Now that we are heading back to San Diego, we had to put our clocks forward 30 minutes last night before our arrival into Nuka Hiva. It was an unusual amount but tomorrow night and over the next couple of few days we will lose an hour each day until we are back on Pacific time.
Something else which has happened with travelling back in an north-easterly direction is that my cabin now gets the morning sun instead of the sunsets I was getting on the way down. I much prefer to see sunrise and go out onto the balcony in the morning rather than having the hotter afternoon sun come onto the balcony and into the cabin.
Something else which has happened with travelling back in an north-easterly direction is that my cabin now gets the morning sun instead of the sunsets I was getting on the way down. I much prefer to see sunrise and go out onto the balcony in the morning rather than having the hotter afternoon sun come onto the balcony and into the cabin.
Today Sandy, a Cruise Critic member, arranged a private tour of Nuka Hiva, part of the Marquesas Islands, for 24 of us. After tendering ashore together as a group we met Jocelyn, our local guide, and boarded a mini bus. HAL offered a similar, although shorter and most costly, tour but as there is a scarcity of public transport on the island, their tour group was divided between a number of 4WDs and went in convey around the island’s top spots, only receiving the commentary when they were all together at a site. We, on the other hand, were able to listen to Jocelyn as we travelled from one spot to the next.
For those passengers who couldn’t do a tour, they really missed out on seeing a very lush and scenic island. As mentioned, HAL’s tour was limited to just over 100 passengers and with our tour of 24, which meant that a lot of passengers were mainly restricted to staying in the small port unless they went to a nearby resort for a swim.
For the most part I enjoyed our tour, even though I was sitting near the rear of the bus, over the wheel, concertinaed in without much leg-room. This wasn’t what detracted from the tour (any bus has to be more comfortable than my African overland trip last year). What upset a few others and myself were a couple of our fellow passengers who were very rude, especially to our guide, and for the most part it was totally unwarranted.
Nevertheless, Nuka Hiva was an interesting island with horses and goats tethered along the roadsides and very high scenic vantage points. We even stopped to overlook the beach where ‘Survivor Marquesas’ was filmed. Apparently it looked very isolated when the survivors arrived by sea – little did they know that they were only about 2 miles away from stores selling wine, soft drinks and food!
Just as we arrived back in the port, the heavens opened up and it rained. Most people queued to go back to the ship by tender so there was a long wait, with many passengers having to stand in the rain.
I had 18750 CPF to spend (about US$18.75) as it wouldn’t be worth taking home so I visited the local craft stalls. By the time I walked from stall to stall and then up to the supermarket I was well and truly resembling a half drowned rat. I did, though, make a couple of purchases so that I have come away with 7 CPF (7 cents) left.
Once I got back on the ship, it was after 4.30 pm so I raced up to the Lido to grab a slice of pizza as a late lunch then hit the shower. My dilemma was that I put just about all my clothes in for laundry service this morning so left myself only two days’ worth of clean clothes to last until my laundry comes back tomorrow evening. With today’s clothes wet, I had to change into my outfit for tomorrow, hand washing today’s clothes and hoping they dry by tomorrow morning.
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