Located on the north coast of Nuka Hiva, a good 4 hour sail for us from Nuka Hiva, is a picturesque bay. We had been told of the quiet anchorage and with only one other boat to share it with we were happy to make landfall and create sandcastles on the beach every afternoon. With large hills and sharp rocks looming, the outlook is dramatic; but we focused on the water and sand, and were content with lovely afternoon strolls along the beach looking for shells to collect.
After speaking with Steven the day before, Joel decided he would try and see if there were any lobster to catch. He headed out snorkelling after breakfast and the girls and I kept busy on the boat. After two hours had gone by, I started to worry that perhaps I should have been keeping a closer eye on Joel, checking he hadn’t drifted out of the bay, or been attacked by a shark! But after a while, I heard the familiar sound of snorkel breathing and he emerged from under the boat, saying he’d been spearfishing with Steven who had joined him, and now we were all invited to lunch on the beach.
Brilliant. We got ourselves ready, not really sure what to take when your host lives off the land. But we packed cups and plates just in case. We hadn’t been landed long, and Steven got us to work. Joel was to clean and gut the fish down by the water (which attracted a small shark to hang around the shallows of the water for a good while). Then he showed me how to grind, or grate the coconut flesh out of a cut coconut, using a homemade tool. So there I was sitting on a car battery – perfect height apparently, with a timber board on top with this sharp grinding tool taped to it, scraping the raw coconut out of the husk. The girls just busied themselves looking about, playing on bits of timber and finding the piglets. The coconut that I had grated, and Steven eventually took over as I was a bit slow, was then placed into palm tree bark and squeezed by Joel, to make the milk. We used the milk to eat some of the ‘Poisson Cru’ that Steven had made already with the raw fish, soaking it in some lemon juice and then placing it in the bowl of coconut milk, which was sweet and tasty – delicious!
Before we ate lunch we went on a walk to get some more treats. We were constantly fed as we walked, stopping to get mangoes and oranges along the way. And when we needed a drink, – fresh coconut water helped us wash it down. It is truly amazing what can come from the earth. Our walk was very special we later found out, as Steven picked us mangoes and took us further into the forest we could hear a wild pig cry out – Steven would later try to catch it, and bees buzzing all around. We stopped to have special Marquesan mangoes, these are much smaller and very sweet. This variety can only be found here, on some of the islands of Marquises, and Steven is adamant that it remains that way, not allowing the seeds to be taken offshore. While enjoying these special specimens he pointed out a bee hive that was in a tree nearby. He started a fire to calm the bees (meanwhile I’m thinking, the Benadryl is on-board the boat if anyone of us gets stung!) and proceeded to stick his knife in the tree. We scrapped our fingers along the edge to retrieve the lovely, sweet honey; mostly produced from the mango trees surrounding the hive. Needless to say it was delicious!
We are only the 3rd boat of people he has allowed to accompany him to this special place since he has been living on the island (3 months). So as we sat there perched on rocks, where wild pigs had been recently (he had pointed out their scat); covered in sticky mango juice and honey, I thought this is really experiencing an adventure. We had no water, no wipes or sanitizer – and we survived. Of course I’ll need to wash our clothes to get out the smell of smoke and sticky smears off, but it was good to just be there, in that moment, without worrying where and whatelse his knife had cut as I scrapped my finger down its’ blade, only to then lick my finger –which in itself you could hardly call clean!
Lunch, once we were back on the beach and washed up a bit, consisted of fish and rice served on green leaves, on top of our plates (which I doubt would have been used had we not brought them). Can you believe the girls ate it all up, without blinking an eyelid that they could see a whole little fish on their plate. Gracie kept asking for more fish, saying ‘turn it over Mum’ like an expert. After sharing a drink of local beer, made from a local fruit they call ‘Marqusean ice-cream’ we waved goodbye and swam out to the dinghy. A fantastic few hours, felt like endless time. We did and saw so much. It was an experience unlike any other.