PARADISE LOST MARCH 24th 2020

Well, what a difference a day makes!  We are better off than many. Taipan is tied up in Tiana Marina in Tahiti French Polynesia. It's cool with the air-con on and we've dock water and electricity. There are a lot of worse places to be. 

Taina Marina Papeete Tahiti

A lot has happened since my last post in early November.

First, there was my birthday and a beautiful locally carve bowl from Nuku Hiva was a lovely surprise from David.

In early December, Ua Pou hosted the fabulous Festival of Marquesas. Ou Pou is a small but spectacular island with large volcanic cores piercing the skyline and is situated just 25nm south of Nuku Hiva. 

Hakahetau anchorage. Ua Pou Marquesas.

After one aborted attempt to anchor in the tenuous bay at Hakahetau, we did get a spot and were able to attend the events. This required a lot of planning. The break on the dock where we had to land dinghies was at times, furious, and required supreme agility to scale the concrete pier to safety between swells and the return in the dead of night, was just as exciting. We all had to deploy stern anchors, as the swell inside the bay was big and the anchorage very tight. A lot of boats had turned up to go to the festival.

On a fine day with no swell, it was lovely.

The small village of Hakahetau with beautiful gardens and fruit trees and a small supermarket provided a friendly welcome. We did some walks into the mountains to explore the ancient house platforms, pae pae, and to see a waterfall.  

Herve waterfall and some remains of a once-thriving village.

These islands were first inhabited between AD900 and 1100, were once heavily populated but over 90% were wiped out by disease when whalers, missionaries, navies and traders arrived in the 1700 and 1800s. A reminder of what the world faces today! There are numerous remnants of archaeological importance all over the archipelago, with house platforms, sacrifice sites and meeting place platforms scattered throughout the island's valleys. 

Rapanui dancers

A link to New York Times travel blog. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/travel/13explorer.html. And a link to a brief explanation in Lonely Planet https://www.lonelyplanet.com/french-polynesia/the-marquesas/background/history/a/nar/a074c10d-5189-4eff-b244-0a888a32a57d/362943

The festival itself was exceptional. It's only held every 4 years and involves teams from each of the 6 inhabited  Islands. This year a guest appearance, and one of the highlights, was a small team from Rapanui. (Easter Island, Not a Marquesan Island. Chile), The Island groups of up to 100 participants practice for months and the final effect is an outstanding celebration of traditional music, costumes and dance. 

Huge drums beet out frantic rhythm for the dancers

The event was held over 4 days, and often well into the night, at Hakahau, an hour each way from our anchorage, by taxi, over rough gravel roads. We had watched several practice sessions in Nuku Hiva but were unprepared for the diversity and scale of the event. In the hot sun, teams often danced and sang for over an hour each. Check out the photos and I will also try to load some video.

Returning to Nuku Hiva and Tahoe Bay after the festival, we prepared for Xmas, with friends flying in from Tahiti to join us, and another Australian boat, Perigee. Taipan and Perigee shared the preparation and venues for an all Australian Xmas. Everything was done to excess as it usually is and our livers may never fully recover.

In the midst of this frivolity, I received news that my father was seriously ill. Sadly I didn't make it home before he passed, aged 97 and having lived a full and active life. He passed in his home on the farm. I flew back to Australia immediately anyway, arriving on New Years Day. Here I caught up with family and friends after a horror 50-hour trip. I spent 3 weeks in Mount Barker, WA, with my brother. Between jobs, we fed cows and had a fly over the countryside and the coast in Vern's Cessna A real highlight.

Quarenup/ The old quarantine station in Albany. May have to be re opened

Catching up with family.

There was even a ride with my grandaughter.

As I left Tahiti I had a nasty surprise at the immigration counter and was told I would not be allowed to return as my Visa was expired. Another long story. There were long days and longer skype calls between myself and David who was all alone in Nuku Hiva without any way to leave without triggering the same problem. Nowhere to leave Taipan as cyclone season was in full swing. After a lot of anxiety and tears, we managed to get a Recepisse. (all in French) A document which should have been issued to us when The Haute Commissioner was in receipt of our Long Stay Visa Documentation which we had lodged in October. We were unaware of the Recepisse document. Anyway, it all smoothed out and on the 21st of January, I flew back as far as Auckland before  I was stopped and they refused to let me board my Tahiti flight... There ensued a lengthy and sometimes heated exchange between myself and several of the international flight desk staff before a French-speaking staff member was dredged up from a backroom and having read my documentation, promptly stamped me and gave me a boarding pass. By now my stress levels and my temper were almost at the same level!

The drive back down into Taohoe Bay Nuku Hiva. The Canyon

David met me in Tahiti and we enjoyed a couple of nights aboard Capal Mara at Tiana Marina with our good friends John and Sal before returning to Taipan in Nuka Hiva Another 5-hour flight.

The magnificent and wild hinterlands of Nuku Hiva.

Homecoming flowers from my Captain.

All seemed to be sweet. Life was good. I was home. Unpacking completed and just settling in when I felt a painful pop in my back. Taking it easy for a few days it didn't seem to improve it, and by day five it was the weekend and the pain was pretty extraordinary. Day 6 I decided to go to the doctor the following day. Monday, I was just too sore so delayed. By Tuesday I just had to make the effort to get into the dingy and get to the hospital. Well, that came to a grinding halt on the dock because by then I couldn’t walk at all. A lovely local spotted the problem and promptly grabbed his vehicle and raced David and me to emergency. Short story. I was in there for 14 days. The pain was excruciating and it took three days to get some control. The staff at the Louis  Rollins hospital in Nuku Hiva were outstanding and Doctors including several specialists, also very very good. After a fortnight I could walk about 10 meters if I remained bent at 45°. Without CT or MRI the hospital could provide no diagnosis. They only had X-ray and couldn’t determine what nerve damage I had sustained. Our Travel Insurance, Total Insurance Direct (Aust) would not consent to fly me to Tahiti for diagnosis so back to the boat I went.

In happier days with Janika off Leela after our workshop making floral head pieces.

After a week aboard, the father of our very good sailing friends from SY Sentijn, ( https://sentijn.wordpress.com ) USA,  flew to Nuku Hiva from California on 12 hours notice to help us sail Taipan to Tahiti. My vets from Capal Mara had been consulting during the whole 'de bark al' and had advised "cage rest" so I was duly confined to the cabin, while David and Tim wrestled with Taipan alone!! 

David and Tim arrive to take me to Tahiti.

We left Nuku Hiva in very light conditions on February 24th and motored almost the whole  780 nm. We did stop in Fakarava for 24 hours to await the passing of a trough with lots of wind and rain. From Fakarava to Tahiti it was a little rough with the remnant swell providing some unpleasant roll. Overall, they made a pretty fine show of it without me and I will be eternally grateful to Tim Pennington for making the long mercy dash to assist. 

One of many highly decorative buildings in Papeete

Several specialist appointments and a CT scan revealed a herniated disk and nerve impingement in my lower back. (Insurance had gone to ground and we expect they are busy right now) I was advised to have a spinal injection and expect to go to surgery, due to the severity but in the next few days I had some signs of improvement then the COVID19 thing went berserk so I elected to keep clear of the hospital and see how much improvement I could get.

Gathered with Capal Mara and Perigee.

It's nearly 3 weeks since we arrived in Tahiti and I'm walking better and the pain has decreased. Beyond that, the Virus has gone mad and the world governments responses have followed far too slowly in my humble opinion. 

Inventory of onboard stores before lockdown.

David and I jumped into isolation as soon as we heard that countries were closing borders so as of today we've been in isolation aboard Taipan since the 10th of March and are asymptomatic. Only on the 21st of March Tahiti closed everything down with 23 confirmed cases and a population of roughly 190,000 people. Everyone except for essential services is home isolated for 14 days.....including schools!…. We are provisioned aboard for about 4 months if necessary and will wait and see how it all pans out before we will know what our options are. 

Maybe we will get a tattoo!!

We’ve been in French Polynesia since last October. The Authorities here have advises that we can stay but must remain isolated aboard. That isn’t a problem for us. We are not permitted to swim off the boat though and that's a pain when my back could have really benefited! We can find jobs aboard to do to keep us busy. Trips to the supermarket will be allowed with strict guidelines and you must carry ID and show a special form, but we won’t have to do that any time soon. 

We have no set plans. At the moment all we could do is head straight to Australia direct. All the other countries are closed to yachts. 3700nm to Cairns! so like everyone else we sit tight, stay home and wait! Stay safe and well everyone.

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