Dec 3- Nuku Hiva, The Marquesas Islands

Going

Sunset

Gone

Last evening we saw another spectacular sunset as we watched the sun quickly slip below the water. One of the things Ed Sobey said in the lecture about the Equator is that the nearer that spot the quicker the sunsets- and we certainly saw that last night.  The sky was incredible and then the sun was gone!

Lorraine as Moneypenny

The main entertainment for the evening, the creation of Lorraine, our cruise director, was our favorite thing on this cruise line – a 007 James Bond Party. Martinis of all kinds, “shaken but not stirred, were served. Plus, anything else anyone wanted to drink could be delivered quickly to your seat in the theater. Clips from Bond movies showed on the screen. The Regent Orchestra played Bond music. The singers and dancers gave wonderful performances of various musical pieces. A game of Bond trivia pitting the guests against the staff was fun. The guests won (6 ½ to 4 ½ ) in spite of the fact that the staff made up the questions. Made for a delightful early evening.

007 Bond Party

After dinner in the Compass Rose Dining Room, there was another special event featuring the music of the Beatles. It was held in the Horizon Lounge. Jim went but I decided not to go. The place was mobbed with great music and lots of dancing- according to Jim who enjoyed the event very much.

Today is our first day in the group of islands called French Polynesia. Nuku Hiva is the biggest of the Marquesas Islands, the “roof beam” of the “Great House” -which represents the Marquesas archipelago in the local mythology- has a mountain range that runs the length of the desert lands in the west. There is an agricultural region in the middle and a lush valley on the other side. This is the second largest island in French Polynesia with Tahiti being the largest.

While Nuku Hiva has been inhabited by Polynesian explorers since 150 BC, western visitors who have been enthralled by this gem of French Polynesia include Jack London, Robert Louis Stevenson, Herman Melville and Paul Gauguin. Nuku Hiva is a beautiful volcanic island with mountains topping 3,700 feet high, with jagged walls that suddenly plunge into the immense ocean below. Melville called it “a country that no description could fit the beauty”.

We are anchored off Taiohae Bay and were tendered to shore. We didn’t do a tour so we waited until the “open tender” announcement and made our way down to the tenders. Ashore we just wandered around to view the scenery- mostly vendors selling handicrafts.

This morning the deck was once again covered in salt. Jim said I didn’t need to use a saltshaker for my eggs this morning- I could just shake my clothes. There were even my footprints left on the deck in the salt.  And the balcony got a good cleaning yesterday.  I used to have a magnet on the refrigerator declaring “Keeping house is like threading beads on a strong no knot at the end” and this keeping the balcony salt free is certainly an example of that.

Since Los Angeles we have sailed 4,618 miles. 

Here is a picture of where we are exactly at the moment.