Fatu Hiva is definitely my favourite island so far. Its wild and exaggerated scenery and abundant and varied vegetation is the reason. The other reason is that I hiked 14.2km across the island from one small village to another so I got to see it in detail to make my judgement.
The hike began at 830am from the village of Omoa where we arrived at 730am by barge. Omoa is small and quite plain. But not its people. They are far from plain. Dressed in every colour under the sun and with floral patterns to fill Wikipedia. Just before the hike we were given a demo on how local make Tapa which is a fabric or paper made of plant fibres. It all starts with the wood of the Mulberry Tree. Its bark is removed and then an inner lining is peeled away and bashed into Tapa. Presto. Most tapa is used as paper or a canvas on which artwork is painted depicting local life and customary patterns similar to the tattoos which most islanders carry. The little old lady that made the Tapa then showed us how flower arrangements are put together for women’s hair – like a floral head band. It is not just flowers but herbs like basil and lemongrass so the object is look nice and smell nice. Clever.
The first 5km of the hike was step. Lucky for us there was heavy cloud and the odd brief shot of rain. The views of Omoa at the top are breathtaking but the best was yet to come. The top is smothered in thick and varied vegetation. Trees and bushes of every shape and size. No point to describe in details since the photos below paint a thousand words. At the 6km mark I was ahead of everyone and all alone – just the way I like it. The isolation is exhilarating to me. I reached the summit of this wall at 10am which is at 665m. It is not the highest point on the island. Lunch was terrific. Several trays of tuna puree, cheese slices, ham slices, prosciutto slices, tomato, cucumber and lettuce were all there to fill half a baguette. Delicious. Plenty of cold orange cordial and fruit to further sweeten the experience. Lunch was at the 9km mark so not log to go. The post lunch hike was the best. Downhill and easily more scenic than the pre-lunch experience. The descent into the village of Hanavave is unforgettable and jaw-dropping. A narrow, curvy, hairpin, narrow cement road defines it. The village of Hanavave is jammed between towering walls of volcanic ridges adorned with vegetation and palm trees. An entrance fit for Royalty !!! I arrived at Noon having completed the 14.4km in 2.5hrs without breaks. I sent the drone up in both Omoa and Hanavave and was happy with that – no blockages on this island because there is no airport. I had intended to swim but decided to return to the ship to meet the engineer who was fixing my Mac Air. I was anxious that I was now 4 days behind on my blog with mountains of photos to cull and enhance. I hit gold. Joseph, the engineer was waiting for me at reception and took me to a luxury cabin on the Deck 6. Inside was my Mac Air, on and copying files from hard disk to my external SSD. A sight for sore eyes. I was so relieved. Joseph is a university qualified electrical engineer originally from the Philippines but working all over the world on ships. He is in his early thirties and like me chose ships so he could see the world and get paid for it !!! Good plan. He then spoke a few Greek words to me and I almost fell off my chair. Joseph had spent 5 years working on a Greek Freighter. He had also read some of my blogs while copying my files and found out I had Greek heritage. Excellent detective work Joseph !!! Joseph then explained to me what was wrong with my Mac. It is exactly the same as a car battery that needs a jump start to power the starter motor. In the case of the Mac my battery was dead but the Mac needs some charge in the battery as well as the AC power to make it through the start-up. Joseph had not opened my Mac or bypassed the battery. It took him 20-30 attempts and the start-up made it with just AC. Once on it stayed on. I cannot shut it down – just close the lid for hibernation since AC is ample to de-hibernate. I was so happy. I completed the copy. Terranesia was now on SSD and not my Mac hard drive. I was now ready to use Werner’s laptop and later, a new Mac from Papeete. In my excitement I had a super fast shower and proceeded to Deck 9 to post 18JUN and 19JUN. What a relief. That night dinner was a celebration for me and I slept like a baby…
FATU HIVA STATS:
Distance from Papeete: 1,413km
Size compared to Sydney: 0.7% (10km by 6km)
Coastline: 59km
Population: 677
Highest Peak: 1,125m
Claim to Fame: The southernmost island in Marquesas with no airport and just one small port.
Here's proof of why this is my favourite island so far (at least the favourite Marquesas Island)…
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