Hiva Oa has a small breakwater which you can anchor inside if the ferry is not there. Luckily for us it was bank holiday weekend so we managed a few days in the bay before we had to move on.

Here we were reunited with Tiggy of Miss Tiggy. After 3 weeks apart this was very exciting and we were all pleased to have her back!

About half an hours walk around the mountains there is a village with a lovely mix of Polynesian and French influence.  However before we could explore we had to check into the local gendarme.  20 plus yacht crew in a tiny office where the officers only English was “I don’t speak english” followed by a chuckle was certainly an unusal sight here.  The gendarme found it so funny he took several selfies and probably won’t forget us for a while!

Once checked in we could finally roam free. Sadly the post office closed before we got there so we had to wait to get local sims ( this became a long running theme..) but the supermarket wasn’t.  The owner gave us fresh lychees and we got excited about the French food. We spent the rest of the afternoon planning out our stay in the Marquesas by the beautiful pool in the hotel in the mountains.  To be reunited with everyone back home via wifi was much appreciated.

Indeed had Marie Jo the washing lady not lost my favourite teeshirt,  I would only have found memories of Hiva Oa. Dam you Marie Jo.