We learned that a couple of cruisers were going to be playing their guitars and singing live at one of the bars ashore – the Pink Iguana. We decided to hook up with the Leu Cats and Dream Capers and go ashore shortly before 5pm. The Leu Cats showed us the way through the rocks to the dinghy dock which was not at all straight forward as the straight line trip would involve crossing a surf line and some rocks.
We were prepared to walk the 3/4 of a mile to the bar but fortune showed and a 9 person taxi-bus appeared out of nowhere and we all caught a ride to the bar. We all arrived in time for Happy Hour and half price drinks however they weren’t serving drinks or food. We had to get our drinks from the bar next door where there was no Happy Hour. Still, we enjoyed the cool atmosphere of the place and the company of our friends and other cruisers who we met there. The bar was also quite popular with the local iguana population who used it’s deck and walls as an evening hangout.
After a couple of beers and the music was over we walked into ‘town’ and chose a restaurant that some had noted had been busy with the locals previously. We joined tables and ate all together. After dinner we made our way back to the dinghy dock and found our way back to the boats in the pitch dark with only our dim torches and the clear heavens above us to light our way.
This morning Helen and I have been out to see the penguin rookery and to go ashore a nearby island. We have to go early as the local tour operators shoo cruisers away from the island. Leaving at 7am, as we did, we also had the benefit of being on the island before anyone else and had the benefit of seeing the animal populations undisturbed.
We saw about 8-10 penguins at the rookery. They were all quite small and some quite scruffy. We managed to get a few good pictures before moving on to find the dock that allowed access to the island. As we were close to low tide finding a navigable passage was tricky but we managed it. We were well rewarded with our efforts.
The island is all lava rubble with some vegetation and a couple of small beaches. There was a made path which we kept to which circled the island. The first, and main, beach we came to was covered with sea lions. Although we kept to the path it was hard to avoid disturbing their slumber. There were a few pups and one or two larger pups still suckling. Moving on we began to see more and more iguana not realizing how many we would see towards the end of our walk. On this last section the lava field was facing the rough ocean swell and here they were festooned with iguana of all sizes, some sleeping on top of others. We took many pictures but have had to delete some as the colouring of the iguana matches the rocks so well it’s hard to see them in stills.
Today is almost certainly our last here. It’s most likely we’ll leave for the Marquesas in the morning. The plan will be to find a balance between a good sailing angle and sailing SW until we get to around 5 degrees south of the equator at which point we’ll follow the rhumb line to Fatu Hiva.