They accepted the gift with the generosity for which the Marquesans are renowned.  Without even opening the pacakge, they set about collecting things for us to take back to the boat — two of the largest cucumbers I’ve ever seen, a bag of about two dozen limes, half a dozen large pamplemousse, and a large piece of meat from a pig they had just killed that morning!  Lauren asked them how many pigs they had and with a smile Eugene said, “Yesterday I had two.  Today I have one.” We (mostly Lauren since she speaks a bit of French) had a nice conversation with them about their family and life.  We felt pretty bad about the inequatable set of gifts we had exchanged, but when they told us they were headed to Tahiti in two weeks we didn’t feel so bad.  They had been living in a house owned by Eugene’s cousin, who lives in Atuona.  Eugene had done quite bit of working planting edible plants and trees, clearing brush, and generally beautifying the place, but their adopted son has Down’s Syndrome and needs to attend a special school in Tahiti, so they’re headed back to live there until his school is finished.  Luckily, they have plenty of family there as well.

Marquesan generosity

After finally breaking away, we enjoyed a dip in the fresh water pool and filled our water jugs.  Lauren filled the jugs while I carred them back to the dinghy.  Carrying 100 pounds of water over a soft sand beach is some serious exercise, but Lauren got the worst of the deal.  There were swarms of no-nos (no see-ums, biting flies, etc.) that managed to get in a 100-200 bites on her back and arms before all of the jugs were full.  She’s still itching.

We left for Ua Pou an hour or two before sunset and learned that our sea legs had left us.  There was no puking, but Lauren and Tiff didn’t feel too well, especially after Lauren spent a couple of hours below preparing a delicious dinner.

I had the morning watch, which turned out to be good luck yet again.  The winds were 20-30 knots and the sky was very overcast.  The whole island of Ua Pou disappeared as we were enveloped in a rainstorm only a couple of miles from the northeast tip of the island.  As the rain lessened and the sun came up over the horizon, the brightest and most complete rainbow I’ve ever seen arched over the entire island.  It was brilliant and unbroken, a complete semi-circle from the southern to the northern tip of the island.  With a haze of clouds still hanging over the island under the rainbow, it looked like a giant amphitheater with the rainbow as the arch of the enclosure and Ua Pou itself as the stage.  As we the rainbow faded and we made our way along the north coast of the island, another pair of rainbows emerged, the brighest one only about a mile away, between the boat and the rocky coast.

The north-eastern tip of Ua Pou.

Rainbow between the boat and the cliffs only a mile away

The village of Hakahau is nestled in a beautiful valley with the spires of Ua Pou above it.  The spires are tall sections of rock pointing up into the sky above the larger mountainside.  A picture is worth a thousand words in this case, and we should have the pictures up when we get to Nuku Hiva in a few days.  For now, we’re enjoying the beautiful and friendly village.  We’ll be here for at least another day or so, as there is a party with traditional dancing Friday night and Saturday night and we’re anxious to see an example of Marquesan traditional dancing.

Last night, we hung out with a local named Mouna who drove us part of the way up a mountainside so we could see the bay and valley below at sunset.  “Ahhh, I like my island” and “Ahhh, I like my valley,” he would say as he took in the sight.

Hakahau (Moana