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| A Bastille Day reveler holding the unknowing main ingredient in the Gyro we ate later |
So it had been 8 months since our last visit to the US and we were long overdue for some serious socializing with relatives and friends. We sailed L'ORIENT to Nuku Hiva (where we were planning on leaving her with a boat watcher... kind of a nautical baby sitter). And we timed it perfectly because Bastille Day (a kind of French Mardi-Gras) was happening as we arrived. As Nuku Hiva has only 2,200 people, imagine Mardi-Gras in New Orleans and subtract 5,000,000 people........and you've got it.
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Creative float or Nuku Hiva's least experienced driving instructor?
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| Bastille parade. What's with old folks and white shoes, anyway ? |
But the effort and creativity were there. Virtually every vendor, store or organization participated in a quaint local parade.........including 5 Toyota Hilux pickup trucks driving in formation (for no other reason than they looked similar, apparently). They were followed by 6 people who worked at the local 7-11 equivalent marching in their, well, 7-11 uniforms. Very quaint. There was music, horse racing on the beach, and plenty of what you might call "school spirit". Oh, and like EVERY Polynesian celebration, there was dancing and food. Tons of food.
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| A lower tech parade participant- baby is probably not too happy but well camouflaged |
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| Some locals from the deep woods in Nuku Hiva probably wondering why we dress so weirdly |
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| Ouch- riding with no saddle |
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| Racing in the bay at low tide; tidal range makes this a swim a few hours later |
Every night after Bastille Day and for the remainder of July, temporary restaurants spring up in downtown and the entire island dines and is entertained by dancers, musicians, and, of course, locals with megaphones. When July ends, the temporary structures completely disappear magically. We often wondered why they just don't do this all the time if it's so popular but never got a clear answer. We loved it - a really spectacular time to be part of the culture in Nuku Hiva.
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| See and be seen in Nuku Hiva - enough partying to last 11 months |
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| Erecting a temporary restaurant; zoning, health department, and certificate of occupancy were obviously taken care of at breath-taking speed by these lightning fast regulators of such things. |
Bastille day and daily meals out were fun, but we had a few days before leaving the boat so we decided to explore a few nearby obscure bays........the first one being Daniel's Bay. Hmmm. Daniel's Bay, I've heard that name before. We did a quick internet search. Yes, Daniel's Bay is famous. It seems that in 2011 a German cruiser went on a hike with a local and never came back..........at least not all of him came back.......he was killed and cannibalized by a local who then also attacked his female partner. She barely escaped with her life. It is an absolutely awful story that received significant global coverage at the time. It also reminded us that we have been so lucky to only have positive experiences while living this crazy life. We found ourselves pouring over the Polynesian legal code to make sure that the sentencing guidelines for murder and inappropriate "handling" of a body exceeded 11 years (i.e. he wasn't back from the big house yet). The thing about these villages and bays in Nuku Hiva and other small islands is that they are generally owned by a single extended family. The perp might be in the big house, but these are probably his people.
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| Daniel's Bay- our own little oasis in rolly, rolly Nuku Hiva |
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| L'ORIENT peacefully anchored in paradise |
Daniel's Bay advertised a waterfall hike so we decided to attempt the four hour trek. We realized we were likely walking among this cannibal's family members but whatever. They seemed quite nice.
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| Proving yet again that there is no such thing as bad publicity |
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| These old tikis are a constant reminder that Europeans were at least 1000 years late to this party |
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| Another stream to traverse on our walk |
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| Billions of hungry no-nos just waiting for us |
We ended up being cannibalized anyway, but not by them. Let me explain........walking into the deep woods, we applied "Deep Woods Off", our go-to insecticide. Problem- the hike involved traversing 6 streams which were in some cases waist deep. Off went our Off, so to speak, and we were unprotected. And that was too bad because the most vicious, insidious, and carnivorous bug you can imagine lives in these woods and is innocuously called the "no-no". You can't see them, and we were massacred by them. A no-no bite takes about 3 weeks to heal and is incredibly itchy. I personally counted 30 bites on my left leg, some of which I still have scars from 5 weeks later.
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| A path and no river to cross; I'm in heaven |
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| An overgrown ancient settlement......kind of spooky and hopefully not cursed |
Another fun incident from this walk was a chance encounter with a local. He was about 30 and had Polynesian tattoos EVERYWHERE, even across his face. He was wearing a loin cloth type garment and was walking around near his makeshift settlement (a couple of open air shelters). The thing is, he wasn't dressed this way for tourists, putting on a show, or anything. This was his life. Kind of a shock to the system that these folks aren't "pretending" or mugging for tourist dollars. This dude is basically a subsistence farmer and member of a clan spanning miles through this jungle.
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| Typical local dwelling- about three miles from literally everything |
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| The cruel irony of the trip; the waterfall had run largely dry when we got there ! |
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| Uh, Kirstin.....Where the "H***" is the waterfall you promised ? |
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| Final score- Jungle 1- Man 0. No idea how this got there as there is no road or dock |
Surviving the death march, we left Nuku Hiva shortly thereafter and flew Nuku Hiva to Papeete (three hrs), Papeete to San Francisco (eight hours), San Francisco to Miami (six hours) and drove two hours Miami to Naples for a visit with my mother, our first stop.
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| Papeete airport anchorage- the long trek home begins here |
Visiting Mom was a lot of fun and we ate out virtually every meal as restaurant cuisine was something we had missed for eight months. We were joined by my sis and bro for a few days and caught up. Great times. Even things like IHOP were wonderful. Mom helped us make the rounds at her favorite haunts in Naples and a good time was had by all. It was also necessary to visit all my Naples-based physicians although my high pressure marketing dentist may have lost me as a patient.........unsolicited free estimates on work I don't need pushed me too far. If my doctors want to impress me, go and discover a water-proof insect repellent.
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| Great to have the gang together again |
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| Back from the jungle- if you have a health license, we're willing to eat here. |
From Naples, we went to Wisconsin to visit Kirstin's Dad (she actually had arrived there a few days before I did). Kirstin used her head start to solve tech problems, organize our 250 lbs of boat parts we had shipped there, and had some time left over for visits to her dad's favorite restaurant haunts. We marveled at the cost of food there, especially wine. Matua Sauvignon Blanc that travels 6000 miles from the maker in New Zealand to central Wisconsin ? $11..............Same wine that travels only 2000 miles from the maker to Tahiti? $35 - if you're lucky. Also caught a really good antique car show (as I told Kirstin there is no such thing as a bad car show).
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| The traditional daddy-daughter speed boat ride down the Fox River |
From there, we traveled to Chicago to visit with the windy city's newest citizen, our own Princess Emily. She is beginning an MBA at Northwestern University and now living in a swanky downtown address that is close to EVERYTHING and overlooks the lake. We found ourselves aspiring to have the life she's created in only 27 years. You want your kids to do better than you, but it should never happen this fast............did Kirstin and I underachieve?
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| At 27, Emily still gets carded (and sometimes double carded) everywhere |
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| Just hope she remembers our names at her Nobel Prize acceptance speech |
The final stop on our trip was a visit with Ryan in Nashville. There, we were entertained by Liz (his girlfriend) and the new puppy Heidi. As a lover of dogs and touched that Ryan named Heidi after his favorite childhood dog, I was especially excited to snuggle this cute ball of fur. But Heidi is quite rambunctious.........so much so that she is back at her second stint in puppy boot camp to try to calm her down a bit. It seems we didn't help much as new people seem to "sugar her up". Anyway, a lovely animal and incredibly cute. Visits with Ryan are always punctuated by upscale sporting events and this visit was no exception........Ryan bought us club level seats to see the MLS's Nashville SC team play and demolish Dallas FC 4-0. The club level seats entitled us to free food, drinks, and a level of service that I could definitely get used to. Having aristocrats as children has its advantages.
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| Trying to keep it close at bubble-hockey, but alas...another stinging loss |
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| Some "club level" cavorting at the soccer match |
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| A rare quiet moment with my grand-puppy, who can do NO WRONG in poppy's eyes |
If you've read our blog before you know how this ends. 250 pounds of boat parts schlepped thousands of miles costs close to a thousand dollars in additional baggage fees. But there was one win which buoyed us at the end. The customs official in Papeete asked if we had anything to declare. "No" was the answer. He X-rayed the bag and saw our huge load of boat parts, large and small. I told him I had all the paperwork and they were all tax exempt as we are a yacht in transit (I believe these are now called "alternative facts" in today's lexicon). He sighed, looked again at the x-ray, thought about the 90 minute battle that was about to begin.........us arguing part by part what, if any, tax there should be. He clearly didn't have the stamina for this knock-down drag-out battle royale. He just said "have a nice day" and sat back down. I'm not holding one now, but Mr. Customs Agent........this Bud's for you.
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| Supply ship showing little regard for L'ORIENT as he backs out of the bay |
