Nuku Hiva
March 17th, & 18th
Hiva Oa
March 19th & 20th
Photos by Ellen - 5th
time Visitor to Tahiti
Travelogue by Paula - First time Visitor to Tahiti
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Our last stop in the Marquesas was Hiva Oa, the final home of the French artist Paul Gauguin. Gauguin’s memory is fresh in the minds of the people we met both in Tahiti and on Hiva Oa. Frida, our guide for our island tour and archeological site adventure related a story passed down through a great uncle about Gauguin coming to the defense of the town’s people in Atuona in fighting to lift the rationing of the amount of wine they could purchase. The French had no restrictions on their wine consumption but the Marquesans were limited to only one bottle in a certain time period. Evidently he became so angered he punched the head of the gendarmes and was sent to jail for a few weeks. While this no doubt endeared him to the drinking population the more pious even to this day are critical of his having taken up with young girls who were much less than half his age, while leaving behind a wife and family in France. Yet all will agree he was a genius as an artist and that his paintings capture the fantasy of the South Pacific in the imagination of the world. The Paul Gauguin museum is located on the grounds where he lived in Atuona and a replica of his "house of pleasure" has been reconstructed. The museum displayed a large body of his island works, but keep in mind, these are all reproductions. None of his work remains on the islands. The emphasis here is his paintings along with a time line of the major events of his life. So, even if you are familiar with his major paintings there are dozens of lesser known works on display that are well worth seeing. Having come so far to discover the attraction of a place that lured a 19th century Parisian artist deeper into the natural world, still further away than Papeete; which he still found too tarnished by so called civilization, we concluded our outing by paying our respect at his grave side. Even in death he found a setting like no other. The hill side grave yard offers breathtaking views of the bay below leading out to the great blue beyond while being surrounded by sheer green towering mountain sides that plunge to the bay below.
The spectacular view from our hotel, the Hankee Hiva Oa Pearl Cottages, was much the same, as it was about a five minute drive to the town of Atuona. The roads are paved from the airport to the hotel and the transfer is no more than fifteen minutes. But, once you travel beyond the immediate area of the town or the airport you will need a 4X4 vehicle. We were fortunate to meet Frida who shared family stories, legends and good deal of island history from the time of contact with the west to the present. Frida is very down to earth despite her relation to the remaining royal Tahitian families. The genealogy which she related was difficult to follow, but she brought the past to life making it easy to imagine the events she related to us and the characters she recreated from generations ago. The setting itself has much to do with the past being so vibrant for one sense that not much has changed on the islands, even the roads in use today that circumnavigate the islands were mapped out and built over two hundred years ago. Dating further in time are the fascinating ten foot high stone tiki statues known as “Takai” on the grounds of the Te Iipona archeological sites near the town of Puamau. Fisherman, are still capturing a special meal for the weekend, children ride bareback in the surf, cobra dries by the roadside for the production of oils and perfume and the home-made Marquesan lunch at Marie- Antoinette’s house in the village of Puamau is as authentic as it gets. The spread prepared for each guest table would be enough to feed four times as many diners. Marie- Antoinette is quite elderly and her daughter and niece are mostly in charge of preparing the many courses, but according to Frida, Marie- Antoinette still contributes a significant amount of time maintaining the time honored recipies. Here we were introduced to: breadfruit fries, goat in coconut milk, manohe cake with oil and sugar, poe, a boiled banana with tapioca, and carambol juice from a local fruit and of course her special version of poison cru.
Highlight of Hiva Oa: We had reached the turn around point of our journey and while there was still so much we wished we could explore on the island we had a very strong appreciation and understanding of the power of the beauty of the land and of the people to captivate those wishing to escape the 21st century. With so little intrusion from the modern world we could easily picture Gauguin with his sketch pad or easel at hand to record forever a paradise that still exist to this day.
I hope these writing awaken the same desire in you to travel to the South Pacific and see for yourself one of the world’s brightest jewels… Tahiti and Her Islands
