Today, early wake up at 5:30am, because at the restaurant “Chez Yvonne”, they will prepare the Polynesian underground oven to honor the passengers of the Aranui 3 who will come to have lunch today. The cooks from Chez Yvonne told us that we were very welcoming to take some pictures of the preparation.

The cooking of the food in this Polynesian underground oven is a technique of braised cooking which needs a very long preparation. The day before, a big hole (that the size is proportional to the amount of food to cook) is dug in the ground. A fire is lighted to heat the volcanic rocks or the pieces of coral up. These volcanic rocks or pieces of coral allow to retain the heat throughout the cooking. The morning after, people first put palm trees leaves to protect the food from the live embers. Then people put the food on different layers: fruits and vegetables (fei (bananas), ‘uru (breadfruit), taro, manioc, yams, sweet potatoes...), entire piglet (formerly reserved to the elite of the Polynesian Society) and then people put the most delicate meals like the poe (fruit pudding) and the fishes, wrapped in the leaves of the banana trees. Finally all is covered with the leaves of the banana trees and soil and all will cook for many hours.

Here are some pictures...

After breakfast, I went for a walk to take some pictures of Hatiheu.

Then, transfer to the Taipivai valley and visit of the archaeological site of “Paeke,” the only site in Nuku Hiva with large original tikis, accessible via a shaded path through a coconut grove (about 1 hour round-trip walk).

Here are the wild little goats of the Marquesas!!! Yum- yum... yes, I know, but it’s too delicious!!!

After visiting the archaeological site, we went down to the valley of Taipivai.

We arrived on time to the the boat “Aranui 3” arriving. The Aranui 3 is a cargo ship (not a cruise ship) which at first carried goods and 60 passengers. Nowadays the Aranui 3 carries more than 200 passengers!

The Aranui 3 serves all the islands of the Marquesas (actually some islands are accessible only by boat)... A few years ago, the “cruises” of the Aranui lasted 15 days. But nowadays, to get more money, the cruises last 14 days (for the same price) and the number of cabins trebled!!! It is, to my opinion, quite pitiful because disembarking at the same time more than 200 passengers, it’s unbearable and very harmful to this wild nature which is the reputation of the Marquesas Islands. Let’s imagine 20 cars on the roads at the same time, in the same place. It’s really the pits and the nature and the sites are damaged very much...

So, we had a nice view on the Aranui 3 which unloaded its goods but also the passengers for the day.