Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Solitude at Last

May 14, 2008--Yesterday we took a walk across the atoll to the ocean side, stopping at the magazine (grocery) to pick up some egg rolls, chips, and beer for lunch. We took a dirt road leading to the other side, and when we got to the beach, we saw a sailboat mast lying on the sand. Obviously, a boat had been dismasted. We sat down and ate our lunch while taking in the view of the ocean. Then we took a walk down the beach and collected a few shells.

Last night we had John and Mary from s/v Horizons over for dinner. In Nuku Hiva John worked a whole afternoon with Steve on our engine, and then they had us over for dinner in the evening since our boat was a wreck. We wanted to repay them for all their help, and we had a lovely evening together.

This morning Steve and I got up at 5:45, grabbed a quick cup of coffee, and headed into town to the bakery. It opens at 6 a.m. and the bread goes fast. We tied the dinghy up at the quay and then walked about a 1/4 mile to the bakery. Cars, bikes, motorcycles, and people on foot were all headed there. We ordered 2 baguettes and 2 croissants. We went back to the boat and fixed a lovely breakfast of eggs and cheese on a croissant--it was delicious.

We pulled our anchor around 11 a.m. and headed east in the lagoon. Buoys are in place to guide you through a one-kilometer channel around the perimeter of the lagoon. We motor sailed about 10 miles and found a very nice spot, so we dropped our anchor and settled in. The landscape is beautiful, but the best part is that we are all by ourselves. This is more of what we had been looking for.

We took a walk ashore this afternoon to try to cross the atoll to the ocean side; however, the growth was too heavy to hike through. We were walking along and suddenly heard strange sounds. There were large crabs in the trees and the brush, and they were making a lot of noise. We found one in its hole and got a pretty good picture of it. We then tried going a bit farther up the beach where there is a fish camp. This spot was more open, but we still couldn't find a way through to the ocean. We did, however, find coconuts so we picked up three of them and took them back to the boat. Steve succeeded in getting one open, but it left a real mess on the deck. The meat from the coconut was pretty good, and we saved some to use later. Now to find my coconut recipes.

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