Return to Nuku Hiva

When this itinerary was originally published and purchased, we had a lot of places to see. Some would be returns to favorite places for us. The Hawaiian Islands with four stops would have been oh so nice, and cut way down on sea days. It would be five out of Los Angeles and then make a left turn to French Polynesia. Instead we cut slightly diagonally out of port to set sail for Nuku Hiva making it the start of the touring after so many sea days. And now we have gone full circle. Not sure why we are going there instead of its sister island Nuku Oo as planned. To replace time in Hawaii we were supposed to have added the Cook Islands but they disappeared and were replaced with extra time in Tahiti. Roatonga was in then out. I have lost track and will have to sit down to compare notes with my own self when I get home. That being said, it has been a very nice trip. Some amazing sights, some beautiful weather like today. At home in Georgia there is ice and snow and below freezing temperatures. Instead of driving to my usual routine places I am sailing on the largest ocean in the world of Earth. (Not sure what might be on other planets but I feel confident that we win!) The Pacific covers some 30% of the Earth's surface and at 65 million square miles in size is larger than all the land mass together. Our day in Nuku Hiva starts with breakfast on the back deck with a view of the barren to brown rocky windward slopes that are not very slopey. Jutting straight up beside us is a sharp cliff but perched atop it is a permanent canopy stucture with a white helicopter beside it. Later in the day we saw it leave and return. I don't know why or who uses it. We didn't notice it on our first visit. This is the island where Melville jumped ship - again- and says he spent four months held captive by cannibals. That he fell in love with a beautiful native girl and rescued her by carryiing her across the jungle while they were bleediing from arrow wounds. He swam back out to his ship when he escaped. Whatever happened, he was gone less than four weeks according to the ships log. The captain also took him back and said he wasn't worried. That he, the Captain, knew the island was filled with cannibals and his prodigal sailor would return. I am going to make a correction right here. As you know I am writing under different circumstances and it has been hard to do corrections and editing on a tablet. I mispoke. Michener was not an habitual mutineer. That was only Melville. Michener wrote stricktly from imagination and research. He never was even in the Spouth Pacific! He was a homebody. We did not book a tour here as the one we thought we would do was to be on an ATV over rough terrain. We felt we had seen enough of the small island the first time. Today we just went ashore to walk around. Carol and I set out but met Sue on the tender. So the three of us went ashore together. Carol walked up to the big tiki and lighthouse but since Sue didn't want to I kept her company and we walked along the shore. There was a monument to a shipwreck that we had not seen before. The white obelisk had a plaque that I could not get close enough to read and an anchor lay next to it on the ground. We stopped in a small grocery store because Sue was looking for something but didn't find it. They did have a lot of liquor though. Two walls of it tells me there is not much to do here in the evening. Then we met Nancy and Lou coming back and they said nothing up that way but more groceries. A lady offered a tour in her van but we didn't have enough money to pay for it and although she pointed out the ATM we decided to just stroll along. Now we met Carol coming our way and we all went to a building with four flags. This was the City Hall and the jail. There were 3 prisoners but they were out for the day. They only sleep there and have breakfast. Then go out to their jobs and come back after dinner. We found the library so Carol, Nancy, and I went in and were delighted with the size of the well organized space. The young lady in charge jumped up to greet us. She was obviously proud of her job and her place. There was a large children's section having books we easily recognized. Mickey and Donald were prominently displayed. The young man at the computer had on a headset. He was her younger brother. An older lady came in with a large oval loaf of fresh bread. I asked if that was her Mom. She said no. I asked if she was the boss and the young man pointed to his chest and with a big smile said he was the boss. Never missed a beat on his computer and never took off his headset! The bread was sliced and we were offered a piece. Who can resist warm freshly baked home made bread! Delicious. When we left we stopped to take pictures of the building. The young librarian came out and handed us chunks of doughnuts, also still warm. She said the name Judy means Deer. She must have just looked it up. We got this through her pantomine and struggle with the word! What a perfect interaction with local people. Remember they are the best souvenirs. As we walked back toward the ship Nancy and Lou decided to walk around awhile more. Sue went to the tender but Carol and I spent a few minutes in the crafts area. We didn't buy anything. The hand carving and beadwork was nice but I didn't need a sword or a necklace. Just then the tender arrived, so we were on the same one with Sue for the return to the ship. There was medical staff there and we later heard police also. No one ever had a real answwer as to why. Might have all been routine inspections. Because outsiders were let aboard the medicals were probably there for the testing. Carol had a shower and I went for a swim in the thermal pool. Even though the bubblers were not working the warm water was soothing. We had five o'clock Trivia titled Terrific,Specific, Pacific Trivia. It was in the theater and we really enjoyed it. Didn't do too badly. We knew things like the names of lots of islands, the deepest point, book titles and authors but I couldn't think of Sondheim's Pacific Overtures. Has anyone ever seen that? Between Trivia and dinner, while Carol changed, I went and saw Laura because we forgot to add the extension to the 29 night cruise we had booked at our 4:00 appointment. Yes, you need an actual appointment. And yes we needed to add the extension immediately as they sell out fast. We had talked with her on the first sea day after Moorea and she was holding cabin choices for us. Dates were different because of availability. A lot was already booked for the April 2023 sailing. But we settled on the better cabin on the earlier trip. It will be Barcelona to Istanbul and on to Cappadocia. I guess you could say that I have truly become a world traveler! We met everyone at the Chef's Table for the Sweet and Salty menu. The veal entree was very good but I just am not a fan of fancy food. After dinner it was time for Dan, my favorite of the four Viking Voices, to have his first ever solo performance on this stage. He is relatively new to cruising and had put the show together just before COVID and never had a chance to perform it. I enjoyed his tribute to Swing and Jazz. The stage in this theater doesn't have curtains and backdrops. It is all done with LED's. So backgrounds move, colors can change, designs morph into other patterns. I know the band is on the stage, dressed in black, but they seem to dissappear into these effects making them seem to be in 3 - D. I am so glad I have my new distance glasses so I can really enjoy the shows. After the show there is a little conversation, a little review of the day and plans for tomorrow, a little reading and a sound sleep in beds dressed in fresh linens every day.