November 6, 2007 - Final Days…

Today was our final day in the islands. I am writing as we sail back to Papeete, Tahiti. Yesterday we had an entire day at sea. It was really fun. They only scheduled three lectures instead of the normal four lectures so that we could have a pool party. The weather was perfect! Alexandra showed us how to tie our sarongs (pareus) and also how to dance Polynesian style. It was really fun. We also played in the pool and drank rum punch. It felt more like vacation than work.

This morning we arrived bright and early to Fakarava Island in the Tuamotus. At 6:30 am Mike and I got into a scout zodiac to find a suitable snorkel site, while the ship continued ahead into the lagoon. Scouting is my favorite part of the job. We had a few hours to look around and find a good spot for everyone. Because of the wind direction, we opted first to go to the outside reef, which was much calmer than the inside of the lagoon. Rounding the corner, I saw two spinner dolphins jumping out of the air. By the time I got my camera, they had moved off, but it was a spectacular site. We found a great snorkel site with tons of healthy corals and lots of fish, both small and large. I also saw a gray reef shark, a 6-7 foot silvertip shark, and a few blacktip reef sharks. It was the best snorkel site in my opinion thus far and a great one to end on with the passengers.


Blacktip reef shark

Once we had secured buoys to mark our spot, we went and caught up to the ship. The wind was blowing so hard and the waves were so big that I had to stand next to Mike so I wouldn’t get too bounced around sitting on the side of the zodiac. It calmed down when we got to the sheltered side of the lagoon where the ship was anchored. Ashore, everyone was already enjoying the entertainment and yummy food display. Of course, I got there just in time to eat and shop! The plates this time around were not leaves, but oyster shells that they let us keep. Fakarava has a few pearl farms, so this was the spot to get pearls. I ended up with a pair of simple stud earrings, which I may get remade into dangly ones. I really like the color of the ones I got, although it was hard to pick because the black pearls come in so many shades of gray, green, blue, and even a maroon hue.


Black Pearls

I was back on the ship around noon after scouting, seeing the town and snorkeling with the passengers. Even though it was just lunchtime, I felt like we had been out the entire day. This afternoon is for packing, finishing up work and doing some prep for the next cruise. I am bummed that I will not be here next time because this area is so beautiful and I’d love to explore it more. I’ve been spending so much time with the penguins I almost forgot how much I love working in tropical climates and snorkeling. I have had so many rewarding experiences with passengers and snorkeling this trip; I just love teaching them how to do something new and teaching them about an ecosystem that some know little about.


Idyllic South Pacific Island

November 4, 2008 - Puka Puka, Tuamotu Islands

What a change of scenery today from the lush and hilly Marquesas.
Puka Puka, like the rest of the Tuamotu Islands is a coral atoll, which means that it has little elevation. The island looks like what you would picture of a tropical island in the middle of nowhere – palm trees, white sand beach and clear blue water.



Puka Puka Island

The welcoming we get at each island is spoiling me. Although each place is different, there is typically a musical greeting, often drumming. It is really great to be zooming into shore on the zodiac and hear the drumming as we approach. We also always get leis, which are also different. This time, the leis were made out of a nut wrapped in colorful fabric separated with ribbons. The little girls that were giving them out were doing a good job of matching them to people’s outfits. And there is always dancing. The style of dancing from the Marquesas to the Tuamotus is also different and I’m getting a good feel of the culture in the different groups of islands as we travel around. Today, the young girls performed and some of them were as young as four. I took some video and it was too cute.


One of the dancers

The food tasting at each location is also spoiling me. Of course there are the tropical fruits, but some islands also put out local favorites. Today, I had a huge plate of poisson cru, which is the raw fish marinated in coconut milk and lime that I like so much. Here, they had also added some shredded papaya…yum. Now I have to back up and define “plate” for you, as the plates here are very different than we have at home. On all of the islands, if you want a plate, you get a leaf. Here is a photo showing me holding two plates…one empty and one full of the yummy fish that I promptly ate after the photo was taken.



I also had a chance to wander around the island. The island is filled
with palm trees because they have a large copra export. Copra is
dried coconut meat that is then pressed into oil. This oil is used to
make cosmetics, soap, candles and even margarine. Here is a photo of
the drying coconut meat.


making copra

In the afternoon, we went snorkeling just outside the island on the
fringing reef. There were many small fish and I am getting better at
identifying them in the water. There are still so many to learn, but
I feel more confident now than at the beginning of the cruise.


Ornate Butterflyfish

After dinner, John led us in a sing-along. It was great – he played
the guitar and led us through a number of different folk songs and
sea shanties. When that was over, we had an early birthday
celebration for me, which culminated in the staff and a few
passengers up on the top deck stargazing. There were so many stars
and I wanted to sleep up on deck, but around 1 am I went to my real
bed for some more comfortable sleep.

November 3, 2008 - Fatu Hiva, Marquesas

Today was amazing. I finally got a chance to explore some of the interior of the islands on foot. I have fallen in love with Fatu Hiva because of the amazing scenery and the friendly people. Fatu Hiva is the most remote, southern, wettest and greenest of the Marquesas. We went ashore at Hanavave, which is also called the “Bay of Virgins”.

Here is a view of the bay from the ship – as you can see it is incredibly striking.


Bay of Virgins

When we landed at the village, it seemed like all of the residents were there to greet us. Instead of just having fruit tasting and crafts like the other islands, they had set up demonstration stations so we could see how some of the things are done. I got to watch some carvers in action as well as people making tapa cloth. Of course, they danced for us, which is always one of my favorite parts.

After this, I got to go on the waterfall hike with the passengers. It was a fairly challenging hike, especially because it had been raining in the early morning. The path up was single track and very slippery with rocks and fallen trees. Luckily the passengers did ok with the hike – there were only two minor injuries. The waterfall at the end was spectacular. It wasn’t rushing down heavy, but the drop was very high, making it extremely striking. It felt great to get in the water and take a swim after sweating the entire way up the hill. Here are some photos of the hike and the waterfall.


View from the hike



On the trail



Waterfall

In the afternoon, we weighed anchor and started our sail back across the Pacific to the Tuamotu Islands. There are only a few more days of this cruise. Like all of them, it has gone quickly.

November 2, 2008 - Hiva Oa, Marquesas – MANTA RAYS!!

All I can say about today is Manta Rays!!! I had the most amazing experience this morning that I was actually shrieking underwater.

Around 7 am Ingrid came up to me and told me that someone had spotted manta rays off the side of the ship. After talking to Aaron (the expedition leader) we got the ok to go scout and see if we could find more. We did find more – about 30 – and they were all feeding on the plankton rich water. I got in the water first to see if they would be ok having someone in the water with them and they were not only fine with it, but they got up close to me, even brushing along next to me as I swam. Now, you have to understand that these creatures are not tiny – in fact, they can be over 20 feet in diameter. These were small, with the largest around 8 feet from wing to wing. They are gentle creatures, and feed with their mouths agape just flying through the water. We got permission to offer a snorkel for the passengers and only two took us up on it. Thank goodness someone came, or else we would not have been allowed to do it. And then the real fun started. Groups of about 18 surrounded us and we were able to watch them do somersaults in the water and piggy back feed.

Basically, that means that they stack themselves in a line, almost one on top of the other. This helps streamline them so that they can swim easier. At one point I was surrounded – left, right, and underneath there were mantas everywhere! I would have to rank this as the #2 marine experience that I have ever had. And from what I have heard, it is very rare to have this happen, so I consider myself very lucky.





































Views of the manta rays from underwater

















The view from above with a group of manta rays swimming around us with open mouths feeding

So what did I miss while snorkeling……the Gauguin museum and the gravesite of Jacques Brel and Gauguin. Oh well.

In the afternoon we repositioned the ship to Puamau and went to one of the most beautiful and significant archaeological sites in the Marquesas. I just love the scenery in the Marquesas. It is so dramatic and lush. We were greeted on shore with leis (I am getting spoiled with that), and here is a photo of the young boy that gave me my lei.


Receiving my flower lei at Puamau

The dancing was fantastic and I love the tattoos of the men. I haven’t yet gotten any good close up photos of the tattoos, but they are really intricate and incredible. Here is a photo of the largest tiki in French Polynesia (about 8 feet tall) with some other statues.


The tikis of Iipona tohua

November 1, 2008 - Nuka Hiva, Marquesas

Today we explored Nuka Hiva. In the morning, we went to Taiohae, which is the capital of the Marquesas. Most of the town was shut down because of All Saints Day. I walked by the Catholic cathedral and listened to the beautiful choral singing and drumming inside. I had a nice time walking around with the passengers and going to a small museum/boutique owned by an American woman named Rose who has lived on the island for 30 years and opened one of the first tourist hotels on the island.

In the afternoon, we repositioned to the other side of the island to Hatiheu. The scenery is just amazing and it was really hard to get a good photo of the surroundings because of the combination of blue sky, clouds, green forest and black stone cliffs. Here is one, but it does not even come close to doing it justice. I feel like my photos are not good – it is so hard to capture the expanse of the scene. I have trouble doing it in Antarctica too.


Nuka Hiva Island

For those Survivor fans out there, this is the bay next to the one where they filmed Survivor Marquesas. I got to drive the zodiacs into shore which was nice, because I love getting out and having my own time spinning around before the passenger shuttle. Anyway, when we got there, we went to a tahoua called Kamuihei, which means “the gathering of the chiefly headdresses”. At this site we saw banyan trees that were over 400 years old. Here is a photo of Michelle next to one of the trees for scale.


Banyan tree

A group of local dancers performed a welcoming dance. I really liked the traditional Marquesan pig-hunting dance, where the men made grunting sounds designed to attract the feral pigs during a hunt.


Dance group at the tahoua

Afterwards, we went to a local restaurant for some food tasting and craft demonstration. I ended up purchasing one of the woodcarvings.

It is beautiful and I met the man who made it. The Marquesan Islands are famous for their rosewood woodcarvings so I was hoping I’d find one that jumped out at me and wanted to come home.

So at this stage since we are a little more than halfway through, please do email me if you want me to write about something in particular or if you’d like to see some photos of something that I have not yet attached, or has not yet been on the A&K log (Jess put a link to that at the top of the blog on the right hand side). Thanks!

October 31, 2008 – Happy Halloween! - Ua Pou

October 31, 2008 – Happy Halloween! - Ua Pou



Today was a great day. We spent the morning at sea and then arrived at Ua Pou in the Marquesas around lunch. When we arrived it was foggy and had been raining. I found out later that this was the first rain in three weeks. Throughout the afternoon, the rain stopped, but it remained overcast for most of the afternoon.

The Marquesas have rugged peaks, cliffs and valleys like Tahiti. This is a stark contrast to the Tuamotu Islands that we had just come from, which are low atolls. There is not much coral reef here, so the focus of the next few days will be the land and the culture.

We arrived on shore greeted with music and leis. The assortment of leis was interesting and I ended up with a lei made completely from cherry tomatoes and mint. We then piled into four-wheel drive trucks and made our way caravan style through the island. I was in the last car with three of the performers and the nurse from the college who was helping out for the day. It was fun going with them – the minute I got into the truck, they offered me a beer and we were on our way.

Despite their limited English I was able to learn a fair bit about the island. I wish I spoke another language. The roads were bumpy but the scenery was amazing. There were fruit trees everywhere and it was incredibly lush. Since it had just rained, there were parts of the road that were covered in flowing water, which we easily crossed in the trucks. We stopped a couple of times to look out over the valley and photos just do not do it justice.


Being welcomed with the sound of the conch shell

Once we got to our final destination, the local children performed some songs and dances for us. It was so cute. Here is a photo of some of the kids posing for us after the dance.


Posing for photos

After the dances, we were able to tour the tohua at our leisure.

Locals had set up craft tables as well as food tasting stations. One of the tables had samples of traditional foods, including four different preparations of breadfruit, the most important traditional starch food of the Marquesas. I especially enjoyed the fried breadfruit and was surprised to find that I liked the breadfruit paste soaked in coconut milk. During the car ride, the guys told me I should try the goat meat in coconut milk. It was very delicious.

There was also a variety of raw seafood, including chiton, sea urchin roe, fish and crab. I was one of the few people who ate the raw fish and tried the chiton, which tasted a lot like its relative, the clam.

The other table was set up with fruits to sample, including mango, papaya, pomelo and passion fruit. Of course I tasted them all. Pomelo is a lot like a grapefruit if you are wondering. It won’t surprise anyone that I spent most of my time tasting food – it is all so good! There were also some crafts there, but I did not buy anything.


Delicious local food

Since today is Halloween, we decided we should have a party with the guests. I dressed up as a pirate using some of the supplies that we had on the ship. I was most impressed with the creativity of the passengers. People used their sheets, towels, makeup and creativity to come up with costumes like sumo wrestler and “e” male (mail). We also had a party with the crew later in the night. I think my favorite costume was Quasimodo.


Marcia in her best beauty queen pose as Miss New Zealand, Michelle as a spider, and myself as a pirate.

October 30, 2008 - At Sea

Today we were at sea the entire day steaming for the Marquesas. It was a nice day and the sea was not too rough. I spent most of the day listening to lectures and learning more about this area from the other expedition staff. Everyone is very knowledgeable. I also snuck in a mid afternoon nap, which was very nice.

I am feeling pretty sunburned today. Overnight, my sunburn settled in and turned out to be worse than I had thought. Yes, I have been using sunscreen, but I guess it doesn’t work when you are in and out of the water for five hours. It is blotchy sunburn and hopefully today’s rest out of the direct sun will help it turn to tan faster. The only thing that hurts is my lip. It seems that most of the staff managed to burn their bottom lips, so we all look like someone snuck into our rooms and gave us collagen injections in the middle of the night.

The photos today are of views from the ship during our cruise. Jess requested that I include a photo of the bow of the ship looking out, since this is normally what I include on trips where I am sailing through ice. I have included it so that you can compare it to another photo from a different climate.

The other photo is of a double rainbow I spotted while up on the bridge this evening just as the sun was beginning to set.



View off of the bow of the Clipper Odyssey




Double rainbow