Yesterday we moved on again, we are ultimately heading for Nuku Hiva, via Ua-huka but had heard of a good anchorage on the North side of Hiva oa which was our destination.
We arrived in the early afternoon and anchored in the middle of a deep bay, both sides steep and covered in scrub but at the head of the bay a sand beach, backed with coconut palms leading to a long flat valley.
After lunch we launched the dingy and set off to explore, the main draw was the description we had heard of a small fresh water pool and water fall.
Amongst the coconuts there were a few houses so we introduced our selves to the owners, friendly people living in an extremely isolated place, no road access, a 7 hour walk or an hour by motor boat roj the nearest village. They farmed fruit and made beautiful wood and stone carvings. They were very generous and gave us permission to swim in their pool. We wallowed in what, to us, now seemed like cold water but was probably 18 degrees, it was lovely.
Launching the dingy in the surf we all ended up salty again but it had been a lovely thing to do.
After a quiet night at anchor we were up early and off by 5, hoping to make Ua-huka before dark.
Tim