December 9th 2019

We got up at the usual time of about 6.30 as the sun burst into the room and the roosters started their morning conversations. Shower and then to breakfast. Here I met William who is a guide at the hotel. He is busy during the day taking visitors on a tour but I have arranged to meet him when he returns after 4 p.m. to ask him about the islands, their culture, their people, the problems they have and whether life is better now than it was before or not and many other questions, especially about the cultural side of things, dance, song, music, beliefs, language, etc. I am looking forward to this.

After breakfast we borrowed bikes from the hotel with the intention of going to the pharmacy to get some Tamanu oil, thinking that the quality there would be the best. Our bikes had no brakes, braking being effected by back-pedaling. From the hotel there is a sloping dry road and our efforts to bike down here were not too successful and we were warned by a hotel staff member that it was best to walk the bikes on this part. Good advice.

At the bottom of the hill we took off and the bikes which had no gears were fine on the flat but quite hard work on hills so we decided to walk on the steeper ones. The pharmacy was up the hill so this required some walking. Despite appearances to the contrary, the pharmacy was open but had run out of tamanu oil, unfortunately. However, MAC did manage to get some t tree gel which she had had problems getting in NYC.

From here we pedaled along the coast to the bank where we obtained some more funds, then on to the huge tiki Tiki Tu Hiva which is the highest contemporary Polynesian sculpture. The site which commands an amazing view of the harbor, was a former fort during British days on the islands and has changed hands several times until it is now in the hands of the indigenous population as, of course, it should be. I have more details on this and will add them later. It was here that we found out that a gel pen I had in my ‘Snoopy’ bag had exploded and covered everything in black ink!! We spent some time cleaning things up and restored some order to events.

The scenes from the giant tiki overlooking the harbor.

We descended from the high ground occupied by the tiki and went to the artisanal market  again looking for tamanu oil but did not find any although MAC bought some postcards and also some earrings. We stopped at the small bar/restaurant for a cold drink and then cycled on back to the hotel, where we pushed the bikes up the hill before dropping them off. This was a good way to see things and we might recommend it to anyone staying here.

Back at the hotel we showered, cleaned up and relaxed. We decided to skip lunch in favor of some trail mix we had brought with us, So it was a lazy afternoon which, after a rest saw us in the pool for a cool-off swim. Then we sat and waited for William to arrive but he was late and did not have time to sit with us as he had to go off to practice his dancing. This is very important and we forgive him for that. They di offer to reschedule him for 7 a.m. in the morning but we felt that was unreasonable for him and thus we will try to get the information we seek on Hiva Oa in the next few days.

Sop we passed an hour or two by the pool with some drinks. During this time I was able to speak to the manager about the tipping routine which we can add to the bill for distribution to everyone. As there are many staff, some of whom we never see, this is the fairest way to do things Also, he checked our flight details which is earlier than we though so we have to leave at 8 a.m. in the morning for the long drive to the airport for our Air Tahiti flight to Atuona on Hiva Oa at 10.30 a.m. but which is now rescheduled for 10.55 a.m. This will mean we have to have our bags ready by 7.30 a.m. Just as well we checked. Also, MAC was able to purchase 10 small bottles of tamanu oil from the hotel shop and the manager kindly gave us a discount on the bulk purchase. She also bought stamps so that the postcards we wrote were mailed but who knows when they will get there!!

So, unable to talk to William we went back to the bungalow to start packing before our last dinner on Nuku HIva. We went down to dinner early and were soon back and asleep to await our departure in the morning.