It’s Sunday, and we are still in Fatu Hiva, still apparently out
\nof sight of the gendarme. Many of the other boats who came in
\nabout the same time as we did are also still here. Guess no-one
\nis anxious to leave, and the gendarme is not terribly
\nconsciencious about identifying the new boats. Good. We heard
\nthat there will be a customs boat coming here this week, and
\nthey apparently come boat to boat making sure everyone is
\nofficially registered. We are planning to move on in a few days
\nanyways. Yesterday was the big once a month event when the
\nsupply boat comes in to Fatu Hiva from Papeete. It also carries
\nabout 100 tourists – and offers a very interesting way for
\npeople to visit several of the islands in the Marquesas if they
\ndo not have their own boats. We went to town to watch the
\nfestivities, but it was actually very low key. All of the
\ntourists from the boat were shuttled in on small launches and
\nwere milling around the dock and most of the sailers were also
\nmilling around. The locals had set out tables with fruit and
\npassed out fresh coconut milk, and did a few dances, and played
\nmusic. The boat unloaded a lot of supplies, including two
\nhorses which someone apparently had bought from another island.
\nThe local artisans were selling their wares, but they are not
\nthat great so we just had a glass of coconut milk and went for a
\nwalk to look for limes and other fruit.
\nOn the way back to our boat we were called over by our friends
\non Vera who had prepared a delicious pasta dinner and wanted us
\nto join them. It is funny, but in some ways it is like being in
\nIsrael where people are always dropping by or inviting you over.
\n When we eventually made our way back to our boat we were
\ncalled over yet again by our friends on Intiaq. They were
\nholding up a big dead fish for us. Apparently the boat with the
\n5 young South Africans that is anchored behind us had done some
\nfishing that evening and knew we were still trying to get some
\nfresh fish, so they came by to drop one off for us, and finding
\nus not home, they left it with our neighbors. It was a funny
\npresent to receive – a big silver glassy eyed fish sitting in a
\ntupperware container. We were excited to get it though, and
\npromptly put it in the fridge for dinner the next night.
\nToday, Sunday, was a pretty quiet day here. I am finding I need
\nto be more creative with cooking as there is so little to buy,
\nso I baked banana bread and with the help of some yogurt culture
\nfrom a friend, started making yogurt ( still waiting for it to
\nwork). We went into town late in the afternoon for a walk and
\nto try and do some more trading. We walked over to the house of
\nour blond, toothless friend that had wanted to get hair dye from
\nus in exchange for some food or honey. We were just about to
\ncomplete our deal – a bottle of hair dye for her, plus some
\nmarking pens for her grandson – when one of her daughters (also
\ntoothless) scotched the deal. She started laughing at her mom
\nfor trying to get hair dye that would make her a brunette, when
\nwhat she wanted to be was a blond. Too bad, as we were about to
\nget some amazingly delicious honey. We ended up just trading the
\nmarkers for a half dozen oranges and some green beans.
\nAfterwards we did manage to purchase a couple kilos of fresh
\ntuna (for cash) from one of the fisherman, which is now nicely
\nwrapped and laying in our freezer.
\nAs you may have guessed, we don’t have a clue what is going on
\nin the real world. We have not seen a newspaper or been on the
\ninternet for a month now, so we are really out of touch… the
\nlast several times we looked, nothing much seemed to have
\nimproved in the world, so we are not that anxious even now to
\nget caught up. And that is pretty strange, given how addicted
\nwe both are to the NY Times. I am sure once we get home we will
\nget back on track, but for now we are just being vagabonds.
\nL<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It’s Sunday, and we are still in Fatu Hiva, still apparently out of sight of the gendarme. Many of the other boats who came in about the same time as we did are also still here. Guess no-one is anxious to leave, and the gendarme is not terribly consciencious about identifying the new boats. Good. … <\/p>\n