are largely black sand.
There may be additionally a unique local weather. Although situated a lot nearer to the equator, the Marquesas are dryer than the remainder of the island chain, and droughts are usually not unusual. In distinction to the remainder of French Polynesia, extremely variable rainfall falls primarily Could by way of July, whereas the northern hemisphere’s winter months are the driest interval. As Star Breeze pulled into Taioha’e Bay, the principle harbor on Nuku Hiva, I swooned because the clouds step by step lifted to disclose the island’s wonderful, muscular define, riven by sharp ridges and deep valleys.
Lesson discovered, #3: essentially the most stunning discoveries within the Marquesas
As a result of our arrival to Nuku Hiva was an unplanned inaugural name for Windstar, the Star Breeze crew scrambled to place collectively a shore tour that might take within the island’s main sights. There was a fleet of a number of dozen 4x4s to greet us, most of them pushed by girls, and most of whom didn’t converse English — the 17 phrases of French I recall from highschool got here in helpful. At every cease although, an English-speaking information named Annie supplied beautiful interpretation for our convoy. We began on the Notre-Dame Cathedral, constructed within the Nineties on a website sacred to the Marquesans who got here right here about 2,000 years in the past. The open-air church was constructed utilizing stones from every of the Marquesas’ inhabited islands and large wood sculptures depicted the stations of the cross.
Steep, inexperienced, and bathed in mist and thriller, our drive took us up and over the island to the village of Taipivai, the place we adopted a river lined with houses, passing all kinds of timber, flush with breadfruit, grapefruit, mango, papaya, and banana. Pigs, horses, and numerous chickens wandered unattended. If I make it again to Nuku Hiva I’ll look into hikes resulting in towering waterfalls, horseback excursions, mountaineering and diving.
The second largest of the Marquesas is Hiva Oa, and while you pull into its bay, you would possibly discover you’re anchored on the fringe of a half-submerged historic volcanic crater, with one half of the rim rising as much as a pointy fang known as Mt. Feani. I skipped the tour of Hiva Oa in favor of exploring on foot — looking back, I missed out, as they visited a couple of of the island’s archeological websites, which at present sit on UNESCO’s checklist of potential World Heritage websites. The island additionally has Polynesia’s richest assortment of stone tiki scattered all through the island. As a substitute, on a scorching day with little breeze, I contented myself with a swim on the seaside fronting the island’s foremost city, Atuona. Usually a bit rougher, I used to be advised, on the day I visited it was nearly lake calm. The sand right here is silky black, with tiny flecks of gold that glitter within the daylight.
One of many smallest inhabited islands within the Marquesas is Fatu Hiva, however alas, Star Breeze was not capable of name right here because of excessive seas that made a switch to tender boats too rocky. It’s probably the most dramatic, fearsome, and alluring locations I’ve nearly been — 33 sq. miles of superior cliffs plunging to the ocean, topped by razor-thin ridges that result in deep, slender valleys. The volcanic isle appears uninhabitable, however about 600 folks reside right here, we have been advised, and a 10-mile dust path with a whole bunch of twists and turns snakes from the port of Omoa on the south finish to Hanavave within the north.
Lesson discovered, #4: the Marquesas appeal to an uncommon sort of superstar
Okay, the Marquesas are usually not the place to go to in the hunt for celebrities, however a number of notables have made their option to these far-flung islands. Norwegian ethnographer Thor Heyerdahl, who led the Kon Tiki expedition in 1947, lived along with his first spouse on Fatu Hiva, of all locations, instantly after they married. Dwelling off the land in largely primitive circumstances for 15 months, it was right here that Heyerdahl first developed his theories about trans-Oceanic contact between folks of Polynesia and South American cultures.
On Nuku Hiva, Annie defined how the village of Taipivai is the place creator Herman Melville jumped ship in 1842 and hid amongst cannibal tribes, the place he was accepted into the group. This expertise was the muse for his e book, “Typee,” earlier than he went on to write down “Moby Dick.” I knew the one in regards to the white whale, however that earlier e book would possibly supply an fascinating glimpse into Marquesan tradition and id.
Hiva Oa isn’t any slouch within the name-dropping division. Impressionist painter Paul Gauguin spent the final 8 years of his life right here, first on Tahiti and ultimately Hiva Oa, the place he painted and sculpted with wooden till his dying in 1903. The island’s different brush with fame was when Belgian singer-songwriter-actor Jacques Brel, who bought greater than 25 million information, spent a lot of the final 3 years of his life on Hiva Oa — he handed away in 1978. Within the village there are small museums devoted to every, and embrace a duplicate of Gauguin’s home and the precise aircraft Brel flew in. I walked up the hill to the small Calvaire Cemetery the place the artists are buried amid frangipani timber. Each are mentioned to have settled within the Marquesas particularly for his or her isolation, and their graves are easy and particular.
Lesson discovered, #5: as a substitute of touristy purchasing websites, you’ll uncover great, locally-made souvenirs
Let nobody inform you the Marquesas are a spot to go looking for souvenirs. However possibly Gauguin and Brel have been interested in greater than the isolation — it might even have been the Marquesas’ inventive legacy: A few of Polynesia’s most revered tattoo artists are mentioned to be from right here, and carving on wooden, bone and stone is famend, crafts that unfold to Hawaii, Easter Island and New Zealand. Looking back, I want I’d spent extra time inspecting the wares out there within the small galleries on Nuku Hiva and Hiva Oa. A number of days later, in Bora Bora and Tahiti I discovered galleries promoting the beautiful carvings of the Marquesas, at lofty costs. (There may be additionally a small choice provided within the boutique aboard Star Breeze, at what appeared like honest costs relative to retailers on the islands.)
I like strolling by way of the grocery shops of distant locations — what are the issues they’ll’t develop or catch simply within the Marquesas? Fortuitously, what I did discover on the foremost grocer in Hiva Oa was undoubtedly price bringing residence: miel des Marquesas, honey of the islands. I grabbed a pair jars off the shelf, and when gifting one to a pal at residence I mentioned, this could be the purest, most untainted honey you’ll ever style.
Windstar’s Star Breeze provides particular voyages to the Marquesas Islands through its Star Collector: Complete Tahiti and Marquesas Journey and Tahitian Treasures and Magnificent Marquesas.
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