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CN
Club Nouméa
Posted
posted
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10/15/2014
Tahitian tikis: Strangers in a strange land In 1815, as part of his process of converting Tahitians to christianity, King Pomare II, at the behest of missionaries from the London Missionary Society, ordered the destruction of all of Tahiti's tikis: Purged of its craven idols, subsequently Tahiti effectively became tiki-free, with Tahitian tikis becoming rare items by the end of the 19th century, to be seen only in the collections of various European museums. Nearly two centuries later, and following a revival in Tahitian culture since the 1970s, what is the state of tikidom in this strange Polynesian land where tikis were effectively banned for so long? These were the thoughts I pondered as my flight from Auckland came in to land at Faa'a Airport: |
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Tiare
Posted
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10/18/2014
Looking forward to hearing about the state of tiki in Tahiti! http://bibliotiki.blogspot.com http://alohatiki.blogspot.com [ Edited by: Tiare 2014-10-18 14:31 ] |
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bigbrotiki
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10/19/2014
Looking forward to it too. An interesting subject, since from all my findings I have come to the conclusion that Tahitians themselves did not really carve Tikis. Their idols were more abstract objects, used as containers for the gods' spirits. The few fully carved Tiki figures that have survived all are from the Society Islands surrounding Tahiti, not the island of Tahiti itself. In this famous print of Captain Cook attending a sacrifice we can make out carved boards/slabs used at temple sites in the background: In this adaptation of it, the artist took the artistic license to add some idols because he felt that something was missing :) : So even back in the early days people WANTED there to be Tahitian Tikis. Cook observed gods made of sennit: ..all described in this thread: The so-called "Tahitian style" Tikis of Polynesian Pop are all fashioned after Marquesan Tikis (two O.A. examples on the right): ..because Marquesan carvers came to Tahiti early to work for the tourist trade: ..so: all the "Tahitian" Tiki posts, Cannibal carvings and statues are really based on Marquesan style, …as are the majority of tourist Tikis available in Tahiti: [ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2014-10-19 09:14 ] |
K
komohana
Posted
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10/21/2014
Likely the regional birthplace of surfing as we know it, and taken with them north to Hawai'i. http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04/Britton/history.htm The overlapping links that Tiki shares with other popular cultures has been commented on many times, If I had my time again I'd waste even more time at the beach and have sometimes wondered whether any of |
CN
Club Nouméa
Posted
posted
on
10/21/2014
Hello BigBro - stop giving the plot away... :) It is true that the Tahitians were not well-known for tiki carvings, although they did exist. Traditional Tahitian society was oriented more towards the arts of poetry, oratory, theatre and dance than sculpture and figurative representations but, all things said and done, being Polynesian, it did have tikis (or "ti'i" as they are known in Tahitian). They were however not abundant and, also being sacred, tended neither to be shown to visiting Europeans like Cook and Bougainville, nor given to them as gifts. Very few survive, although they are held in the collections of various European museums. Here is an image of a female wooden figure held in the British Museum: Canoe ornament and carving, also from the British Museum: Wooden fly whisk handle (British Museum): (Images from Art ancien de Tahiti, by Anne Lavondès: Dossier 1, Société des Océanistes, Paris 1968.) And here is a two-headed figure also held in the British Museum collected by Lieutenant Sampson Jervois of HMS Dauntless, which called into Matavai Bay, Tahiti in 1822: (photo from The British Museum website: http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aoa/t/two-headed_figure.aspx ) Although they are few and far between, and were carved in recent times, there is the occasional authentic Tahitian tiki on Tahiti. Here is one down on the waterfront in Papeete, just behind the tourist information centre: It is clear what it was inspired by.... But as we shall see, there are a fair number of tiki ring-ins and imposters populating the landscape on Tahiti, no matter how old and authentic they may look in situ: While these fellows at Arahurahu marae on the west coast of Tahiti Nui may look right at home, they are in fact strangers in a strange land. More to follow....
[ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2014-10-27 01:35 ] |
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bigbrotiki
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10/21/2014
I did not mean to steal your thunder. Though I stopped by in Tahiti briefly on my way to the Marquesas with the Aranui, I did not have time to dig into more material there for my theory, so I am glad your experiences are supporting it. I am looking forward to hearing and seeing more. |
CN
Club Nouméa
Posted
posted
on
10/22/2014
Tiki Origins The majority of Tahiti's tikis, whether painted or carved, originate from the Marquesas: Mini-museum display at Faa'a Airport: carving by Joseph Auch and Daniel Tamata, 2011. A copy of a carving held in the Château-Musée de Boulogne-sur-Mer (France). Twin Marquesan tikis outside the French High Commissioner's building. A traditional Marquesan headhunter tiki outside the Fare in the grounds of Papeete's City Hall (note the very Romano-Gallic-looking severed head :) ) A modern, stylised Marquesan tiki at the intersection at the end of Rue Paul Gauguin. Marquesan tikis are not the only style to be seen in public statuary on Tahiti. Other authentic styles do get a look-in: Austral Islands tiki on the grounds of the French Polynesian Territorial Assembly. Also on display at the Territorial Assembly are tikis from the Society Islands: This one looks Tahitian... While this female figure at the Territorial Assembly is a copy of a tiki collected during Cook's second voyage, from somewhere in the Society Islands (1773). Other tikis on Tahiti are more generic: The first tiki visitors to Tahiti see; Faa'a Airport arrivals terminal. Staircase tiki, Papeete market. And some are cheekily unconventional and defy categorisation: Mural on a power sub-station outside the McDonald's on Rue Général de Gaulle. And getting back to our very authentic-looking tikis at Arahurahu marae.... They are actually castings of two female tiki statues from the island of Raivavae, in the Austral Islands. And then there's this very well-endowed and goateed Easter Islander placed prominently outside Papeete's tourist information centre who made me do a real double-take, until I read the plaque in front of him, indicating he was a gift to the Tahitians from the local Rapa-Nuian community. To sum up, Tahiti's tikis are now as varied as the population of the island itself, which hosts islanders from all over French Polynesia and even further afield. In that respect, they reflect the cultural diversity of 21st century Tahiti. Very happily, it is clear, on the eve of the 200th anniversary of King Pomare II's destruction of the island's tikis at the behest of a coterie of English missionaries, that Tahiti has been thoroughly recolonised by tikis, some of whom have come from very far afield indeed. And it looks like they are there to stay. :) Next instalment: tiki signage and graphic art on Tahiti
[ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2014-10-22 06:34 ] |
CN
Club Nouméa
Posted
posted
on
10/27/2014
Tiki Signage and Graphic Art Tiki photo plastered on a pillar outside a boutique, Promenade de Nice, Papeete I was interested to see the extent to which tikis had infiltrated greater Papeete's urban landscape, above and beyond public statuary. Consequently I spent a lot of time wandering around, taking photos, and getting a mix of reactions from the locals, ranging from "who's that crazy Popa'aa photographing the tikis?" through to an appreciative honk and the "hook'em horns" sign from a passing driver who nodded approvingly at my tapa-style shirt (made in NZ circa 1970). On occasion, the local signage goes so far as to feature an actual old-style tiki carving: Or the tiki is integrated into the company's logo: Sometimes the tiki image is drawn from the past, as in the case of this now derelict hotel on the Boulevard Pomare: At this temp agency on Avenue Georges Clemenceau, in addition to featuring in the signage itself... ... the tiki is even etched onto the office window: Tikis are used to promote the sale of all manner of products - sign outside an optician's: While such signs are hard to miss, some are so small and discreet you can easily walk past them and not notice: a surfing tiki on a post outside a tee-shirt store: And then there is the resolutely modern 21st-century tiki graphic: The tiki apartment building is not only to be found in California; here is one in Pirae, on the outskirts of Papeete: Detailed view: The apartment building looks like it was built in the 1960s, judging from its general appearance. And the tiki pops up in all sorts of unexpected places, such as (on a small scale) on the shelves of the Librairie Archipels bookstore: Or, on a large scale, in a huge mural depicting a tatooed Virgin Mary on the Rue du Général de Gaulle: So, above and beyond public statuary, the tiki is a vibrant symbol on Tahiti, featuring prominently in commercial signage, architecture and public art.
[ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2014-10-27 19:17 ] |
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bigbrotiki
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10/29/2014
Nice stuff, Noumea, walking around and stumbling on stuff is the way to go. I dig the mod apartment Tikis, and how great to see TIKI POP has made it to Tahiti! |
CN
Club Nouméa
Posted
posted
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10/29/2014
Thanks BigBro - in that photo, I only recently noticed the book beside it with the cryptic title "Drumming To Forget". I wish I had noticed it at the time - now I am wondering what on earth it was about.... Next instalment: Tahiti Style
[ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2014-10-29 00:31 ] |
CN
Club Nouméa
Posted
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01/04/2015
Tahitian Style Were Tahitian style to be summarised in one word, it would perhaps be "bright". Trying to find Tahitian clothing actually made in Tahiti is no easy accomplishment, given that most of the fabrics and clothes sold in the shops in downtown Papeete are made anywhere from Fiji all the way to mainland China. That island print fabric you think is so delightful may have had to travel further to get to Papeete than you did, and it is definitely a case of "buyer beware". So it was nice to see the Maohi Art Tahiti store (shown above) on Boulevard Pomare; everything was made locally. In fact so locally it was only a few kilometres' walk to their workshops, so I hiked out to Arue, east of Papeete, to have a look at their operation: The turn-off, just before the Carrefour hypermarket on the main drag, is clearly signposted. That's the side-entrance to the workshops... This is the screen-printing workshop where the clothes are made. And there was a clay workshop as well. The firm was founded in 1958, and features a small museum space for visitors to look at: On display is one of their earliest print patterns, cut into a 3 metre-long woodblock: I couldn't help but think that would look great on my tiki lounge wall... They also make these free-standing lamps with little wooden legs: While I was out in Arue, I took the opportunity to check out the home of James Norman Hall, co-author of "Mutiny On The Bounty", among other books: He moved to Tahiti in the 1920s and lived in this home until his death in 1951. It was like stepping back into another time: His desk (note the Marquesan tiki bookend): The house is full of the books that he had shipped at great expense via cargo freighter from the United States, back in the days before Amazon.com existed... James Norman Hall was an American of the same generation as Hemingway and, like Hemingway, he volunteered for World War I at a time when most of his compatriots were rigorously isolationist in their outlook. He signed up for the British Army in 1914, spending 2 years at the front with the British Expeditionary Force: Clowning around on a mule while he was with the 9th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (he's the one seated on the mule). In 1917, he joined the French Foreign Legion and was one of the members of the US Lafayette Squadron: He flew as Eddie Rickenbacker's wing man, and shot down 4 German planes before he was himself shot down over German lines: He very nearly ended the war in a German prison camp but, seeing the war was ending, decided not to wait for repatriation and escaped to Switzerland: In the early 1920s, he met another US veteran, Charles Nordhoff, with whom he wrote the official history of the Lafayette Squadron, upon which they hatched a plan to escape from civilization to live in the South Pacific as writers and journalists. Hall with Charles Nordhoff in Papeete: During the 1920s, they decided to write about a little-known incident in British naval history that happened at Tahiti and the resulting trilogy on the HMS Bounty and their subsequent novels made their names as two of the biggest-selling authors of their generation, over a decade before James A. Michener wrote his first book on the South Pacific. So what has all this got to do with Tahitian style? Visiting the home was a reminder of the attraction of Tahiti for the world-weary, and James Norman Hall's great love of the island shows through in his autobiography "My Island Home". He admired the Tahitians for their love of life and humanity; a spirit that goes beyond mere appearances and social formalities. My visit offered an example of this and just why Tahiti is such a great place to live. Upon arriving, I was greeted by one of the two ladies working there as guides and was given the standard friendly welcome in French. Having been pointed in the right direction, I then wandered around the house looking at the exhibits. I couldn't help but overhear them talking in English to each other, so afterwards I headed back to the cafeteria area at the back of the house where they were. Reintroducing myself in English, I asked how come they were speaking in English. It turned out that one of the ladies was born in Rarotonga and the other one's father was Australian, so then it was their turn to ask how come I was speaking in French when I arrived even though I wasn't French. Their jaws dropped when I said I was from New Zealand (alas, too of my compatriots are rigorously monolingual), but they were even more surprised when I said I had walked from Papeete. Seven kilometres did not seem much to me but they immediately offered me a free fruit punch and then another free one for the road when they found out I was walking back to town too. As a parting gift, I was also presented with a copy of James Norman Hall's autobiography "My Island Home". What lovely ladies! Strolling along the main thoroughfare back to Papeete that Friday afternoon, feeling on top of the world, and so glad I was in Tahiti rather than being stuck in my office working, various people heading home waved and smiled at the sight of me in my Hawaiian shirt and Panama hat, leisurely enjoying my fruit cocktail as they rushed past in their bikes, scooters and cars. And there, standing on the side of the road, selling his catch of the day, was a guy who really typified Tahitian style, even if he wasn't stylishly dressed: |
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tripower
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01/08/2015
This is great! Club Noumea your posts are always terrific! |
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bigbrotiki
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01/08/2015
I wish ALL post on Tiki Central would be like this: A VISUAL horn of plenty of Tiki eye candy! You are taking us on a iconographic journey that makes Tiki and Tahiti tangible - and adding a historic dimension to it. This is my favorite photo of James Norman Hall, at his home with his wife - and a Tiki lamp between them :)
…and (as a writer) I love this fore/after-word by James Michener about him: No "island telegraph" was beating the drum when I was bogged down on my chapters! :D Also noteworthy is that he was the uncle of "Hurricane" star Jon Hall: Funny thing is, Jon Hall took on the name as his stage name, as related here by actor Ben Chapman: |
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tikilongbeach
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01/09/2015
Great pictures and story. Thank you for sharing. |
CN
Club Nouméa
Posted
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01/11/2015
Thanks guys! Coincidentally, BigBro that excerpt is also the blurb on the back of the copy of "My Island Home" that I was presented with. It's a glimpse into a scene that no longer exists. Sadly, Quinn's bar in Papeete is no longer there: Neither is the Lafayette Bar in Arue: The Lafayette apparently kept even later hours than Quinn's and must have been an experience - that photo says it all :) (Both photos dated December 1958, by Jack Garafalo, who worked as a photographer for Paris Match.) Papeete has changed a lot even in more recent times. Here is a street scene on the outskirts of Papeete (a photo I took in September 2014): And here is the same scene as I saw it when I took this photo in September 1993: Greater Papeete now has a population of 122,000 and is a bustling, lively place, but it is not typical of French Polynesia, which is why I went to a couple of other islands during my stay - next stop: Moorea.
[ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2015-01-11 01:21 ] |
CN
Club Nouméa
Posted
posted
on
01/11/2015
A Day on Moorea The ferries sail from Papeete's ferry terminal several times daily, starting at 6 am and ending in the late afternoon. Most visitors to Moorea fly there, catching a domestic transfer directly from Faa'a Airport once they arrive bleary-eyed from their long-distance international flights. Although the flight, which takes only a few minutes, is convenient, it is one of the worst decisions a traveller in French Polynesia can make. Nothing can beat landfall on Moorea by sea, even if it is just via the ferry from Papeete: The 35 minute crossing is entrancing and Moorea looks magical. Your anticipation builds as it gets closer. My thoughts went back to what various 18th-century French and English sailors must have thought when they caught their first glimpse of the island after spending several months sailing from Europe. By the time the ferry reaches the gap in the coral reef, the ferry port of Vaiare is visible: Many years ago, I was told by a matriarch from Moorea that there is a legend concerning the gap in the reef; if a young mother from Moorea brings her newborn baby home to the island from Tahiti or abroad for the first time, she will watch the water anxiously to see what accompanies the ferry: if she sees sharks following the vessel, the baby will have a cursed life; if she sees dolphins leading the vessel, the child's life will be blessed. I knew she had spent most of her life working away from her home island, so I asked what had happened to her. She smiled and said she had seen dolphins. The ferry terminal at Vaiare is a lovely old wooden building. You can get rental cars in Vaiare but it pays to book in advance. I was hoping for a rent-a-bike outfit, but none was visible during my short stroll up and down the main drag. On the topic of drag, I was mooned by a teenage mahu (transexual) while I was taking this panoramic shot from the wharf: I was using an iPhone to take my panoramic photos, and you basically hold up the camera, press the button and rotate on the spot until you have taken your photo and press the button again to stop. Fortunately I caught sight of the offending rear end (to the right of the white post) out of the corner of my eye before the camera caught it for posterity. Moorea is roughly 60 kilometres in circumference, and so you need some sort of transport to get around. Quickly putting my phone away and ignoring the cackling mahu, I traipsed back to the ferry terminal where there were a couple of taxi vans. In the back one, an elderly Polynesian fellow was chatting to an elderly European (Popa'a) lady in the back seat. I asked in French if he was free and, much to my surprise, the lady (who I thought was his fare), hopped sprightly out of the back seat and led me to the front van. She was surprised when she found out I was from New Zealand given that I was talking to her in French but she soon got over it. I explained I wanted to head up to the Belvédère (look-out) above Opunohu Valley, on the northern side of the island, and have a look at the marae site up there too. No worries! I was momentarily distracted by this concrete triceratops on the roadside as we drove to Opunohu Valley. My driver's name was Elisabeth, and it turned out the man she had been chatting to was her husband, still working at the age of 82. She was in her 70s and she told me she had moved to French Polynesia when her parents decided to leave her homeland of Switzerland when she was a little girl. This was at the time of World War II and it was clear from what she said that her parents had decided that bringing up their children (her and her older brother) on Hitler's doorstep was not a desirable option. So while war raged in Europe, they settled on Moorea, and bought land in the Opunohu Valley, not far from the legendary Cook's Bay, where Captain Cook moored his ships during his voyages around the Pacific in the 1770s: The peak in the middle of the photo is known as the "Sacred Mountain" in Tahitian and is a burial place for countless generations of ancestors, with bones being interred in the nooks and crannies all the way up to the top. Consequently it is tabu, and it is forbidden to climb on it. Elisabeth had spent her entire life on Moorea and had never been back to Switzerland. She explained she had travelled to Bordeaux to visit her daughter once while she was a student in France but she hated it; it was too cold. She said she liked New Zealand better and had been there three times. She had been working as a taxi driver for many years and had fond memories of shuttling around the stars of the 1984 version of "Mutiny On The Bounty", saying Anthony Hopkins was a charming man, as was Mel Gibson. As she also recalled the arrival of the crew and cast of the earlier 1962 version, I asked her about Marlon Brando, but she was not willing to talk about him for some reason... We were just driving up the Opunohu Valley when she suggested a detour to the left to visit the local distillery - Hell yeah! The Manutea Distillery is not particularly photogenic, but the visitors' centre and shop does have a nice looking tiki to greet visitors: I partook of a free sampling of various products at their bar, including the classic "Tahiti Drink". God bless them; it's Mai Tai in a cardboard milk carton! I had actually had this stuff before and while it is not as good as the real thing, you can't beat it for convenience, and you've got to love a place where you can buy bulk Mai Tai from the corner store cooler. I also tried the new formula Tahiti Drink, but it didn't do it for me. Then I proceeded to bore poor Elisabeth and the bar lady by pointing out that the Mai Tai was from Oakland, not Tahiti. They took it gracefully... Here's their Website for further information: And Manutea has a Californian distributor: http://enchantedisleusa.com/?age-verified=751384a5d2 Quite relaxed after the free drinks and having bought some liqueurs (I recommend their banana liqueur), we climbed back in the taxi van to head up to the look-out. On the way, we were zooming past the territorial agricultural college when I yelled out to Elisabeth to hit the brakes. I even had the temerity to ask her to back up a bit so I could bet a better shot: A very fine piece of carving, about 2 metres tall, with a Pop Art twist - nice! The "Lycée Agricole", as it is known in French, draws students from all over French Polynesia. One of their major challenges is how to grow usable and commercially viable exotic timbers for construction and various domestic uses. The problem with growing trees in that climate is that the wood gets very knotty due to rapid growth in the tropical heat. Elisabeth pointed out to me that a good many houses on Moorea were built from timber that had been shipped from as far away as Australia and there were major development stakes involved in French Polynesia being able to set up its own sustainable forestry. A few minutes later we reached the look-out, which offered an unbeatable view of the northern end of Moorea: Opunohu Bay is to the left, with Opunohu Valley in the foreground, the Sacred Mountain is in the middle, and Cook's Bay is to the right. While we were up on the heights, Elisabeth told me about how, shortly after her family arrived in Opunohu Valley, back in the 1940s, her father told her and her older brother to go out looking for eggs - he was hoping that some local ones would be edible. Up in the hills, her brother found what he thought was a monkey skull in a crevice under a large rock, so he brought it home to show his father. When he was informed by his father that there were no monkeys in French Polynesia and that the skull he was holding was human, he dropped it onto the floor and it shattered into little pieces. His father visited the local metua (tribal elder), presented the remains and explained the situation. He was told not to worry as the skull had been found on was on land that was not tabu and that there were a lot of dead people up in the hills whose origins were unknown. Nevertheless, Elisabeth's brother took fright and would not go out at night for many years afterwards. We then drove back down the road to visit the pre-European marae site. Maraes in this part of the world are quite different from the ones I have visited in New Zealand; nowadays they are meeting places for the community to gather. In pre-European times in the kingdom of Tahiti (Moorea was one of its dominions), maraes were gathering places for the upper class; the aristocracy, priests and their attendants. They were also places of horror. At the top of the site were archery platforms (archery was a sport restricted to the aristocracy), while the main platform with the white circle beside it was where sacrifices were made to the gods. Elisabeth enjoyed pointing out all the gruesome little details to me. Here is where the sacrifices were made: Each sacrificial victim was forced to kneel and place his or her head in-between these two stones: Once beheaded, the victim's head was placed in this trough for the blood to drain: Although greatly romanticised by Europeans when first visited by French and British explorers in the 18th century, the societies of Tahiti and its various islands were not as idyllic as Diderot and his ilk imagined. Elisabeth also took me down the hill to the most secluded part of the site; the platform where the chiefs and priests held council meetings: On the way we passed a dodgy-looking crew of young Moorean guys, sitting around a smokey fire to ward off the nonos (mosquitos). Elisabeth said something to them in Tahitian which made them all sit up with a start as we passed. Not choosing to translate for me, she waited until we were out of earshot and then quietly said to me in French: "Don't turn around but I bet those two big sacks they have by that fire are full of harvested dope." She was a feisty old gal! I said farewell to Elisabeth when she dropped me off for lunch back in Maharepa, not far from Cook's Bay. After lunch, I took a moment to photograph one of Moorea's most distinctive features: That's not a tree; it's a cell phone tower. They ring the entire island and blend in nicely, offering an example of French engineering ingenuity and a lesson in environmental friendliness for various telcos the world over. The café where I dined had this tiki nearby: I then went and relaxed on the beach for a while: The beach was quite lovely, but was quite small, only being a kilometre or so long. It also happens to be the only public beach on Moorea. All the rest of the coast, all 60-odd kilometres of it, is private land. One of the blessings of growing up in New Zealand is the legal concept of the Queen's Chain, which basically states that coastline is public property. Unfortunately no such distinction exists under French law, and private landowners blocking access to beaches is a curse throughout various parts of France and its overseas territories. Still having plenty of time, I wandered back up the road a couple of kilometres to Cook's Bay to visit a derelict hotel Elisabeth had pointed out as the oldest one on the island: I was magnetically drawn to the place and had no compunction about trespassing. Elisabeth had said the hotel dated from the mid-20th century and I knew I would find some there. Sure enough: Tiki Island! The tikis at water level had seen better days: The pink ones on land were in good condition though: Although some were getting their view obscured by encroaching greenery: While not exactly authentic, these gaudy pink Marquesan-style tikis are probably some of the oldest ones on Moorea. The hotel has gone through three failed attempts to revive it, but the competition from newer resorts just up the road proved too stiff. It looked like various people were squatting in the hotel so I did not bother trying to snoop around the building itself. I also cheekily invited myself in for a quick look at the competition back in Maharepa; Moorea Pearl Resort and Spa: The toilets were very well-appointed: And featured their own welcoming tiki: I paused for a brief rest but did not stick around as I noticed one of the desk staff was looking quizzically at me. Having already once been escorted off the premises by security for gatecrashing Club Med Nouméa many years ago, I did not want history to repeat and headed back to the road. I walked most of the 15 kilometres back to the ferry terminal, pausing to take a few photos on the way. This is the cheapest stilt hut tourist accommodation in French Polynesia, just a few kilometres north of the ferry terminal: As I walked, I contemplated what Elisabeth had told me about how much the island had changed during her lifetime. Although those huts are pretty, they do not look local. She told me there are only two traditional style huts left on the island. Nowadays most of the houses are in a Mediterranean, Spanish or even Swiss style. Moorea still remains a strikingly beautiful place though. Tahiti, as seen from Moorea.
[ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2015-01-11 01:36 ] [ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2015-01-31 05:35 ] |
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Tiare
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01/28/2015
Totally enjoying your report, I hope there will be more posts! Hearing about the cab driver was pretty great. And very impressed by the cell phone towers. Beyond jealous you got to visit the James Norman Hall museum. He is one of my faves. Sigh, I really need to go to Tahiti. |
CN
Club Nouméa
Posted
posted
on
01/31/2015
Welcome to the Marquesas: Nuku Hiva Air Tahiti provides a map specially for Europeans who complain about its high domestic air fares: in order to show them the distances involved in travelling around the territory, it features French Polynesia superimposed over a map of Europe, with Tahiti positioned where Paris is. On this map, Nuku Hiva is positioned inland from Stockholm. Flying there from Papeete by a twin-engined propeller aircraft takes about four and a half hours, crossing a vast expanse of deep empty ocean. Nuku Hiva appears as a dot on the horizon, and then gradually takes form to the extent you can see its only airstrip, in the windswept north-eastern part of the island known as the "Terre Déserte" (the Desert Land). From the air, Nuku Ataha airport looks like it is clinging to the side of island: From the tiny airport terminal, it is over an hour's trip in a four-wheel drive vehicle to Taiohae, the administrative capital of the Marquesa Islands. The 4WD's are no longer as necessary as they used to be as sealing of the road crossing the island was completed in 2013. Prior to that though, the old dirt road was subject to slips and flooding when it rained. The trip over the Toovi Plateau was an eye-opener for me: it was like being back in New Zealand. Not only did the temperature drop to a level comparable to New Zealand, the landscape featured pine trees, cattle and horses: The French Admiral Dupetit-Thouars brought horses to the island from Chile in 1842, continuing the Marquesas' long history of interchange with Latin America dating back to 1595, when the Spaniard navigator Alvaro de Mendaña y Neira first sighted the archipelago and gave it its European name. Once the road started winding down the other side of the island, Taiohae came into view; a town with around 1,700 inhabitants, scattered along the inner rim of a flooded extinct volcano, providing a natural deep-water port: Once I had dropped off my gear at the B&B I was staying in, I went for a stroll along the bay. The pace along the waterfront was much more sedate than in Papeete: But there's more to Taiohae than just sand, horses and coconuts: Indeed, as we will see, given the number of statues there, it might more appropriately be called "Tiki Central".... But that had to wait for the time being, as I was thirsty and it was lunchtime:
[ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2015-02-02 15:57 ] |
CN
Club Nouméa
Posted
posted
on
02/17/2015
Taiohae - A Tiki Tour: Part 1 This fine family grouping of Marquesan tiki folk sits outside the Fare Artisanal (Crafts Centre): The mamma tiki seems to be changing the baby while dad and the kids provide a shield... The Fare Artisanal is a great place to get carvings: I was so overwhelmed at the high density of cool stuff I completely forgot to take a photo of the interior while I was buying things there. Behind the Fare Artisanal is the town market, one of the few areas in Taiohae that is well-lit at night, thanks to these individuals holding up the lamp posts: Girl and guy versions. If you do intend to wander around Taiohae at night, take a flashlight as, like most places out in the islands, street lighting is not a high priority. The market entrance. This post looks like wood but is in fact painted concrete: And in case you want to deck out your slippery tiki bar floors with appropriate safety signage in Marquesan, the caption reads "Tohua peeno" (slippery floor). The market has a colourful garden: With these guys as the centrepiece: And with this guy lurking in the foliage nearby: And this guy facing them, near the Fare Artisanal: Beyond the market place, there is a wharf with a few shops, including a yachties' supply store. Its posts are real wood: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54e31ef0.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=da4e050d57715a1c6fd14c2567706e79 Nice use of found materials. Close-up: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54e31f31.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=6066584f32125b88422764125a775e74 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54e31f79.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=0af67c3a47f90431900b7e431ffd8d5d Up the hill from the market is the Vallée des Français, which is where the first French settlers lived, and is still the site of various administrative services. Back in the day, this fine piece of colonial architecture would have been the headquarters of the local French colonial administrator; nowadays it is the office of the Marquesas Sub-Division of the Territorial Government of French Polynesia. Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54e32117.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=ab2e09f81f64e56a49fa01eca6a7c846 Blink and you would miss them, but I was paying attention: outside this 19th century piece of colonial architecture are some small but old and weathered tikis: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54e32180.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=45039218946edbfadb05b63a7033fb57 Behind the market and up the hill a bit is the local cemetery. Given the Catholic Church's traditional antagonism towards pagan symbols and its local representatives' historical penchant for destroying, defacing and emasculating tiki carvings, I was not optimistic about finding any tikis there but, lo and behold, however stylised and unobtrusive, there was one: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54e32230.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=201c148fceb73f9885e989921f233ba2 Climbing up to the top of the Vallée des Français, I spotted this tiki, boxed in alongside a garage - perhaps to deter thieves, or maybe to stop him falling over? (he does look a bit top-heavy) Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54e322e0.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=dcbb7832656f43cb2239c0768bc4f14d Walking back along the waterfront, the promenade is practically lined with tikis. This piece was intriguing: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54e3239d.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=ecfe5ad45ae03c8d11bc9b4e95e68e32 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54e323d1.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=3f728fa25f642e4d2d9e8d4b8f44f69e It was here that I was first tooted by a passing pick-up truck and people waved at me as I was taking photos. Over the next few days, various locals noted my documenting of their tikis and were very welcoming as I did so. The local Air Tahiti office a bit further along the waterfront has tikis outside its entrance, looking weather-worn and mossy: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54e3271b.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=fa4a0d9f653bc89fbd613f451a4e71c4 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54e32711.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=b34a690071e72bffa547f81f895d20af And the Banque Socredo has tikis to greet its customers: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54e3277d.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=752f0778fb2a36268d7ee6fb7c2d2778 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54e327c5.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=043c3371bf48bb1a538965b11de682f7 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54e327bc.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=46bab815357ecda4574280d1ee333187 Beyond the bank, a bit up the valley, is the local high school or lycée: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54e3292b.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=e38a6948fb7e7f88a50f59d629a73a7c Detailed views of the sign: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54e32961.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=84a75f2d78eb8fc679e6314bd57ee227 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54e32988.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=af7196d2d6b7c91eeddefa549f8d8d77 The sign is housed in a structure supported by concrete posts - front and rear views: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54e329e9.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=ecf7111a7bc8f98f1083219a41cf9270 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54e32a01.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=ddd2d93b276721761dc1132c1fa63889 And beyond the high school is the pétanque facility: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54e32aab.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=1058ed4ed423b31130ac5161846d34cc Well that covers the first 800 metres of our tiki tour around Taiohae. As you may have noticed by now, the town has more tikis than you can shake a stick at. Our next stop is a visit to the Temehea historical site, just a bit further along the waterfront: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54e32c2f.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=09dc56ff2f15bd3add30bbcd81d353fb
[ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2015-02-17 03:59 ] |
B
bigbrotiki
Posted
posted
on
02/18/2015
Wow, again thank you for such an extensive and educational thread. Really makes you feel like you've been there. I wish TC members would express their gratitude more for you taking all the time to load and text all these wonderful images. Nuku Hiva! - we are talking about the birthplace of Tiki art here! Some of the old Tikis in your post bring up the recurring question for classic also also "urban" archeology: Should one leave all artifacts in their original location, if that location is deserted, and the Tikis are doomed to disintegrate? Is it not the duty of the art lover to preserve these for future generations of mankind? Case in point is the giant Tiki head of chief Manuiotaa… Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/35/54e4afdf.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=7f6aa1c6f6f7beda388809b78628e35b …collected by Karl von den Steinen.. Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/35/54e4a86e.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=f3084a07f74ddfc2ef90fdc7e4ba7099 …in 1899, and now on view in the Berlin Ethnographic museum Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/35/54e4a8e1.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=5ba9828c37ef73127bacdf3a6909fdd6 So this is how the sculpture looks in the museum now… Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/35/54e4afa1.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=8e335c461459b0e36ce09690aaf94dcd …and this is how I found his brother at the Marae Lipona in the jungles of Hiva Oa in 2002: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/35/54e4b092.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=73147561b99715471070dfebbad0977e Unfortunately, a lot of the original Tikis I encountered still in situ in the Marquesas were reduced to faceless lumps by rain and moisture: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/35/54e4b391.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=3959aa166182fb1c815dbd79f538e798 One could argue that just recording the art could have been sufficient.. Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/35/54e4b40e.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=e4397cb5a7cc5c10ba37045810814124 …I am undecided, but grateful that some of it get preserved |
T
tikilongbeach
Posted
posted
on
02/18/2015
Club Nouméa, I always enjoy your posts. Very educational and the pictures are wonderful. Thank you for sharing. |
CN
Club Nouméa
Posted
posted
on
02/18/2015
Thanks for the feedback guys. The local approach on Nuku Hiva seems to be to let them age and weather with time. Appearances can be deceptive though given the climate there and I did wonder just how old the Socredo bank and Air Tahiti tikis were, given that the buildings they are in front of are probably from the 1970s. On the various historical sites I am just about to show, we will see a mix of old and new tikis living happily alongside each other.... |
CN
Club Nouméa
Posted
posted
on
02/18/2015
PS Now THAT'S facial hair! :) I would love to see a craft cocktails hipster try and pull off that combination... lol |
CN
Club Nouméa
Posted
posted
on
02/24/2015
Taiohae - A Tiki Tour: Part 2 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54ec6d63.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=dfb7c4ad9d0dc94ecf976f0254231a64 The best time to visit the Temehea site is at night, preferably a cloudless one, with the stars and the moon providing natural lighting, and the rhythmic sound of the waves crashing on the adjacent breakwater providing the sole reminder of the passage of time. This me'ae (Marquesan for marae or meeting place) is where the Nuku-Hivans had their first contacts with Europeans in the late 18th century. These included William Crook from the London Missionary Society, the first missionary to land on the island in 1797. E. Roberts, the first beachcomber to arrive on the island, was also formally accepted by the local chief there as part of the traditional haaikoa or name-exchanging ceremony. Unlike the good Reverend Crook, Roberts was also awarded the chief's sister as a sign of friendship. And in 1804, the Russian captain Von Krusenstern landed here as part of his trans-Pacific explorations. In an incident reminiscent of the HMS Bounty, his crew mutinied during that visit. During the War of 1812, Captain David Porter of the US Navy and a small flotilla called in here to claim Nuku Hiva for the United States in 1813. A brief and bloody colonial war broke out in response to this first American land grab in the South Pacific which ultimately proved fruitless as Congress refused to ratify the seizure and Porter was subsequently defeated by the Royal Navy in the battle of Valparaiso in 1814. The site survived these various events, only to fall derelict from 1901 onwards. In 1989, for the 2nd Marquesan Festival of the Arts, it was decided to renovate the site. Two master sculptors, Uki Haiti and Kahee Taupotini, carved most of the new sculptures visible, reflecting various aspects of Marquesan life. Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54ec7881.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=9965bf87376367f2e615955915eac4a3 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54ec7969.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=41f0b4dc0b62a1cf3fddca2ecfd1f90f The paepae is an open-sided structure that was common in pre-European times both for homes and for platforms where chiefs sat with their councils. The one at Temehea was completely rebuilt and extended from the late 1980s. In a central location is a large plinth marking the rebirth of the site: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54ec7ebd.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=f7a588861e215ffe684d0fd24446ba02 And standing atop it is this well-endowed traditional-looking fellow: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54ec79c6.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=06fceea2a7e3541df6fc72585f3a3a1e Although some busy-body christian has emasculated this poor headhunter tiki: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54ec7a24.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=0e40320fec90830dbcd0ef2745da9f56 A detailed shot of the severed head he is carrying: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54ec7a7d.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=7e0b5700e5bd0dca39b095c5b137f3a1 In front of the chief's paepae is the local tikis' very own miniature paepae: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54ec7afa.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=85db9419c46507cacb2472a14f0a0ed5 It provides a wonderful set of caricatures of tikis at a tribal gathering, giving play to their varying emotions as they sit and watch the proceedings: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54ec7b7f.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=293788d93de92cde3a531f48ee55ff84 In the front row, the tiki on the end is just sitting stony-faced, while the others' body language is saying things like "He said what?!?" "Oh my God!" "Nope, I ain't impressed with that..." This is the level of carving caricature and social commentary that you would more expect to see on the walls of a European Medieval church. Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54ec7d24.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=f21ea58d6369f15161fa085302dae777 Then there are these figures looning around on the roof for light relief - one of them seems to be a horse... Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54ec7d7d.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=e76ac36c6918b8c33d1f98fd5460053c And around the side are the women and children, wondering just what the outcome of this meeting is going to be. Not all of the sculptures are local. This one is from Easter Island, and celebrates the links between Easter Island and the ancestral homeland of its people; the Marquesas. Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54ec7f4a.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=1681a199eb0accd8ad3fc40274431d60 This carving, on the other hand, cocks a snoot at Tahiti: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54ec7fd9.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=065a958a7cc46ed48ff85baf563a0447 In the 1980s, the Tahitians succeeded in getting up the Marquesans' noses on various occasions, particularly when Tahitian elected representatives in the Territorial Assembly attempted to make Tahitian the official language, to be taught in all schools across French Polynsesia. In 1983 (as I recall), a Marquesan Territorial Councillor stood up and delivered a fiery speech basically telling the Tahitians what he thought of them for being so presumptuous as to assume Marquesans would abandon their own language to speak Tahitian. It was the starting point for the cultural renaissance that resulted in this site being restored. So here is Uki Haiti's masterful caricature of a pot-bellied, pompous Tahitian, strutting in a wig and pretending to be Marianne (the symbol of the French Republic and Jacobin centralisation). This sculpture provides a contrast, showing the united nature of Marquesan tikidom, working as a community: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54ec824a.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=0d01ee31949240f0cd2525a3486ace96 That wraps up the brief tour of the site; excuse me while I pop off to the nearby corner superette for a quick refrigerated drink... Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/54ec832c.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=211765e47bdb7e5fa900cc9afb190876 ... before we proceed on to the local museum, and Nuku Hiva's only tiki cocktail bar and restaurant.
[ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2015-02-24 06:14 ] |
T
tikilongbeach
Posted
posted
on
02/24/2015
Funny legs that they put on the grocery shopping stone Marquesan statue! |
CN
Club Nouméa
Posted
posted
on
03/14/2015
Taiohae - A Tiki Tour: Part 3 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503bee6.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=d2034f74eed3f862ecae8b5fdb75cd23 Wandering around to the western end of Taiohae Bay, we pass by the local intermediate school, which features more concrete tiki poles. Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503d0c6.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=2961ce1a8eef1638582d98740efeb48c The tiki in the courtyard appears to be a mother pushing her unwilling child off to school. :) Our first stop is the Hee Tai Inn, which features some nice awning poles hidden around the back of the building: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503c02a.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=40ca84f2153b90e3384052fd8b56e487 Note the thatch; I'll come back to that later... Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503c07d.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=216be98d3e824a7ce8c48f60343b1ab9 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503c0a9.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=c109261051129d2f31d8bb3849478be1 Having seen so many concrete posts, I initially thought these ones might be concrete too, but they were painted wood. The Hee Tai Inn is run by Rose Corser, an American lady who has amassed quite a collection of Marquesan artifacts over the years and who has set up her own small museum in an annex to her office. She has rescued various small stone tikis from the ravages of the local climate, and they are now in cases in her climate-controlled museum: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503c1b6.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=cd0bdad099e72d68798540e62888ffee She also has various wooden tikis in her collection: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503c22a.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=55947d9fd14b100f7f246ae157c99e12 As well as various traditional weapons: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503c291.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=a761af5dab451e34593349e29c44eb17 I was particularly fascinated with her collection of nose flutes, which were reproductions of pieces from the 1840s, the originals of which are held in a museum in Paris: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503c2ec.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=449a6e7fb0c07a2dac7ec59db55ebff7 Not much is known about pre-European contact Polynesian music, and I attempted to ask her about these flutes and precisely how they were played, but seem to have hit on a sore point or something and she went off in a huff. She brightened up when I subsequently purchased some carvings off her though. I seem to have caught her on a bad day as she had earlier greeted me with the comment "I hope you're not going to complain about the lack of captions in English". I replied that as French was my second language that would not be a problem. It was an odd visit, but she does have a good collection and it is worth a look. If you follow the dirt road that arcs up the hill behind the Tee Hai Inn, you will soon arrive at the Keikahanui Nuku Hiva Pearl Lodge: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503c611.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=e3c0fcc428b9956f6d26e74c11e3a5ca Inside is Nuku Hiva's best bar and restaurant: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503c662.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=913ecf2dd87ed8d9bab2ead6b57d9fb8 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503c8ad.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=7c86c86732bd30602bd478c939568eba Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503cb1a.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=3d3be516f228782c2ff925f3293a2864 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503cb51.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=be88d5dfcf5cc8e52ba0db799efe4c87 I kept coming back to this place for lunch and dinner as they do very good cocktails and the food was wonderful too: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503c83b.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=239ab3d2eacdc8e904ee2508621c56c3 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503c971.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=9f16b9df1e88d415d643e35e047b792d Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503c9bd.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=9cfd2ea5c7502909eec1fa369da13cba Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503c91e.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=53c37c1a34ed03b640719abfd47ca52f Apologies for the loss of focus on that one but I was on my third drink by that stage... The view of Taiohae Bay was great too: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503c7d3.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=c6124c5824b3154c6a2a8e2184f67671 Up over the hill from the Pearl Lodge is a winding road that leads to Colette Bay. Unfortunately it is not signposted, and features numerous dead-end turn-offs. I got to the summit on the third try. The view looking back on Taiohae Bay: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503ca90.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=88cf3fdecc5c43c846f5daebe8a8fdab Colette Bay: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503cc41.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=ccf1d4d94c09920f016ae22d6687e336 The hills around the bay are quite bleak and rugged and reminded me of Bank's Peninsula: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503ccb6.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=60d7919eaa5192aa2384cf0ebb3360a6 Although there are a couple of homes nearby, the beach was deserted apart from this girl who came out to say hello: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503ce3f.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=5ac9fd7b5ef0155e43c7933bec2be18c This is also where Survivor Marquesas was filmed, so I was curious to search for the site where they filmed it. I did not have to look far: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503cd2c.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=1a4b8445c2b028d3ee94f6553d9fbebf A big swathe of sand cutting right across the middle of a stony beach. It looks like the sort of thing they would have done for TV... Following the swathe of sand inland I found a stone marking a meeting place and a pile of rubbish left behind: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503cee9.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=6d0f58a882416575b697b72b3b25350f The remains of an overgrown firepit filled with plastic bottles: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503cf35.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=7878de780c0e62c47a9a8435713aa2a7 Most of the site was overgrown with new saplings: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503cf7d.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=42a3346ff7f0190c8ad814af73879d77 It is ironic that one of the big claims made by the makers of Survivor Marquesas is that the people in it were roughing it, struggling for survival on some godforesaken island in the Marquesas. In fact, they were only half an hour's walk or ten minutes' drive from the best bar and restaurant in the archipelago, and Taiohae, the islands' administrative centre, with its various shops and cafés. So much for reality TV. :P In the next instalment, we push inland, up behind Taiohae, to explore the Pakiu Valley.... Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5503d292.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=8897430884ee7573815fc27d8254f04f
[ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2015-04-20 01:52 ] |
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hiltiki
Posted
posted
on
03/14/2015
Thank you. Still curious about that thatch. |
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bamalamalu
Posted
posted
on
03/15/2015
Club Nouméa, thank you so much for continuing to share all these beautiful photos. |
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tikicoma
Posted
posted
on
03/15/2015
Nice tour Noumea! I'd love to have those poles holding the thatch. |
4
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4WDtiki
Posted
posted
on
03/15/2015
I'm so envious of your trip, but I'm so thankful you're sharing it win us! Someday, I will get there... |
CN
Club Nouméa
Posted
posted
on
03/21/2015
Thanks for the positive feedback guys - the great thatch mystery will be revealed in my last report on this trip (two more to go...) :)
[ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2015-03-21 03:27 ] |
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finky099
Posted
posted
on
04/02/2015
Just found this thread, but loving it Club Noumea. Look forward to the next installment! [ Edited by: finky099 2015-04-01 17:04 ] |
CN
Club Nouméa
Posted
posted
on
04/18/2015
Here it comes... I need to wrap this up - it has taken me months. |
CN
Club Nouméa
Posted
posted
on
04/18/2015
The Road to Tohua Koueva Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55324699.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=53f3c2965ce8b17cc4bb348ff696429c The road of up Pakiu Valley featured various things that caught my eye, including this crumbling old paepae, which nonetheless had some very nicely executed carvings: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55324732.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=14b57972b7715557cbf225f93b13ae7a Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5532476c.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=0e2f6479f3deb1bc610ec81520ae23e4 Another structure that caught my eye was this traditional house: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553247cb.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=4c77defe07ac946c811e97954fc56c70 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55324939.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=31e733ae38bbfa57c0c4492702a2a1b5 With its shutters, high ceiling, and air space under the eaves, it shows what houses in the islands looked like in the early 20th century and was one of the very few homes of this kind I saw while I was in French Polynesia. These days, homes in Taiohae are built from concrete with glazed windows, aluminium joinery, air conditioning and so forth. I noticed there were a few large stone tikis on various properties as I headed up the valley: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553248c4.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=79833ef321ba2c72a315e34ba086e883 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553249e7.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=de7baa8fb0dd99523039d5171a625bfd Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55324a17.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=7ebe59f9e2cb3c9e79bfb891c17f0d10 The turn-off is unprepossessing, but it is signposted: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55324a5a.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=f2ab65c3b25a331d7b2c1c32e49a72d9 Before long, I came to a ford over a stream, along with two pigs and a cock: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55324ae5.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=3b943a834f8ea281b0b37a4c1c87337a This pig was very friendly and was clearly hoping it was feeding time, but he was tethered to a post so did not get to say hello. I got a bit wet and muddy crossing the ford, but with scenery like this, who cares? Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55324b6a.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=58f4bd31e7a7ddfe75d38f705bf64e4c Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55324c39.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=64a1d3a07514e3cab8710aed8b273309 There were homes tucked away in the trees, and shortly after taking this photo I was stopped by a woman who popped out of a gateway and asked if I was going to Tohua Koueva. When I answered "oui", she warned me not to miss the turn-off to the left a hundred metres up ahead where there is a banyan tree as it was unsignposted. I thanked her and went on my way. As I was struggling up the muddy slope I heard her turn to her husband and say "wow, that Hawaiian guy is really tall!" I am 6 foot 1, but as I was only wearing a red Hawaiian shirt, I am not sure that makes me a Hawaiian. :) There was the banyan tree, as the lady told me: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55324db4.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=190097eb69bddfffc3b85581af4d51b7 I said "bonjour" to the grazing horse giving me a sideways stare as I took the turn-off. Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55324ea6.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=64900faef88074e86dcb3cfd189f3899 Before long I was at the site's entrance, where I said "bonjour" to the two groundsman cutting the grass with scrubcutters: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55324efd.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=555a97cea48129940762e5a58da99159 The signposts were nicely carved: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55324f5c.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=01a71d989eaef441338ad3565709ccdb Just beyond the gate was this stone fellow with an odd expression: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55324fb8.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=02fd2bd0ad476e377ac296deeaa8f4e7 Soon the first of the site's reconstructed paepaes was visible: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55325007.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=362d6a5f6a52dca6ec04650c9c195cf8 Tohua Koueva was a substantial site of habitation, being the base for the war chief Pakoko until 1845, when the French raided it, killed him, and the site was laid waste, eventually returning to the jungle and becoming overgrown. As part of the Marquesan cultural renaissance that occurred from the 1980s onwards, it was resurrected and painstakingly cleared and restored for use as a cultural site, and is where Nuku Hiva's biggest festivals are held every other year, attracting dance troupes and other traditional performers from far afield. All of the structures and carvings on the site are contemporary. This paepae shows the need for rethatching every few years that is a necessity with traditional roofing materials due to the island's humid climate: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553251fd.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=f3aa3a2e61d84ac308d22171cd0d680a Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55325378.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=8b77435a4afd23bc5fed56236fd30f41 What really caught my eye was the cute little guy to the right: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5532523e.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=b29d45fe1b47430023a0c08a69282517 Although the paepae's posts were noteworthy too: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553252be.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=b2b3bdfe89cd7bf2752e25208069bd0f Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55325328.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=ed82c90f25b4625c66650214ea03bad8 Other paepaes had their thatch intact: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553253da.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=2a9c29d795ba6cadeb8921323186f6b6 Closer examination showed that the thatch actually consisted of strips of recycled plastic material. Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55325454.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=3da578c653687f8225a35f548ead800f This paepae looked like it was still being built: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553254cb.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=c13871d0f71ac81a04f815369ae1ada4 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55325506.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=163d48976b779683babef8644755a7f9 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5532553c.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=594d032aa902f814e4ac27964f0d0ced There was a higher level terrace up behind these stone walls: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55325577.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=2cf8968543b5a4c59a2d50345acbf38b Time to explore... Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553255e6.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=7bf68d09d8705f70f8d7bfbb25a6f255 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5532568b.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=3a90927911b625c83b77f2fea1212df3 This is the main performance area when the cultural festivals are on, with a large banyan tree down one end providing the focal point; people sit in these paepaes: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553256cd.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=57344f1e79fc4cc46daaf52561038978 Under the plastic thatch, the posts on them feature a range of styles: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55325735.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=3393b07ed03dc0ded04749f0c31c058e Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55325768.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=bca321bd54ef38285e1a89f3e0a5d335 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553257a2.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=84b2579fac20e3c41072358b160b90e1 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553257d2.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=81a13b2d0294e7c932fe3719e9ccff1b Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5532581a.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=5cba72c02b4a8712e83f2eed04d44ef6 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5532585e.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=d9be25d89531d830d459b2e6492defce Beyond the performance area was an isolated paepae that drew my attention: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553258b9.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=cd9a114879f2c2d62710930889eb314b Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55325951.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=8df69411bb5428fc20478c55a0023196 It was sheltering various works-in-progress, although I did a real double-take as I drew closer to the central stone carving by the steps: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553259b2.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=9080444a2565ed549af56b42b8a20c58 It's Gollum from The Lord Of The Rings! Proof that Marquesan carving styles are not standing still and local carvers are seeking inspiration in unlikely places.... A close-up of a couple of posts still being worked on: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55325a32.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=418e8a57ef84e48038ba772b62e143c0 Down the other end of the performance area, I found this lonely stone tiki: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55325a94.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=d1c04462c8520783d0006a4ca8798110 Being exposed to the elements, he had gone quite mossy: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55325d21.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=33e92f667ca2598fa77700114eaaef75 Like this Easter Islander across the way from him: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55325b27.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=9cf082aef0d8a80ff36a8b6339ea14ef It was a very peaceful location and I sat for a while taking it all in while I had a drink. Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55325b92.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=04cf99135f0eac3d8b8316383ffa9947 As lunchtime was approaching, then it was time to head back down to the bay through the passageway between the stands: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55325bf4.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=0f26cd58b979362d36425d7362abae73 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55325c3b.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=3755ce4aed29dfbfbe8a11b2ebe6142d In the last instalment, we travel to the most remote parts of Nuku-Hiva: Taipivai, Hatiheu, and beyond...
[ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2015-04-18 06:50 ] |
M
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MaukaHale
Posted
posted
on
04/18/2015
I really enjoyed that, thank you. |
CN
Club Nouméa
Posted
posted
on
04/22/2015
Taipivai, Hatiheu, and beyond... Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55379c35.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=d135e3cc835e15686cb3b927f25f019f On the northern side of the island of Nuku Hiva lay further places for exploration, the most famous of which is Taipivai, known to the world through Herman Melville's stay there in the 1842 after he jumped ship. I was wondering what to expect when I arrived there. Would it be a tranquil deserted wilderness like this: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55379b75.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=a07022822ae0d357e7fbdeeab86c04fd Or feature a dusky maiden lazing around just waiting for me? Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55379e09.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=9d513824712e2962dcf8a79808fe5a16 Or even a whole bevy of them? Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55379e7d.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=324ad1f72564c6bce20931e5c2a25f89 Or might the reaction be somewhat hostile, given the long history of European incursions into that valley? Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55379efc.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=6188a0fe4fe2765635d438f9208d60f1 As it turned out, the first image was the one that best matched what I actually saw: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/55379f78.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=f4ac6fbbc5c1cef074013b1578bca2fb Controleur Bay, and below is the seaward end of the village of Taipivai, which stretches up the valley: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537a072.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=c808c26d8da02c63cae76175f20a1a8e The effects of the tsunami off Japan that caused the Fukushima disaster on 11 March 2011 were felt as far away as Taipivai: according to my guide Yvon, who is from Taipivai, a small tidal wave washed up onto the beach here and destroyed several houses. Some of the families that lost their homes chose to rebuild way up the top end of the valley rather than face that experience again. We were to return to Taipivai on the way back. Our immediate destination was in the next valley over, on the northern coast; Hatiheu: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537a22d.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=f42e81a450011c14a20f546719610cb3 As we descended into the valley in Yvon's Landrover, he told about the arrival of the first European missionary here in the 1830s, who disembarked in the middle of a blood feud in which the various inhabitants of the valley were killing each other. For his own protection, he decided to scale the lowest pinnacle to the left of the bay and take shelter there. To while away the hours, he began carving a stone statue of the Virgin Mary. Curious, various locals began climbing up the sheer rock face to ask him what on earth he was doing, and that was the start of the valley's conversion to Christianity. Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537a392.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=f1882461ba9b55ec14c907b97d9bf328 The statue is still there, and is just visible in this photo taken from Hatiheu, to the right of the two trees in the middle of the rock: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537b584.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=af6fdbaa6a6abe3b6981231a221d94d4 However Hatiheu was not our destination either, we were hiking over the hill to Anaho Bay: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537a4a6.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=0d1f9b6a3689e8ebc10270d3b48c1049 Accompanying us were a French couple on their 50th anniversary holiday. I was somewhat taken aback at the amount of equipment they had with them: fancy hiking boots, the latest outdoor wear and backpacks; they even had those hi-tech composite walking poles so beloved of Europeans when they need to stride over any landform that veers slightly away from horizontal. On top of that, Yvon let slip that he was a fireman with outdoor rescue training who had done the coast-to-coast Ironman race from the West Coast to Greymouth. So just how tough was this trail going to be? I only had street shoes, my Fijian tapa-patterned shirt, a Panama hat and my 1980s vintage UTA travel bag with a bottle of water and some biscuits as my sole resources. Hmm... On the uphill stretch, it turned out that my main worry was not the severity of the terrain, but the harshness of the the misandrist ramblings of the French wife, who, in the company of three men, ventured to have a go at her husband because he was reluctant to wander just off the steep trail and do number 2s as there was a group coming up the trail behind us: she took this as a cue to start pontificating about how useless men were without a wife to make decisions for them. I replied in my most insouciant French that I had been a bachelor all my life and had managed to get by alright thank you very much, which drew a pained "please don't provoke her" glance from Yvon while he tried to veer the conversation onto another course. Anyway, this was the view from the summit: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537a78f.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=9bf0b11f503ee0729a5be3f79129b1e6 That's Anaho Bay to the left, with a bit of Ha'atuatua Bay visible to the right. By this stage, I had worked up a mild sweat, but the French couple were looking a bit shaky on their walking poles, and the wife was gasping for breath, so we were thankfully spared of any further pearls of feminine wisdom. The plan to walk as far as Ha'atuatua Bay was also shelved; it looked like the couple would only be able to manage the 30 minute walk down to Anaho Bay. As we descended down into the valley, Yvon pointed out an abandoned paepae that had once been a family home: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537abd2.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=26533e53692fc7852cac4277b68928d2 Just below it was the more modern abode that had replaced it: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537ac38.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=ea37bd5ddd3aafee356700e240c7ed8b The sun was out by the time we got down to the beach and stopped to suck on some mangoes Yvon had brought along: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537ace4.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=11906a31eeea05f3d2c3126fb0975025 Anaho Bay is strikingly beautiful: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537b36d.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=3b848568c7dba63ebec0219364bd4310 Little wonder that Robert Louis Stevenson praised it when he sailed through these parts in 1888. We then wandered along the beach to visit the local priest who was in the middle of a coaching session with local kids preparing for a cultural performance: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537ad55.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=bf5901011c970a868cfbf2c93cf1340c I had a quick peek in the chapel nearby: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537adc7.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=0fd380b833f03b016042215201d99708 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537ae0c.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=7986f23ed6dd582b750e4102ef088645 Along the beach and further up the valley were stands of coconut trees: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537ae5d.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=98c4deb400c6a2b9ad6345bfd2cd4a16 Amidst them was a copra shed, with sacks full of harvested coconuts waiting to be picked up and shipped off: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537ae92.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=f82023542019542f9d0a93287a4a509b Toiling back up the trail to return to Hatiheu, we crossed paths with a young man bringing down coconuts from the back of the valley on his horse: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537af83.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=df558d2f4ed38043843ec69434880822 As the path got steeper, the puffing and wheezing grew louder from the couple, and we had to stop from time to time so they could catch their breath. The wife by this time, was most insistent that I walk ahead of her, until we reached the summit and the downhill stretch, when, like a magnificent butterfly, she metamorphosed into a pole-wielding speed fiend, hell-bent on arriving back at the Landrover first, if only to prove her earlier oft-repeated point that while she was slow uphill, she was very very fast downhill. As we climbed back into the Landrover, from his expression, I could tell Yvon was thinking much the same of her as I was. Never mind, lunch awaited us back in Hatiheu... The Hinako Nui café was on the waterfront and offered a pleasant view: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537b194.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=38d828335bccac5f21a92aade47e4213 And a few tikis: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537b1a5.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=4f1f91e3b0bf3bc9229b3b5207220690 Along with a nice fish platter: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537b184.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=ff9cc1ed0256283770255e2b68b24e36 While a chook strolled around under the tables: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537b1d0.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=b356d15b4ddd569ef0c17a342c6b71d6 The French wife was by this time indicating that it might be better to call it a day after lunch given how tired she was now feeling, but I was having none of it. I replied that I was feeling fine and was looking forward to the rest of the day: this trip was a two-for-one deal, and the agreement was that in exchange for hiking over hill and dale in the morning, the afternoon would be spent visiting the biggest pre-European archaeological site on the island, along with a visit to admire all the tikis at Taipivai's marae. I started by taking a few photos of the tikis along the waterfront in Hatiheu: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537b7c5.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=338d9447a0112300270de0ef7a667d25 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537b7dc.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=d44c5491990291817fdcbb68eeebdf80 Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537b7ed.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=b4255ae575ed0a349dc85ea30b12a52f Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537b7fa.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=36b38887026f7f231d54fd09ba5e2561 So off we went, with the grumbling French wife in the back seat complaining about the heat and how tired she was. Not quite the female reception I had hoped for on this trip... Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/5537b87f.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=7635b9277361cfc2c6829cf06258ecbb
[ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2015-04-22 08:22 ] [ Edited by: 2015-06-08 08:59 ] |
T
tikilongbeach
Posted
posted
on
04/22/2015
Wow, what wonderful pictures and story telling! Even with the cranky Frenchwoman it still sounds nice. |
CN
Club Nouméa
Posted
posted
on
04/24/2015
Nuku Hiva: Past and Present Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a3da1.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=32d1aa1b58c8dc13dbceb497b350421d We arrived at the site of Kamuihei, Tahakia and Te'i'ipoka just as some stud farmers from Taipivai were rounding up their grazing horses to herd them back up the Hatiheu valley road and over the hill to Taipivai. They give a good idea of the massive scale of the stone construction at the site, all done using just levers, ropes, and a lot of sweat. The three adjoining sites had a total population of around 3,000 in pre-European times, and the oldest structures there date back 600 years. Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a3f17.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=5e8c2e0ce95d9ee208e5764d64359995 Kamuihei and Te'i'ipoka are on this side of the road in the photo above, taken looking southwards, while on the other side of the road lies Tahakia. It was difficult to take a single photo giving an idea of the lay of the land, as the site is so large. Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a400d.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=20c2d795e762dcf870e7bd551fdf9b45 The photo above, taken facing northwards, shows some of the Kamuihei site, while Te'i'ipoka is beyond. I wandered back down the road towards Hatiheu to have a look at a reconstructed paepae: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a41c6.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=6a97350e465f1efb2cb91f118d43062f Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a418c.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=2f5ea440b32ec62d4a9a6a3bc742f651 On the Tahakia side of the road, this rustic-looking tiki stands guard: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a4af3.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=45769c84a03b753b4f5310e43a727dbe Further on, a log bridge leads to the Tahakia site: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a42db.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=cb7d27803b05df8bdef77f2469d7a0fa The settlement used to have its own water supply in the form of this stream, now long dried up: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a433e.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=9ef44e99bcae540d86f3772cd6df30cc Tahakia takes the form of a long rectangular arena, overlooked by higher platforms: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a4398.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=1cf51b0c857df5ccbaad5563eb4e96fa The platforms feature some very large rocks, some of which must weigh a tonne or two: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a4446.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=b45c1ee51f7c56ac7a576631d481531e As Yvon led us into this area, he broke out into oratory in Marquesan, greeting the ancestors loudly, saluting them and requesting permission to enter this sacred location. It is standard protocol still practised by visitors to contemporary maraes as far away as New Zealand. He explained in French that the platform we were standing on was reserved for the chief and his immediate circle of family, elders and advisors, and back in the day we would definitely not have been allowed up there. From this vantage point, he used to sit and look down on the tribe at various gatherings: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a4615.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=96619a9f315e0972941404ca1fd26f2b At the back of the platform was another reconstructed (although unthatched) paepae: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a468b.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=0c33d0598497d65e08b1dfd179e6c97e The modern posts were inserted into postholes that had been hand-carved centuries ago: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a4732.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=2b4b656f48b8272c992957ede5f4e62a The platform also had its own firepit: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a46f7.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=463db655455257e6edac713ebcc7b217 Here's how the chief's platform (in the centre) looks from the cheap seats: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a47f8.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=a6c110e14db1ae4e1e3bbc71c78af9e5 Watching from the cheap seats was this little tiki, who is probably a modern addition to the site: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a484f.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=fc5566f8f98fcfcc055d64798b49264d Work on clearing the site and rescuing it from the jungle only began in 1998, and standing in the middle of it all, you are aware that there is more out there remaining to be uncovered: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a4986.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=c72daa01c36e26ff4b1788d970cddc1b The view looking back from the jungle end of the arena: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a4a46.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=e145e7c17cf0a09d3aa7e2b386b3f56e This is the paepae on the right in the photo above: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a4aba.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=3d2824cfaeeced660d66d8cbce5da739 On the drive back over the hill to Taipivai, we caught up with some stragglers from the group of grazing horses: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a4c16.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=cbfbe53d0fe707935af8b0794ba5727b Yvon decided to herd them back over the hill and down to Taipivai with his Landrover, honking the car horn and shouting in Marquesan at them. As he explained, it would be getting dark in another hour or two and it was too dangerous to leave them to their own devices; a passing vehicle might run into them in the dark. At one point on the downward slope, I got to roll down the passenger window and shout "bouge-toi!" (shift yourself!) at a horse that had decided to jump over the roadside concrete barrier in order to escape from the pursuing Landrover. Much to my amazement he meekly hopped back over the wall and got back on the road. Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a4d6a.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=0226387325a53899d1056eacd1c47e2e Having herded the horses down to lower land, Yvon then drove us off to Taipivai's almost brand-new marae (built in 2011 if my memory serves me well). There was some initial debate about what to do as the main gate was locked, but I settled the matter by climbing over a fence. Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a4f04.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=eeda6e0862defb2ba2388298026a53b1 Note the solar panels, which provide power for the site's lighting. Reaching the first paepae, I stopped to ask Yvon about this plastic thatch that I had already spotted on the other side of the island: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a4f46.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=9851e30a57b9ee146a5ddb1f7a5a1878 He said there had been a long debate about it, and some protests from various elders, but the village had decided that plastic thatch was the way to go: it is more cost-effective, as it does not have to be replaced every three to four years like natural thatch does, which also saves a lot of time, as it takes hours and hours of community effort to redo all the roofing for the marae. And it certainly looks the part: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a50b2.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=c734408ccc647274bf985908d733b913 I also asked him about the wood-burnt finish of various of the posts, which is something I had not seen in these parts before: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a510e.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=0ac2720547b3b9cfcb24f0bbc570269f It turned out that at the end of 2013, a local pyromaniac had tried to burn down the marae. The community had rallied around and rebuilt it within a few months, but the legacy of that was that various of the carvings were still smoke-stained. I was about to explain about how Californians actually do that to their tikis on purpose but thought perhaps the irony might not be appreciated by this fireman, who was clearly still pained at all the damage that had been caused. The effect was not necessarily bad, and certainly made the tiki posts that had been burnt easier to photograph: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a5271.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=8d54459435166898a80bc6d41b1516f9 This one seems to be saying "what the #$#?" Soon I was doing the same, upon spotting this terracotta guy, who was a gift from another island in the Marquesas: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a52f6.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=b483aaeeb5cb5118b9800afc709261cf "Mais ce petit bonhomme est orange!" (But this little guy's orange!) Yvon thought my response was hilarious: "That's what various elders said when they unpacked him - but he's a nice-looking tiki, non?" There were some resolutely modern and very striking tiki carvings on the Taipivae marae. This one looked like something Edvard Munch would have done: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a5425.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=a97f63e540a4e7ad46f6f8edb3cda05c A primitive pop art effort gifted by the island of Hiva Oa: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a5502.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=cc70be4bd323d1b4a747026cea9344de It was still showing scorch-marks from the arson attempt: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a55e2.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=d87ea75550ff4b4a020b1f5d10d46a11 I also asked about the configuration of the marae, wondering if there was any special significance in the layout: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a569f.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=34aa98956aec05cbbd15dafd1b0e4e16 And was told that it was designed merely to be practical: covered stands on three sides for the audience, while the stones at various points are merely there for performers to sit on while they are waiting to get up to perform. Down the far end, there is an open-air platform: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a57d7.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=b8ceb40fedc6a450b4eace775e238b0d The walls of which are made from concrete: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a584a.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=fb7f2ba3dfe6f8c7acc1e39f1b8587bf Some of the tikis were also concrete castings: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a58c8.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=94ce834947010ed8b0e1956f72fe0a10 Polished concrete with inlaid pebbles in the case of this tiki: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a5929.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=5a5c0a00f99f5b50d5c19a7e51112ddf At this point, reminding me about a disapproving comment I had made earlier that afternoon about missionaries chopping dicks off tikis, my guide gleefully called me over to take a special photo of him: Image Missing: https://tikicentral.com/resize.php/uploads/16877/553a59f0.jpg?w=1280&h=1280&fit=max&sharp=5&s=53845ec5947af7966e3da6ed894973c6 It was a great conclusion to a wonderful day out and about on Nuku Hiva and I hope I can return to the Marquesas in the not-too-distant future.
[ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2015-04-24 08:32 ] |
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Image Missing: https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/8f5088418f70de46f901538b3580a3c4?d=blank&s=192&fit=fill
MaukaHale
Posted
posted
on
04/24/2015
Once again I enjoyed reading about your travels. What an interesting archaeological site. |
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hiltiki
Posted
posted
on
04/24/2015
I enjoyed reading the entire thread. Thank you. |
F
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finky099
Posted
posted
on
04/25/2015
Noumea, thanks for posting pics and details of your adventure. Very cool! The road to Tohua Koueva was amazing and kudos for getting "off the beaten path" to find and document it. |
CN
Club Nouméa
Posted
posted
on
04/27/2015
Thanks for that warm response - Nuku Hiva was a wonderful place to visit and I had a great time there. |
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