Walking the capital city from end to end takes about 30 minutes.  We tried stopping at the gendarmerie to check in.  Although we were there on one of the three mornings that they deal with boats, they were out temporarily (I saw them wondering around the building where the art is sold, but thought someone else would be manning the station) so we’ll probably leave Nuku Hiva without checking in. 

View of Pura Vida and Taiohae Bay from the Protestant church in town

Apparently Catholic priests were the first missionaries to Nuku Hiva, as they got the prime real estate across from the mouth of the bay and atop the traditional religious site.  There’s a monument at the intersection that leads to the Catholic complex that is reportedly on the site where human sacrifices used to occur.  Upon abandoning their old religion, the locals built the new monument, but topped it with a clearly recognizable member of the male anatomy.  Being conspicuously situated between the church and the bay, this was not exactly consistent with the priest’s sensibilities.  Today, you can see a phallic-looking monument with a very old stone cross cemented to the top.  The old church itself is gone, except for the facade, and a beautiful new church is built beside it.  Beginning with the monument at the street, the mixture of the two religions is evident.  The locations are the same.  The stone road leading to the old church has tattoo rocks and ancient stones for grinding tools built into the pathway all the way to the door of the church.  In the back is a shrine to the pope guarded by two tikis and featuring a pontiff with a Marquesan cross instead of the typical Christian crucifix.  The door of the church is beautifully carved and also contains motifs that mix the two traditions.  Inside, instead of stained glass windows, the church has open-air space between the stone walls and roof with wrought iron in the shape of Marquesan crosses and the Christian fish.  The Biblical scenes usually depicted in the stained glass windows or paintings hung on the wall have been illustrated by monolithic wood carvings of the same stories.

Old church facade to the right and the new church to the left

Site of human sacrifice turned phallic monument turned cross at the intersection

Door of the church

Farther down the street was a large marae area with stone carvings that apparently was built in the last 20 or 30 years in the style of the ancient sites.  There is a carver’s shed nearby where local artisans are welcome to come and work at carving wood and bone.  Plenty of raw material was lying around, but only one carver was there when we stopped by.  He was working on a couple of very beautifully carved pig tusks that were going to be the centerpiece of necklaces.  The tusk was beautiful, but at $250, was a little out of our price range.  He did tell us about a museum, so we kept walking along to the other end of town.

Local wood and bone carver

View of the bay from the marae

The museum and boutique is run by an American named Rose who sailed here from California with her husband 31 years ago.  She told us he had opened the Marquesas for tourism, but she had unfortunately lost him about 15 years ago.  She stayed on, collecting and documenting artifacts of historical significance, selling local art in her boutique, and building and running the hotel they had been working on together.  She has a book on the Marquesas that she has nearly finished and is about to start happy hour up again at her hotel that will serve as the only yacht club in the islands.  She had a great story for us about a TV show that 48 Hours did a a few years back.  It was during a miserable US winter, and the show featured places you could go to get away.  Her hotel was one of the places, and the bar was packed with yachties for happy hour.  One American with a German accent agreed to an interview, and the next week a call came in that his wife back in the states had recognized him.  It seems he had been missing for two years and officially declared dead.

After stocking up with fresh veggies at the farmer’s market, we made a dinghy trip to the local gas station on the edge of the bay, where we were able to dump our old gas and buy new.  At 140 CFP per liter, we got about 11 gallons for around $80, not exactly a bargain.  Our water tanks are now topped off as well, and we’re likely headed to Daniel’s Bay this afternoon, which will be our last stop in the Marquesas.

Lauren and I ended the day with dinner at the Moana Nui (Big Ocean) Hotel, which has the only wood-fired pizza oven in the Marquesas.  The salad and pizza were great, but we made the mistake of getting the vegetarian pizza without asking what the topping “du jour” were.  So, while I looked over the sign advertising pizzas with mushrooms, tomatoes, olives, and onions (which I love), we ate a pizza topped with heavy helpings of cabbage, shredded carrots, green beans, cucumbers, three olives, and tomato.  You could visit all of the stores in town in about half an hour, and they’re all supplied by the same boat.  Having just been to the store, it was clear that the vegetables du jour were the cheapest on the island, but they were plentiful and the pizza was otherwise excellent.