A young dancer at Hanavave. Photo / Bevin Marriner
Off the wind on this heading lie the Marquesas
That's just one short line in an old song, Southern Cross by Crosby Stills and Nash that has always stuck in my head, and conjured up a longing for the Marquesas, small, remote islands in the middle of the Pacific, about halfway between New Zealand and South America.
It's where Herman Melville cast up when he was sick of the whaling life, where Paul Gauguin sought the inspiration of Paradise; where an ailing Jacques Brel found sanctuary from the demands of stardom in Europe.
Several years ago, and decades after first hearing that song, I came across a small ad in the Herald's Travel section for a journey to the islands on the Aranui III — a cargo ship that also carried passengers to the Marquesas. I really wanted to be on that ship. Sadly I never made it on the Aranui III — that boat has sailed — but she has been replaced by the Aranui 5.
The Wongs, the Tahitian-Chinese family who have sailed trading vessels in these waters since the 1950s, have recognised the appeal of this unspoilt corner of the Pacific for tourists — many of whom travel from America and Europe to be part of this adventure — and commissioned a new purpose-built ship. The Aranui 5 has more luxury hotel space than its predecessor yet retains its integrity as a cargo ship — one of the things that makes this such a special trip.
The fact that you are still travelling the Marquesas' trading route is a big drawcard — especially for someone like me, who loves the romance of maritime history. Aranui 5 is still a working boat, carrying supplies and fuel; cars, machinery and outriggers from Papeete, and returning with copra from the islands.
I loved the flurry and movement on the docks, and marvelled at the skilful navigation of the crew. Especially in Vaipae'e, Ua Huka, where the Aranui makes a breathtaking manoeuvre — invented by former captain, Theodore Uputu — involving a 180-degree turn in an inlet so narrow you can hardly believe the ship avoids foundering on the cliffs at either side — and then crew jump nimbly from barges to tie ropes to the rocks at either side.
The Aranui also carries a fishing launch, and at most ports guests can take the opportunity to go fishing with the crew. On one such trip an enthusiastic young Englishman named Keith returned with a wahoo almost as big as himself.
The crew come mainly from the Marquesas or other nearby islands and will gladly share their local knowledge, and immense pride in where they come from and in their work.
Take veteran Tino, now in the guiding team, but formerly of the deck crew who can calculate the loading of the cargo bays and decks in his head down to the last kilo - "don't need a computer". Plus they are a heap of fun — evening briefings often dissolved into laughter, thanks to the resident comedians/guides Temaui and John but we still learned plenty about the places we were to visit — and the haka performed by the crew was every bit as awe-inspiring as those we experienced on the islands.
FAKARAVA
A day out from Papeete, we reach our first destination: the Tuamotu islands. We were expecting a paradise: our host on Moorea had described islands, that will spoil you for any other place on Earth, and he wasn't exaggerating. The Aranui picks a passage into Fakarava's white-fringed atoll and anchors in its translucent lagoon. We wander by huge breakwaters to watch the locals fish, then along the pretty beaches. I'm delighted to spot what I think is an exotic bird with a startling opalescent blue front — until I realise it is a pure white tern, its deep turquoise breast a reflection of the water below.
TAIPIVAI, NUKU HIVA
We make landfall at Taipivai, where Melville lived among the Marquesans after abandoning his whaling ship, the Acushnet; the settlement he described in his novel Typee is a lush valley stretching up the mountainside. A convoy of local drivers take us on a bumpy ascent in four-by-fours through the bush to the archeological site at Kamuihei, where John, our guide from the Aranui, explains the significance of the monument: the stone me'ae or ritual platforms used for human sacrifice and the great banyan tree, which he tells us was used for burials. Suddenly the air is filled with the powerful bone-shaking beat of drums and the moan of a conch. Dancers pile on to the platform in front of the banyan and begin a ferocious haka, delivered with incredible passion — some even climb into the branches of the banyan itself. With the sound of their challenge still ringing in our ears, we are ferried back to Taipivai for a feast of pig and goat, cooked in the earth oven, or umu.
HAKAHAU, UA POU
We pull alongside the dock as the work of unloading and loading cargo begins. A short walk along the beach into the village of Hakahau, where elevenses of local fruits and delicious coconut sweetmeats awaits. Ua Pou is known for its carving; the pretty local stone with its flower-like markings is unique to the island and, mystifyingly, Brazil. The male dancers here are particularly fierce in their huge pigs' tusks and enormous bone carvings. Our lunch is spectacularly interrupted by a summer squall that blows in from the sea and has those nearest the marquee windows running for cover. But it blows itself out again just as quickly and we can return to a feast of goat, seafood, pork, taro and banana pudding. Ua Pou has some of the most spectacular scenery in the South Pacific, rivalling Bora Bora in magnificence. As we sail away from the island, cloud envelops the jagged peak of Mt Oave and for a moment it appears as though a shark's fin is floating in the sky.
ATUONA, HIVA OA
The island beloved by Gauguin and Brel is a highlight for many French passengers. We hike what feels in the heat like an almost vertical hill to reach the cemetery where the artists lie in carefully tended graves. In the village of Atuona, the Paul Gauguin Centre is a small museum dedicated to the Impressionist: alas, though lovingly rendered, the artworks are local reproductions — the curators are at great pains to inform us that they are not "fakes". It seems a shame the islands that brought the artist so much fame and pleasure should not retain at least one genuine Gauguin for themselves.
OMOA, FATU HIVA
While the hardy set off on a 17km (17km!!) hike across the island, my husband and I choose to wander through the village of Omoa. Warm rain has just fallen and the place is alive with the sounds and sultry smells of the South Seas; cooking fires, over-ripe fruit, fallen blossoms and drying copra. At the local market a talented and lively band is playing. As usual their repertoire includes Pokarekare Ana — and as usual we have to sing along. We are lulled by the tap, tap, tapping rhythm as a local woman gently teases out tapa cloth from bark — we're told it's much harder than she makes it look. She then creates a fragrant umu hei — a tropical nosegay of fragrant flowers spiked with ginger, sandalwood and herbs that is tied in the hair and is renowned locally as an aphrodisiac.
We sail to Hanavave on the other side of the island to meet and cheer on the hikers and learn another sensuous custom of these islands — that of the "honeymooners' towel" or aeu pipi. Villagers show how oil is pressed from the flesh of the coconut and applied to paper-thin tapa cloth, which newly married couples use to wash themselves after their first night together. This is then buried under their house to ensure good fortune.
PUAMAU, HIVA OA
Everyone is excited to visit the most famous historical site on the Marquesas. One of the Aranui's entertainers, Nahau, is from Hiva Oa and as he performs his haka on the me'ae he is transformed from genial host to fearsome warrior. Iipona was extensively excavated in the 1990s by French archaeologists and is remarkably impressive with its massive tiki, one of which, Takaii, is believed to depict a great chief. Another could be his wife: she is depicted lying on her back and it is believed this represents her death in childbirth.
Chillingly, we are told that this means she will return as an evil spirit.
VAIPAE'E, UA HUKA
Vaipae'e's botanical garden, Papuakeikaa, created by former mayor Leon Lichtle to help conserve the indigenous vegetation and cultivate exotic plants suitable for the local environment, is sadly falling a little into disrepair but is nevertheless charming, and worthy of rescue. We wander — occasionally startled by the bang of a huge mango falling from a great height — past trees laden with enormous avocados or breadfruit and through the remains of greenhouses where vanilla orchids were once cultivated. It's a small, fading garden of Eden and hard to leave. After a few stops to take in the spectacular views between Vaipae'e and the other main centre of Hane, we come across another jewel — the new museum. Only recently completed and sited on festival grounds guarded by huge tiki, many of its larger artefacts have been painstakingly reproduced from photographs — the only remaining evidence — by a talented local carver and his son, who are on-site when we visit. We stop to look through their photograph album of faces from the past and donate our last francs to help with the upkeep of this special place.
RANGIROA
On our way back we make one more trip to the Tuamotus. Rangiroa means huge sky, and is so called because it's so big — one of the biggest atolls in the world — that you can't see from one side to the other. Some guests set off to visit the island's pearl farm, but the lure of this perfect sea is too much and we instead luxuriate in the bath-warm water of the lagoon, hopping out only to grab a refreshing fresh coconut. The stallholders on the beach sell black pearls and jewellery at what seem to be impossibly low prices.
BORA BORA
Luxury for our last stop: the Aranui's passengers are guests for the day on a private island, Motutapu, belonging to the Hilton Hotel. At the water's edge, shoals of fingernail-sized tropical fish chase about in the apparent safety of shallows only a couple of centimetres deep, though not much further out a large ray flicks lazily by. My husband strikes out towards the reef but, venturing only metres into the salty, extremely buoyant water, I come across a small coral outcrop with its own ecosystem of butterfly fish, damselfish and parrot fish that swim around my hands and between my knees. After lunch we meander through the trees, and are brought to a standstill by a bird posing on a branch, as still as a model, just waiting for us to photograph him. It's another of those startling white terns we saw on Fakarava. I'll take his appearance at the beginning and end of our journey as a good omen ...
CHECKLIST
Getting there: An 18-night package featuring a 13-night Aranui 5 cruise plus return Economy Class airfares from Auckland with Air Tahiti Nui, five nights at Manava Suite Resort and transfers is priced from $9199pp, twin share out of Auckland and $9499pp out of Wellington or Christchurch for trips departing on June 10 or September 30, 2018.
Contact: ultimatecruising.co.nz on 0800 485 846 or email info@ultimatecruising.co.nz.
Air Tahiti Nui has return Economy Class airfares from Auckland to Papeete.
Further information: See aranuicruises.com.au.
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