March 12: Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia

The ship anchored in the same general location that Rotterdam did in 2012.

Gray dot is where Nieuw Amsterdam is anchored

Looking at the map above, it was interesting that there was only one formal road on the island, and it ran through the mountains. On islands like Moorea and Tahiti, the main road ran around the island. The difference was that those islands had flat land near the water's edge. Nuki Hiva was divided by tall ridges, so the criteria for where to build the road were different.

picture I took in 2012 of Rotterdam in Nuku Hiva Bay

The temperature today was forecast to be 86° with a feel-like temperature of 96°, so we dressed accordingly and limited our backpack loads.

Once ashore, it was as warm as forecasted. Thankfully, there was a light breeze.

one side of the statue

We took most of the pain today on the walk up front, ascending the path to the Tiki Tuhiva, which was not here when we visited the island in 2012.

Tiki Tuhiva is a sculpture of two tikis on Tuhiva Hill, inaugurated in 2017. The tallest, a female tiki, stands 12 meters high and overlooks the bay of Taioha'e. She is the guardian of Tradition and Knowledge. The smaller male tiki represents a warrior imposing his power. [Tahiti Tourism]

Without intending offense, the mayor who sold the idea of using tax dollars to fund this must have been the Harold Hill (think the salesman in The Music Man) of the island.

He thought my Harold Hill comment was funny.

Back down Tuhiva Hill, we got our bearings. This road led to the beach where we thought we might try snorkeling. Today, it would be the road less taken because, as we got off the tender, they were announcing to everyone that the bay was full of sharks because it was mating season, so going in the water was a really bad idea.

Apparently, this guy did not get the memo.

We headed in the other direction, our soft goal being to see the local Notre Dame Cathedral. I thought that I had seen its spire from Tuhiva Hill.

I started referring to this as the Howard Johnson
church because of the roof design and color

Victory. It had required climbing up a steep road, but we got there.

Nope, wrong church.

We did press on and got to the right church - Notre Dame Cathedral.

Although we had been here fourteen years ago, we had both drawn a blank on what it looked like. Worse, I had it completely mixed up with another church in another part of the world and was looking for the wrong structure. Ironically, I had not taken a picture of the church's general appearance.

Leaving the church, and it being the far point of our walk, knowing we had a lot of steps to retrace, off we went along the shores of the shark-infested bay.

Eventually, salvation was in sight. Let us rejoice, shop, and find a restroom! Pam also could not resist putting her feet in the water while watching for dorsal fins.

Hmm, that looks like a bit of a waiting line.

It was no "bit of a line," it was a mega-line standing on a pier with no shade unless you mugged someone for their umbrella.

Due to the configuration of the pier, tenders could only be docked one at a time. The navigable channel near the pier exacerbated the delay in onboarding passengers. It was so narrow that the outbound tender needed to clear it before the inbound could come into the dock.

This was the first time the considerably larger number of passengers than other ships we have been on bit us. In other ports, there were two berths for tenders to dock, making passenger movement much more efficient.

The fact that there had been no mention of the limitation in the orientation lecture and elsewhere was a sore point. This might have helped control passenger expectations, many of whom found the long line an ugly surprise. It was unfortunate that, as they do for passengers from the ship who want to go ashore, they did hand out tender tickets. This would have enabled passengers to seek shade, shop, and generally spend their time better than shuffling forward in line.

We saw one passenger taken away in an ambulance, perhaps due to dehydration. Throughout the cruise, the ship has regularly reminded passengers to stay hydrated, but at times, concerns about restroom availability undermine that message. Regardless of whether the passenger's own actions contributed to the event, it will be attributed to the ship's failure to provide better tender service.

The long line also appeared to be a surprise for the onshore team. They adapted as best they could, hustling water and lemonade down the line. No one was standing back supervising; everyone was working.

While there were numerous disgruntled passengers, many took the line in stride, observing that we had the chance to visit this tropical island in the Pacific, which made us among the few and the fortunate.